An aircraft component can be built on a computer screen within hours, but turning that digital design into a high-performance composite structure takes months.
The challenge often begins with the tooling. Strong, lightweight composite structures made from materials such as polymers and reinforced fibers typically require molds or temporary supports. Designing and producing that tooling adds time before fabrication can begin.
Mostafa Yourdkhani is working to remove that barrier.
Yourdkhani, an associate professor of manufacturing engineering in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, is developing manufacturing methods that could produce complex composite structures without dedicated molds, tooling or temporary support materials.
“The goal is to combine material and process design with robotic fabrication so that lightweight structures can be manufactured rapidly, at scale and with minimal resources,” he says.
Reducing the need for dedicated molds and tooling could make it more practical to produce specialized parts in smaller quantities, adapt designs quickly and create complex geometries that were previously deemed impractical. The approach could enable lighter, multifunctional and architected structures while reducing material use.
Yourdkhani’s team has begun creating internal components of aerostructures, including panels that support aircraft wings and wind turbine blades. Advanced manufacturing methods could make these traditionally difficult and costly designs faster and more economical to produce.
The work takes place in two complementary research spaces in the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 12, or ISTB 12, at ASU’s Polytechnic campus. In the Composites and Polymer Science and Engineering Lab, or ComPoSE Lab, researchers develop materials and determine how processing conditions affect their performance. The newly operational nexus robotic cell allows researchers to work with a wider range of materials and full-scale parts that often cannot be produced in the ComPoSE Lab.
Large robotic arms provide the range of motion needed to manufacture large structures and study how materials and processes perform at an industrial scale. Cooperative robotic systems will also enable researchers to work with multiple materials and manufacturing scales simultaneously, while in-situ monitoring can help make those processes efficient.
“Manufacturing high-performance polymer and composite parts without tooling or support materials creates new opportunities to design and produce lightweight structures for aerospace and energy applications,” Yourdkhani says. “We envision extending this approach to other industrial sectors.”
Rethinking how composites are made
Yourdkhani’s interest in manufacturing grew from an important question: Why do composite materials fail?
His graduate research showed that manufacturing processes can shape a composite’s internal structure and ultimately influence how it performs.
Composite manufacturing traditionally involves several hands-on steps that can introduce variations in the finished part. Automation can improve consistency, but the challenge involves more than assigning a robot a task previously performed by a person.
“Our goal is to help move composite manufacturing toward processes that are more automated, reproducible and digitally controlled,” Yourdkhani says.
Collaboration between robots
Three industrial robotic arms share a work area in the nexus robotic cell. Two of the arms were donated by Dexcom, a medical device company that makes wearable glucose monitors.
“When I first designed the lab, I envisioned it as more than a collection of individual machines,” Yourdkhani says. “I wanted to create an environment in which multiple robots could work together across different stages of production, from manufacturing and finishing to inspection.”
Researchers are also studying how simulations, sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning could help robots work together by detecting problems and adjusting manufacturing processes.
“The robotic cell offers students experience with industrial-scale technology while solving automation challenges faced by aerospace and automotive manufacturers,” says Rajdeep Adak, a doctoral student studying robotics and autonomous systems in the mechatronics and automation concentration in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. “Students gain practical experience with robot kinematics and industrial control systems, which are essential skills in the automation industry.”
Turning industry challenges into research
The combined capabilities of the ComPoSE and nexus robotic cell allow companies to investigate manufacturing problems across materials, processing and automation. Researchers can examine factors such as chemistry, processing temperature, material deposition and equipment movement together rather than as separate issues.
A recent collaboration between Honeywell Aerospace and the ComPoSE Lab is helping Yourdkhani’s team identify the manufacturing challenges that matter on the production floor.
“Honeywell Aerospace is interested in studying the benefits and capabilities of automated manufacturing methods for composite materials, particularly for the types of parts we make that tend to be smaller and more geometrically complex than wings and fuselages, where automated manufacturing of composites has been implemented in production for many years,” says Justin Mickelsen, chief engineer of engines and power systems at Honeywell Aerospace.
Yourdkhani is also pursuing commercialization through startups and intellectual property licensing. His startup, Curable Composites, develops cost-effective composite manufacturing solutions.
ISTB 12 also provides a place to build new industry connections. Yourdkhani invites manufacturers into the facility to see the research firsthand and discuss challenges that could become future research questions.
One such opportunity came on Oct. 21, when Yourdkhani hosted an industry-sponsored workshop with analytical instrumentation manufacturer PerkinElmer. The workshop introduced materials characterization technologies, showcased ASU research capabilities and connected researchers with industry representatives.
The workshop also opened discussions about a long-term relationship that could bring PerkinElmer equipment to ISTB 12, though no agreement is in place.
“We had great interactions with ASU faculty members, staff and industry collaborators at the workshop,” says Warren Edmunds, a senior field applications scientist at PerkinElmer. “Yourdkhani, his research group and collaborators are developing the future of composites manufacturing, and we are excited to support that effort.”
Yourdkhani’s team is building similar connections around robotic manufacturing. The team is collaborating with Yaskawa America on automated manufacturing capabilities, and the company has expressed interest in serving as a robot supplier for future research proposals and workforce development activities.
Those industry connections also create opportunities for students.
“An underlying value of a partnership like this isn’t just the solution itself, but the opportunity for students at all academic levels to work on a real manufacturing problem — from material processing to large industrial robots — and meet technical specifications,” says Binil Starly, school director and a professor of manufacturing engineering in the School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks. “After they graduate, these students will be ready to contribute to the industry.”
Building skills for the future
ASU students can build those skills on smaller industrial robotic arms before progressing, with appropriate training, to the large nexus robotic cell.
At that scale, manufacturing requires more than programming a robot. Students and researchers must understand how material behavior, processing conditions, robot motion and sensor data work together to shape the finished part.
“Working in the research group gives us the opportunity to develop digital manufacturing systems while gaining skills that are essential for careers in advanced manufacturing,” Adak says.
Those skills also support the team’s broader vision for advanced manufacturing systems in which robots can place and process materials, machine surfaces and inspect components as part of one coordinated process.
“We have shown that we can expedite the manufacturing process of high-performance polymers and composites, from weeks or months down to minutes or hours,” Yourdkhani says.
For manufacturers, the work points to a larger opportunity in ISTB 12. Bringing materials research, characterization and industrial-scale robotics together can move promising ideas closer to the production floor.
