Vacuum Clamping Technology for the Fiber Composites Industry

Fiber-reinforced plastics are mainly reinforced by embedded glass fibers or carbon fibers. Carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) have an even better ratio between strength and weight. This material is primarily used in the automotive, airline and wind energy industries, but is also used in sporting goods, construction and other sectors.

The last steps in processing give the workpiece its final shape. The workpieces must be held securely for processing in CNC machining centers or water jet cutting systems. These free-form surfaces are more difficult to process and present new challenges for clamping technology in particular.

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Requirements

Requirements for Vacuum Technology

Clamping of workpieces during the finishing of composites components

In the final machining steps, the workpiece is given its final contour, for example, by trimming and drilling holes. For machining in CNC machining centers, the workpieces are securely fixed
Clamping with vacuum is used, for example, for joining and connecting processes (gluing, welding, soldering, etc.) in car body construction, the aerospace industry and in all sectors in which 3D free-form surfaces have to be gripped or fixed in place
Suitable for rigid workpieces - adjustable in z-, A- and C-axis (manual)

Positional accuracy and process reliability

An absolute prerequisite for functioning CFRP processes are gripping and clamping systems that operate with positional accuracy for handling and fixing three-dimensional components in manual or automated production processes
Free-form surfaces are correspondingly more complex to machine and pose new challenges, especially for clamping technology

Flexible setup of production lines with minimal downtimes

Flexibilization of production lines to reduce set-up times. Reduction of batch sizes for a more precise adjustment of the output quantity to the demand
Flexibility of the clamping device for small batch sizes with different contours are of great importance
Suitable for many common types of clamping tables

Automation in workpiece clamping

Software-controlled mapping of 3D free-form surfaces via a 2D reference surface creates the basis for automated setup processes for gripping and clamping systems