This page shows all inspection solutions for composites

Carbone fiber background. 3D illustration

Composite inspection


  • Ensures product quality and homogeneity
  • Increase yield and production 
  • Reduces waste and increases customer satisfaction
  • Creates greater sustainability
  • Enables process optimization through intelligent data management

Automated quality inspection of composite materials at a glance

Carbon fiber composite material background

Composites combine strength and stiffness with lightness. Defects in the material can significantly affect these properties as well as the durability but also, most importantly, the performance final product. 

The SMASH inline inspection system ensures the highest composite product quality at every stage of production. The reliable system precisely differentiates between fiber, coating, and weaving defects and production process or quality-relevant defects). It ensures that only flawless products are delivered to your customers.

Unidirectional and woven carbon, glass, and aramid fiber-reinforced materials

Defects in the production stages of unidirectional, non-crimped, and woven composites can significantly affect the final product's quality, durability, and performance and lead to rejects. Defects can include resin or voids, fabric deformation or foreign-object-debris (FOD). 

Some of them like weaving defects, distortions, and gaps can lead to weak points in the reinforced fabric that can cause tearing and other damage. Also critical can be resin globs or voids that make the fabric more susceptible to breakage. Moreover, topological defects can affect the strength and flexibility of the fabric, including dents or depressions. Finally, an uneven coating can reduce the fabric's resistance to environmental influences and wear.

Process-optimized inspection tools detect defects in every stage of production; including coating, lamination, and slitting, and can differentiate and classify defects by type and severity. The in-line inspection system inspects all materials in real-time - including fibers, woven materials (single and multi-layer), and coatings such as for prepreg – and in all manufacturing methods. Slit tow width can also be precisely measured in real-time during slitting. 

Applicable and scalable for all material widths, the quality inspection system SMASH guarantees the highest product quality with accuracy and reliability. Moreover, the ISRA inspection system offers classification, visualization and storage as well as reporting functions and statistics.

Benefits

Reliable inspection of all composite materials – unidirectional and woven

Seamless quality monitoring at every stage of production 

Precise quality control at any web speed

Real-time identification and detection of surface, coating and raw material defects

Features, typical defects and technical data

Features

  • Cutting-edge sensor technology

  • Application-specific camera and lighting systems for any surface and application

  • Differentiation between surface, coating and raw material defects

  • Classification, visualization, storage  

  • Reporting functions/statistics

  • Homogeneity monitoring (Weft distortion, Closure Measurement, PPI Measurement)

  • Workflow solutions (Rewind Manager)

  • Connectivity (OPC-UA) 

  • Detection of gaps

  • Monitoring of fibre direction

Typical defects

  • FOD

  • Weaving defects  

  • Widths deviations

  • Weft Distortion

  • Coating defects

  • Fuzz balls

  • Gaps

  • Resin globs and voids

Technical data

  • Scalable resolution

  • Precision width measurement of tows

  • All material widths

Download additional information

UD Tapes

The manufacturing process of UD tapes for i.e. some of the most challenging industries as aircraft and aerospace includes several production steps, each of which involves potential quality defects. General defects like i.e. gaps and fuzz balls might have a very big functional impact on the final product stability.

In addition, coating defects such as resin-rich, resin-starved, and bird-eyes also need to be securely detected and eliminated. Moreover, drying and cutting defects can cause improper winding, curling, or delamination, rendering the tape unusable. 

The ISRA VISION in-line inspection system, SMASH, detects and classifies all surface defects at every process stage.

The system ensures that end customers receive only flawless material, reducing waste, and increasing marketable production volume. It fully monitors product properties and corrects sources of defects, allowing plant operators to make product changes efficiently and save costs.  

SMASH uses state-of-the-art sensor technology consisting of an application-specific camera and lighting systems that can be used on any surface and in any application. The system provides immediate feedback about the production process and material quality, guaranteeing automatic quality classification for every roll produced. Reliable inspection and accurately documented quality ensure safe and reliable results, making it ideal for audits and quality deliberations with suppliers.

