From the 3 to 5 March 2020, Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre in France will become the focal point for the global composites industry with over 1,300 exhibitors demonstrating the very latest engineering and technological innovations at JEC World. At this year’s international composites trade show CGTech, developers of the world’s most advanced independent CNC simulation and optimization software, VERICUT, will be hosting its ‘Composite Manufacturing Symposium’.

Mark Forth, Global Business Development Manager, asks: “Are you ready for the future of composite manufacturing? CGTech has assembled an international panel of composite manufacturing experts to discuss the challenges facing the industry today and present their experiences across multiple industries. So, attendees can glean practical knowledge and even benchmark their own progress and preparation for the predicted growth of the high-performance lightweight materials sector.”

The symposium sessions will take place in Room 513 within the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre on the first day of the show, on Tuesday, 3 March, at 10:30 am to midday with a free buffet lunch until 1 pm. They will then be repeated in the afternoon from 1 pm to 2.30 pm. For more information, or to register for the symposium, contact Jodie.cosby@cgtech.com

With 44,000 visitors expected at this year’s show the organiser, JEC Group, aims to bring together the decision-makers of the end-user industries from around the world with a range of conferences and discussion groups covering the whole supply chain. This year, the organiser’s focus falls on the automotive, aerospace, and sports & health industries, covering all issues relating to composites in these strategic sectors.

“For these, and many other industry sectors, new technologies, materials and processes are transforming how components are manufactured,” Mark Forth points out. “If you are shaping the future of your company's composite manufacturing, then our Composites Symposium event will inspire and engage you with informative keynotes, a focus on innovation and will also provide networking opportunities. It really should be seen as an unmissable ‘knowledge grab’ for anyone attending JEC World.”

Visitors to JEC World can also call onto the CGTech stand, P30 in Hall 5, where live demonstrations of the latest CNC simulation software, VERICUT Version 9.0, will be offered alongside the opportunity to discuss productivity and efficiency gains.

VERICUT offers specific modules to support manufacturers in the composites sector; VERICUT Composite Programming (VCP) and VERICUT Composite Simulation (VCS).

VCP gives composite part designers complete control over their part. With a wide variety of path laying algorithms, engineers can ensure that they capture the design intent of their composite work piece. Using tools inside of VCP, the part designer or engineer can easily create and experiment with various Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) path options. They can also evaluate the effects of AFP manufacturing on a composite part’s design intent.
The user can measure and evaluate the effects of AFP path trajectory, material steering, surface curvature, course convergence and other process constraints as they would be applied in manufacturing.

VCP can be used to program any number of machines. It includes support for probing, knife trimming paths, laser projection, and Automated Tape Laying (ATL) machines. Reading CAD surfaces and ply boundary information for fibre placement from leading software systems, including CATIA, STEP, Siemens NX, Pro E, Creo, SolidWorks, or ACIS surface models.

VCS gives an entire organization the confidence needed to run composite NC machines correctly the first time. Regardless of the programming system used (VCP or others), users can verify NC code to identify issues, such as: collisions, NC syntax errors, and material placement quality. Because the material is applied to the layup form via NC program instructions in a virtual CNC simulation environment, the simulated part can be measured and inspected to ensure the NC program follows manufacturing constraints. A report showing simulation results and statistical information can be created automatically to help build confidence with operators and management. VCS can be used to simulate any number of machines, and includes support for probing, knife trimming paths, laser projection, Automated Fibre Placement (AFP), and Automated Tape Laying (ATL) machines.

For manufacturers applying robotic automation to cutting and trimming, drilling and fastening, as well as fibre placement, VERICUT simulates 6-axis articulated-arm robot motion from leading robot machine builders including Fanuc, KUKA, ABB, Kawasaki, Motorman and others. VERICUT also supports robots that have additional ‘external’ axes such as those mounted on a linear rail.

Mark Forth concludes: “Implementing automated composite manufacturing requires a significant investment, both in capital equipment and staff knowledge. This might inhibit many manufactures from applying automation, despite the clear advantages.

“To address this, we have produced a ‘Roadmap to Automated Composites’, and this paper provides a business case for adopting automated composites, pointing out considerations when deciding upon a machine. By shedding light onto these specific considerations, informed and successful steps can be taken to implement this constantly evolving technology. JEC World visitors, to our symposium or our stand, can access this information and discuss their composite challenges in confidence with CGTech staff.”

The ‘Roadmap to Automated Composites’ can be downloaded at https://cgtech.com/images/pdf/Roadmap-to-Automated-Composites_final.pdf

Note to Editors
About CGTech
CGTech’s VERICUT® software is the standard for CNC simulation, verification, optimization, analysis, and additive manufacturing. CGTech also offers programming and simulation software for composites automated fibre-placement, tape-laying, and drilling/fastening CNC machines. VERICUT software is used by companies of different sizes in all industries. Established in 1988, and headquartered in Irvine, California; CGTech has an extensive network of offices and resellers throughout the world. For more information, visit the CGTech website at www.cgtech.co.uk, call +44 (0)1273 773538, or email info.uk@cgtech.com.