The world leader in carbon and fiberglass profiles relies on Creaform's 3D scanner to measure bends in 3D, directly on the production site.
Fiberline A/S is a Danish family business founded by Henrik and Dorthe Thorning in 1979.
Today, it is the world's leading manufacturer of carbon and fiberglass profiles. The head office and technology center are both located in Middelfart, Denmark, but the company also has a manufacturing site in China. It now employs over 300 people, who share a common fascination for innovative materials and manufacturing processes. With Fiberline A/S's pultrusion technique, dry fibers are continuously unwound through a closed mold, into which a matrix is inserted. The resulting product has very special properties, which can be tailored to specific customer requirements.
Fiberline A/S products are used mainly in three sectors: wind turbines, windows and facades, and structural profiles. In the manufacture of wind turbines, carbon and fiberglass profiles are used to reinforce some of the world's longest turbine blades. The excellent insulating properties of glass fibers improve the energy balance of windows and building facades. As for structural sections, the strength, low weight and durability of Fiberline A/S products make it possible to design intelligent solutions, particularly in the manufacture of bridges.
Measuring bends in composite sections
Previously, Fiberline A/S used a manual measuring station to inspect the curvature of composite profiles. This method worked well, but as it was a stationary device, the team had to cut the test pieces directly on the production line, resulting in reduced output. The aim was therefore to find an easy way of measuring profile curvature continuously, without interrupting the production cycle.
HandySCAN 3D digitizes positioning targets
The portable scanner HandySCAN 3D from Creaform caught the eye of Fiberline A/S in its search for solutions. In collaboration with Kvejborg APSCreaform's distributor in Denmark, a technical response was developed. Rather than conducting manual inspections by cutting up materials for testing, the HandySCAN 3D enabled in-line measurements to be taken, thus avoiding unnecessary material scrap.
Carbon composite profiles are produced using a process known as pultrusion, in which carbon fibers are mixed with a matrix in a tool. The profiles are less than 1 cm high, over 100 mm wide and come in several widths. A large traction unit pulls the profile out of the tool, which then follows a roller conveyor. The thin profiles are then wound into large coils several hundred meters long.
Carbon composite profiles are manufactured using a process known as pultrusion.
In order to guarantee that the profiles are completely straight, it is necessary to carry out torsion tests over a length of 8 m. For this reason, Fiberline A/S has installed three measuring stations just below the roller conveyor on which the profiles pass. Positioning targets are placed on all three stations. The installation with these targets is then digitized and saved as a reference file.
Example of measuring profiles with bends
When operators want to measure the curvature of a profile, they use the HandySCAN 3D, a computer with the HandySCAN 3D software. VXelements acquisition softwareand a barcode scanner to scan the composite profile. The scanned data and the part's barcode are entered into a software program, along with information on the specific production line, the batch number for the specific coil, and operator IDs. The system automatically generates a time stamp. Operators can then scan the profile at each measuring station. Once the process is complete, the scanned data is imported into the Polyworks software. The scan is compared with the reference file. The software automatically detects any slight curvature along the 8 m length of the scanned profiles.
Kristine Lund, Production Technology Engineer at Fiberline A/S explains: "In addition to its ease of use, the HandySCAN 3D is the most accurate inspection system on the market. As many people have to use the equipment, it has to be easy to use, so as not to depend on the operator's skills. Creaform's HandySCAN 3D is used on the shop floor by five different teams over the course of a week. Production runs 24/7.
Benefits
There are other systems on the market for this type of in-line measurement, but inspection would have required a much more complex installation. Now, obtaining measurements is easy, and it's possible to use the same equipment on several production lines, rather than using a stationary configuration.
Today, Fiberline A/S no longer needs to cut out test pieces to carry out measurements, thus saving money and improving efficiency. Each individual measurement is now automatically documented, eliminating the need for manual processing. What's more, since measurements are taken directly on the production line, with the results immediately displayed, it is possible to to intervene much more rapidly in the event of a deviation.
Fiberline A/S is fully satisfied with the technical solution and support provided by Creaform distributor Kvejborg. The HandySCAN 3D scanner, with its ease of use and extreme precision, perfectly met our expectations. All program and system modifications requested after the initial implementation were carried out successfully.