The California-based manufacturer ACPT Inc. has established an innovative semi-automated production line in cooperation with a machine supplier, which is equipped with an automatic filament winding machine. #workinprogress #Automation

ACPT's carbon fiber composite drive shafts are used in a range of industries. Photo source, all images: Roth Composite Machinery

For many years, the composite material manufacturer Advanced Composites Products & Technology Inc. (Huntington Beach ACPT, California, USA) has been committed to developing and perfecting the design of its carbon fiber composite drive shaft-carbon fiber composite material or large metal pipe connecting the front and rear parts The drive system under most vehicles. Although these multifunctional components were first used in the automotive field, they are also widely used in marine, commercial, wind energy, defense, aerospace and industrial applications. Over the years, ACPT has seen a steady increase in the demand for carbon fiber composite drive shafts. As demand continued to grow, ACPT recognized the need to manufacture a larger number of drive shafts with higher manufacturing efficiencies—hundreds of the same shafts every week—that led to new innovations in automation and, ultimately, the establishment of new facilities.

ACPT stated that the reason for the increased demand for drive shafts is that carbon fiber drive shafts have a unique combination of functions compared to metal drive shafts, such as higher torque capacity, higher RPM capabilities, better reliability, lighter weight, and It tends to decompose into relatively harmless carbon fiber under high impact and reduce noise, vibration and roughness (NVH).

In addition, it is reported that, compared with traditional steel drive shafts, carbon fiber drive shafts in cars and trucks can increase the horsepower of the rear wheels of vehicles by more than 5%, mainly due to the lighter rotating mass of composite materials. Compared with steel, the lightweight carbon fiber drive shaft can absorb more impact and have a higher torque capacity, which can transmit more engine power to the wheels without causing the tires to slip or separate from the road.

For many years, ACPT has been producing carbon fiber composite drive shafts through filament winding at its California plant. To scale to the required level, it is necessary to increase the scale of facilities, improve production equipment, and simplify process control and quality inspection by shifting responsibilities from human technicians to automated processes as much as possible. In order to achieve these goals, ACPT decided to build a second production facility and equip it with a higher level of automation.

ACPT works with customers in the automotive, defense, marine, and industrial industries to design drive shafts according to their needs.

ACPT established this new production facility in Schofield, Wisconsin, USA to minimize the interruption of drive shaft production during the 1.5-year process of designing, constructing, purchasing, and installing new factories and production equipment, of which 10 months are dedicated to Construction, delivery and installation of automatic filament winding systems.

Each step of the process of producing composite drive shafts is automatically evaluated: filament winding, resin content and wetting control, oven curing (including time and temperature control), extraction of parts from the mandrel, and processing of the core between each step Axis process. However, due to budgetary reasons and ACPT's need for a less durable, mobile system to allow a limited number of R&D trials when necessary, it refused to use overhead or floor-standing gantry automation systems as an option.

After negotiating with multiple suppliers, the final solution was a two-part production system: a type 1, two-axis automatic filament reel with multiple winding carts from Roth Composite Machinery (Stephenburg, Germany) Winding system; Moreover, it is not a fixed installation automation system, but a semi-automatic spindle handling system designed by Globe Machine Manufacturing Co. (Tacoma, Washington, USA).

An illustration of the automatic filament winding process developed by Roth for ACPT.

ACPT stated that one of the main advantages and requirements of the Roth filament winding system is its proven automation capability, which is designed to allow two spindles to produce parts at the same time. This is particularly important given that ACPT’s proprietary drive shaft requires multiple material changes. In order to automatically and manually cut, thread and reconnect different fibers each time the material is changed, Roth's Roving Cut and Attach (RCA) function enables the winding machine to automatically change materials through its multiple manufacturing carts. Roth resin bath and fiber tension technology can also ensure a precise fiber-to-resin wetting ratio without oversaturation, so that the winding machine can run faster than traditional winding machines without wasting too much resin. After the winding is completed, the winding machine will automatically disconnect the mandrel and parts from the winding machine.

Roth's filament winding system can automatically switch between composite materials.

The winding system itself is automated, but still leaves a large part of the processing and movement of the mandrel between each manufacturing step. Each step was previously completed manually. This includes preparing the bare mandrels and connecting them to the winding machine, moving the mandrels with winding parts to the oven for curing, moving the mandrels with cured parts, and removing the parts from the mandrel. As a solution, Globe Machine Manufacturing Co. developed a process involving a series of trolleys designed to accommodate the mandrel located on the trolley. The rotating system in the cart is used to position the mandrel so that it can be moved in and out of the winder and extractor, and rotate continuously while the parts are wetted by the resin and cured in the oven.

These mandrel carts move from station to station, assisted by two sets of conveyor arms mounted on the ground-one on the coiler and the other on the integrated extraction system-coordinated with the mandrel carts. , And take the rest of the axis to each process. The custom chuck on the cart will automatically clamp and release the mandrel, which is in harmony with the automatic chuck on the Roth machine. 

Roth two-axis precision resin bath assembly. The system is designed for two composite material spindles and transported to a dedicated material winding car.

In addition to this mandrel transfer system, Globe also provides two curing ovens. After curing and mandrel extraction, the parts are transferred to a precise length cutting machine, followed by a numerical control system to process the tube ends, and then clean and apply adhesive using press fittings. Torque testing, quality assurance and product tracking are completed before packaging and shipping for end-use customers.

According to ACPT, an important aspect of the process is its ability to track and record data such as facility temperature, humidity level, fiber tension, fiber speed, and resin temperature for each winding group. This information is stored for product quality inspection systems or production tracking, and allows operators to adjust production conditions when necessary.

The entire process developed by Globe is described as "semi-automated" because a human operator is still required to press a button to initiate the process sequence and manually move the cart in and out of the oven. According to ACPT, Globe envisions a higher degree of automation for the system in the future.

The Roth system includes two spindles and three independent winding cars. Each winding trolley is specially designed for automatically conveying different composite materials. The composite material is applied to both spindles at the same time.

After the first year of production in the new plant, ACPT reported that the equipment has successfully demonstrated that it can achieve its production targets while saving labor and materials and providing consistently high-quality products. The company hopes to cooperate with Globe and Roth again in future automation projects.

For more information, please contact ACPT President Ryan Clampitt (rclamptt@acpt.com), Roth Composite Machinery National Sales Manager Joseph Jansen (joej@roth-usa.com) or Advanced Composite Equipment Director Jim Martin at Globe Machine Manufacturing Co. (JimM@globemachine.com).

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