AFARA
Adaptive, non-destructive testing of fiber composites
Fiber composites make an important contribution to society's efforts to protect the climate. On the one hand, they are the elementary material in the manufacture of wind turbines. On the other hand, they are the enabler for lightweight construction methods and thus enable direct energy savings.
The testing of fiber composites during production is still an unresolved problem. Detecting defects in the fiber layers before casting would greatly improve quality and resource efficiency in this area and thus contribute to climate protection both technically and economically. This is where AFARA comes in with its innovative solution for adaptive, non-destructive testing of fiber composites using AI-supported radar. The radar sensor is guided over the workpiece by an industrial robot orthogonally and at a constant speed. The radar sensor creates a SAR scan in two frequency bands in order to achieve a sufficiently high resolution. The data from the radar sensor and the precisely determined robot positions are used by an innovative signal processing system for imaging. Based on these images, a specialized AI detects the type and depth of the defects.
By integrating the entire system in real time and testing it using the particularly relevant example of wind turbine rotor blades, a demonstrator is being created that shows the potential of this innovative solution.
Cooperation partner
- Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair of Production Systems
- Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair of Electronic Circuit Technology
- Bochum Institute of Technology gGmbH
- Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Technology
- Aeroconcept Engineering Company for Aeronautical Engineering and Fiber Composite Technology
- IBG Automation GmbH
Associated partners
- Infineon Technologies AG
- 2pi-Labs GmbH
- Basler AG
- Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
Funding
This research and development project is funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union as part of the Industrie.IN.NRW innovation competition.
