The digital twin of thermoplastic composite materials and their processing

Digital twins already lead to significant increases in efficiency in industrial production and continuous operation, e.g. through improved production control and machine maintenance. However, their potential for value-added and material-triggered process control is still largely untapped. This applies in particular to the increasing series production of plastic-based composite lightweight structures. In a joint project with three other Fraunhofer institutes, Fraunhofer IMWS is working on a digital twin for thermoplastic composites. Our goal is to demonstrate digital twin’s potential by means of the UD tape and hybrid injection molding technology. In this session, we will present first results of this project.