Benefits

End customers receive only flawless material

Reducing waste and increasing marketable production volume

Reliable inspection and accurately documented quality 

Classification for every roll produced

Ideal for audits and quality deliberations with suppliers

Features, typical defects and technical data

Features

  • Cutting-edge sensor technology

  • Application-specific camera and lighting systems for any surface and application

  • Differentiation between surface, coating and raw material defects

  • Classification, visualization, storage  

  • Reporting functions/statistics

  • Optional: z-Sensor (Laser) to measure topological defects in CFK UD Tapes

  • Dedicated reporting tools for up to 120 spools (carbon slits)

  • Workflow solutions (Rewind Manager) 

  • Connectivity (OPC-UA)

Typical defects

  • Gap

  • Fibre direction and homogeneity

  • Resin rich / resin starved

  • Foreign Object Defect (FOD)

  • Resin starved 

  • Fibre faults

  • Mark/Scratch

  • Birds-eye

  • Fuzz ball  

Technical data

  • Width 1500 mm

  • Web speed depending on process

Download additional Information

Technical Textiles

Technical textiles

Technical textiles are fabrics developed for special applications with specific properties such as heat, chemical, or abrasion resistance. They are used in a variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and healthcare. The production of technical textiles involves complex manufacturing processes that can lead to quality defects, which compromise the performance and safety of the final product.

Quality defects in the production of technical fabric include issues such as uneven coating, poor seams, insufficient bonding, and incorrect sizing. These defects can affect the intended function of the textile, such as reduced strength or chemical resistance, which can lead to product failures and potential safety risks.

In the automotive industry, technical textiles are used for airbags, seat belts, and other safety features. If a defect occurs in the manufacture of an airbag, it may not deploy properly in the event of an accident. Similarly, in the medical industry, technical textiles are used for wound dressings, surgical gowns, and implants. A manufacturing defect could affect their ability to protect against infection during surgery.

The inline inspection system SMASH detects quality defects in the production of technical fabrics in real-time. Using state-of-the-art sensor technology, the system analyses the material surface, inspects critical material properties, and provides immediate feedback on the production process and material quality. Various innovative software tools ensure automatic quality classification for each roll produced. In addition, the system offers visualization, storage, and reporting functions as well as statistics for all defect types. This enables plant operators to make efficient product changes, save costs and reduce waste. 

Benefits

Cutting the cost of quality 

Increase marketable production volume 

Reduction of waste and downtime

Identify and detect defects in real time

Features, typical defects and technical data

Features

  • Cutting-edge sensor technology

  • Application-specific camera and lighting systems for any surface and application

  • Differentiation between surface, coating, and raw material defects

  • Classification, visualization, storage  

  • Reporting functions/statistics

  • Homogeneity monitoring (Weft distortion, Closure Measurement, PPI Measurement)

  • Workflow solutions (Rewind Manager)

  • Connectivity (OPC-UA) 

Typical defects

  • Incorrect sizing
  • Insufficient bonding 
  • Poor seams
  • Uneven coating 

Technical data

  • Width 1500 mm

  • Web speed depending on process

Production analytics - Data-driven production efficiency

The web-based production analytics platform allows you to check the system status of all production lines at a glance or analyze production data in detail. With the quality management system, you analyze historical data, monitor current inspection data in real-time, and identify future trends in your production process.

Optimization of production

Dashboards allow you to compare production line and product data onsite or remotely, providing key insights for optimization. This enables you to make informed professional decisions along your value chain to increase the product quality as well as profitability. You can continuously track the progress of optimization measures and present them with visualized advanced reports.

Early detection of production defects

Detect and quickly identify the cause of threshold value violations at every stage of production with live status information and automatic alerts. As a result you can quickly resolve production defects, shorten downtime, and reduce production costs.

Predictive maintenance

You can prevent potential system failures by analyzing real-time data from the sensors and monitoring systems. This allows proactive planning of maintenance, based on the actual condition of the machines, instead of following a fixed schedule. This data-driven approach saves costs through reduced downtime and increased overall productivity, as well as longer production line life. 

Your benefits

  • Time-saving multi-line overviews, one view for all quality-related information
  • Minimize downtime by monitoring system health data
  • Faster reaction to quality issues with quality data monitoring
  • Fast elimination of production defects, reduction of production costs
  • Improved maintenance for reduced downtime, higher overall productivity and longer production line life

Key features

Overview on production data and plant status

Web-based solution, no client software installation required

Department oriented dashboards, customer specific adaptations are possible

Live insights from real time data

Threshold monitoring and alerting

Open to integrate relevant third-party data and export data to the customer's systems

Customer service & training

Service

For the efficient and future-proof operation of your production systems our highly qualified service teams support you globally in all matters. We provide the implementation, maintenance and servicing as well as the analysis and optimization of your systems - quickly, reliably, 24/7. 

Visit our service center and request your customized service solution. 

Furthermore, learn in the ISRA VISION Academy how our competent trainers always keep your employees up to date with the latest knowledge so that system operators, product engineers and quality managers become real inspection experts.

Visit our ISRA VISION Academy and book your individual and scalable trainings.

Contact us

Bünyamin Camgöz

Surface & Print inspection - Advanced Materials

Albert-Einstein-Allee 36-40
45699 Herten
germany