与将复合材料的纤维编织成垂直排列然后将织物切割成所需形状的传统方法不同，TFP将功能纤维排列成需要结构性能的束，并将它们缝合到兼容的基层上。这提供了绝对的定位自由度，允许光纤放置在佳方向以承载负载，确保它们在加工过程中不会移动，并将光纤损耗减少到3％而不是典型汽车的30-70％零件。ZSK的机器能够使用TFP来创建与典型汽车零件的成品形状相匹配的3D预成型件。
ZSK通过一系列创新改进了TFP方法，这些创新加速了纤维的沉积，增加了多功能性并简化了设计过程。工艺改进包括：快速纤维铺设，减少缝合时间; 光纤供应单元，使沉积速率加倍，并允许同时沉积不同的纤维; 不同材料之间自动切换; ZSK气动切割系统，用于自动切割电线和纤维; 和先进的设计代码，确保完美的重复结果，甚至自动控制曲折缝合。
“随着车辆变得越来越复杂，对轻质材料的需求，以改善二氧化碳排放和产品性能的需求从未如此之大，但复合材料制造的成本在除了专业的利基应用之外的所有领域仍然难以负担，”经理Melanie Hoerr解释道。在ZSK进行技术刺绣。“我们使用TFP的方法突破了这一障碍，消除了大部分人工处理和传统复合材料制造的浪费，同时增加了设计自由度并改善了质量控制。”
TFP允许复合预制件用纤维混合物（例如光学或金属材料）方便地生产，以提供特定的性质，例如电连续性或阻抗。已经通过该方法组合了裸天线和隔离馈线以构成RFID组件。
除光学和线材组件外，TFP还可以加入混合碳纤维的聚合物，以便在模塑过程中熔化，形成基体，避免使用树脂填料，加速复杂零件的生产，改善树脂与纤维的分布，特别是在模具的四肢。通过选择适当的聚合物进行再熔化以简化生命周期结束时的分离，可以在很大程度上克服复合材料报废回收的当前困难。
ZSK既可以提供专业知识，帮助汽车供应商开发原型并建立新的TFP设施，也可以推荐他们的专业制造商网络之一共同开发TFP部件。ZSK还提供持续的制造支持，包括用于质量控制的基于云的和离线解决方案，以及用于连接传感器和评估制造过程中的重要数据的工业4.0解决方案（MY.ZSK）。
原文如下：
German supplier ZSK has launched a series of innovations to an increasingly important carbon composite manufacturing technique, which will finally overcome the cost and productivity challenges that have held back wider use of the material until now. A development of Tailored Fibre Placement (TFP), the ZSK process dramatically cuts cost, wastage and manufacturing times while offering new possibilities for improved component design, and enhancing end of life recyclability.
Unlike the conventional approach of weaving the fibres of a composite into a perpendicular arrangement then cutting the fabric to the required shape, TFP arranges the functional fibres in bundles wher they are most needed for structural performance and stitches them into position on a compatible base layer. This gives absolute freedom of positioning, allowing fibres to be placed in the optimum directions to carry the loads, ensures that they do not move during processing, and cuts fibre wastage to just 3% instead of the usual 30-70% on a typical automotive component. ZSK’s machines are able use TFP to create 3D pre-forms which match the finished shape of a typical automotive part.
ZSK has improved the TFP method through a number of patented innovations that speed up the deposition of fibres, increase versatility and streamline the design process. Process improvements include: fast fibre laying which reduces stitching time; the fibre supply unit which doubles the deposition rate and allows simultaneous deposition of different fibres; automatic switching between different materials; the ZSK pneumatic cutting system for automated cutting of wires and fibres; and advanced design code that ensures perfect repetition of results, even controlling zig-zag stitching automatically.
“The demand for lightweight materials, to improve CO2 emissions and product performance as vehicles become heavier and more complex, has never been greater but the cost of composite manufacture has remained unaffordable in all but the most specialist niche applications,” explained Melanie Hoerr, Manager for Technical Embroidery at ZSK. “Our approach using TFP breaks through that barrier by eliminating most of the manual processing and waste of conventional composite manufacture, while increasing design freedom and improving quality control.”
TFP allows the composite pre-form to be conveniently produced with a mix of fibres, such as optical or metallic materials to provide specific properties such as electrical continuity or impedance. Naked antenna wires and isolated feed wires have already been combined by this method to make up RFID components.
In addition to optical and wire components, TFP can incorporate polymers commingled with carbon fibre to be melted later during moulding to form the matrix, avoiding the need for a resin filler, accelerating the production of complex parts and improving the resin-to-fibre distribution, especially in the extremities of the mould. Current difficulties with end-of-life recycling of composites could be largely overcome by choosing appropriate polymers for re-melting to simplify separation during end of life recycling.
ZSK can either provide expertise to help automotive suppliers develop prototypes and establish new TFP facilities, or can recommend one of their network of specialist manufacturers to co-develop TFP parts. ZSK also provides ongoing manufacturing support, with both Cloud-based and off-line solutions for quality control and an Industry 4.0 solution (MY.ZSK) to connect sensors and evaluate important data from the manufacturing process.