Dieffenbacher: Presses for the plastics industry How to produce components from fiber-reinforced plastics efficiently 

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Dieffenbacher GmbH Maschinen- und Anlagenbau

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

SIMTOS (Seoul International Machine Tool Show)

The machinery and plant manufacturer Dieffenbacher develops and implements production technologies and plants for producing especially lightweight components from different thermosetting and thermoplastic, fiber-reinforced plastics for lightweight construction.

The future of mobility, in addition to traditional industries such as the automotive, aerospace, and sports and leisure industries, includes numerous other applications that can be summarized under the mega trend of e-mobility. Examples are transport and passenger drones, as well as electrically powered surfboards and jet skis. In this regard, Georg Obermaier, head of the Forming Business Unit at press manufacturer Dieffenbacher, says: "The mobility of the future is becoming more diverse every day. For this, we develop complete systems for the production of composite components."

Housing and structural components

Fiber-reinforced plastic components are now used, among other things, for battery housings, battery boxes and covers, for example, for vehicle underbodies. They also serve as structural components in further vehicles of the advancing e-mobility, for example in drones and bicycles. Methods for processing Sheet Molding Compound (SMC), GMT (glass mat reinforced thermoplastics) and the direct pressing of thermoplastics reinforced with cut fibers (Long Fiber Thermoplastic Direct-Molding, LFT and LFT-D) are suitable for manufacturing such components, such as bicycle rims or frames. Dieffenbacher designs plants for this purpose, which essentially consist of a hydraulic press and the necessary peripherals—often automation.

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Fully automated

In order to form fiber-reinforced plastics into three-dimensional workpieces, plates or flexible mats must first be placed in the molds on hydraulic presses. Sometimes, pressing compounds and additionally individually cut fiber mats or single fibers also need to be introduced into the molds. The press manufacturer in Eppingen, Germany, also implements suitable methods and systems for this. For example, they have installed a tailored blank line system, including Fiberforge and Fibercon tape laying and consolidation technologies, at the plastic processor Rein4ced in Leuven, Belgium. This provides the Belgian company with an efficient and economical technology for manufacturing complex components from thermoplastic materials. The company uses the system to produce bicycle frames. For this purpose, tapes (preformed strips and plates) reinforced with carbon fibers are automatically laid, consolidated (relaxed by heat), and reshaped in the heated mold to their final geometry. The hydraulic presses go through individually tailored pressing cycles for this.

Dieffenbacher has realized a plant for molding components made of thermosetting plastics using the SMC process at the production company Teijin in Milovice, Czech Republic. On it, the company produces stable battery covers in series.

Minimize energy and resource consumption

The general call to reduce energy and resource consumption is taken into account by the press manufacturer with numerous sophisticated functions and features of its hydraulic presses and automated installations. For instance, the Fiberpress hydraulic press, which is installed at the production company Teijin in the Czech Republic, is equipped with speed-variable pump drives. This minimizes energy consumption. The Fiberforge cutting system, which is part of the Tailored Blank Line automation at the Belgian component manufacturer Rein4ced, makes a significant contribution to using valuable raw materials as efficiently as possible. It can cut unidirectional (UD) tapes at angles between -45° and +45°, thus creating a contour with minimal cutting waste. The adaptive accumulator control of the hydraulic drive system optimizes the energy consumption of the hydraulic press. It automatically determines the exact energy requirement for the currently pending forming operation during the first pressing cycles. In all subsequent production cycles, the accumulator of the hydraulic drive is only loaded to the corresponding necessary pressure level.

More economical thanks to digitalization

In order to manufacture more efficiently and productively, many production companies use the digitization platform Evoris. This includes the Swiss company Autoneum in Sevelen, a manufacturer of high-quality plastic vehicle parts for acoustic and thermal insulation. They have been using the Evoris software since 2022 to digitize and optimize processes and complex systems, including elements of AI. Christoph Bless, Head of Operational Maintenance & Repair, explains: "Evoris gives us significantly better insights into ongoing production and thus much better influencing options. The plant manufacturer Dieffenbacher pursues an approach that stands out from the crowd. It offers the complete package from the platform, through the sensors and plant know-how, to technology knowledge for the entire production line."

The article was published first in SMM—Schweizer MaschinenMarkt, Switzerland

(kmu)