Automated Fibre Placement

Automated Fibre Placement

Overview

Automated Fibre Placement (AFP) is a state-of-the-art manufacturing process revolutionising the production of advanced composite structures in aerospace, automotive, defence, and renewable energy industries. AFP involves the precise, automated placement of narrow composite tows—typically carbon or glass fibres pre-impregnated with resin (prepreg)—onto complex 3D moulds or tooling surfaces. The process uses robotic heads equipped with sophisticated compaction rollers, heating systems, and cutting mechanisms to lay down fibres in highly controlled patterns and orientations, ensuring optimal strength-to-weight ratios, minimal material waste, and repeatable quality.

AFP allows the creation of tailored laminate architectures with variable stiffness, enabling engineers to fine-tune structural performance for highly loaded or aerodynamically sensitive components such as aircraft fuselages, wing spars, wind turbine blades, and hydrogen pressure vessels. Unlike traditional hand lay-up methods, AFP offers unmatched speed, accuracy, and scalability, significantly reducing production time, material wastage and labour costs while enhancing consistency and design complexity. At UNSW Sydney, the AFP system is a high-performance machine developed by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions® (formerly Automated Dynamics). It features a six-axis Kawasaki robotic arm, a coordinated rotating spindle, and an advanced motion controller. It involves a thermoset and thermoplastic layup heads capable of feeding up to four tows simultaneously. Heat and pressure are applied via a Hot Gas Torch (HGT) and compaction roller, ensuring strong interlaminar bonding and high laminate consolidation. The system’s start-stop control allows for tailored tow placement, enabling the manufacture of multi-stiffened, variable stiffness composite laminates. AFP at AMAC plays a central role in advancing Australia’s capabilities in lightweight, high-performance manufacturing. It supports industry partners in delivering complex composite solutions while equipping students and researchers with hands-on experience in next-generation manufacturing. The integration of automation, materials science, and design makes AFP a cornerstone of innovation in modern composite engineering.

Publications
    1. Islam F; Donough MJ; Oromiehie E; Phillips AW; St John NA; Prusty BG, 2025, 'Data-driven optimization of additive composite manufacturing using automated fibre placement: A study on process parameters effects and interactions', Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2024.108599
    2. Donough MJ; Shafaq S; Sommacal S; Chirima G; Ibrahim M; St. John NA; Prusty BG, 2025, 'Evaluating the effectiveness of fusion bond repairs on impact damaged thermoplastic composites', Polymer Composites, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pc.29489
    3. Mittal S; Pearce H; Yampolskiy M; Oromiehie E; Prusty BG, 2025, 'On cyber sabotage risks in automated manufacturing of advanced composites', Additive Manufacturing Letters, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addlet.2025.100280
    4. Oromiehie, E., Matti, F., Mashiri, F., Prusty, G.B. (2024). Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite Retrofitted Steel Profiles Using Automated Fibre Placement. In: Singh, S.B., Murty, C.V.R. (eds) RC Structures Strengthened with FRP for Earthquake Resistance. Composites Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0102-5_3​
    5. Jenkins C; Donough MJ; Gangadhara Prusty B, 2024, 'Mould free laminated composites using eccentric fibre prestressing', Composite Structures, 331, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.117867
    6. Jenkins, C.J., Donough, M.J. & Prusty, G.B. Design and manufacture of mould-free fibre-reinforced laminates with compound curvature. Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-024-13226-2​
    7. Zhao, C., Donough, M. J., Prusty, B. G., Xiao, J., Zhou, L., & An, L. (2023). Pseudo-ductile fracture in grid stiffened structure by automated fibre placement. Composite Structures, 308. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2023.116694
    8. Christopher Leow, Peter B. Kreider, Silvano Sommacal, Patrick Kluth, Paul Compston, Electrical and thermal conductivity in graphene-enhanced carbon-fibre/PEEK: The effect of interlayer loading, Carbon, Volume 215, 2023, 118463, ISSN 0008-6223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2023.118463.
    9. Oromiehie E; Nair V; Short K; Wei T; Bhattacharyya D; Prusty BG, 2023, 'Effect of He2+ ion irradiation on the mechanical properties of automated fibre placement (AFP) CF-PEEK thermoplastics composites', Scientific Reports, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-45742-8
    10. S. Sommacal, A. Matschinski, J. Holmes, K. Drechsler, P. Compston, Detailed void characterisation by X-ray computed tomography of material extrusion 3D printed carbon fibre/PEEK, Composite Structures, Volume 308, 2023, 116635, ISSN 0263-8223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2022.116635.
    11. Leow, C., Kreider, P.B., Sommacal, S. et al. Heat treated graphene thin films for reduced void content of interlaminar enhanced CF/PEEK composites. Functional Composite Mater 4, 7 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42252-023-00044-0
    12. Donough, M. J., Shafaq, St John, N. A., Philips, A. W., & Gangadhara Prusty, B. (2022). Process modelling of In-situ consolidated thermoplastic composite by automated fibre placement – A review. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 163. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.107179
    13. Gain, A. K., Oromiehie, E., & Prusty, B. G. (2022). Nanomechanical characterisation of CF-PEEK composites manufactured using automated fibre placement (AFP). Composites Communications, 31. doi:10.1016/j.coco.2022.101109
    14. Oromiehie, E., Gain, A. K., Donough, M. J., & Prusty, B. G. (2022). Fracture toughness assessment of CF-PEEK composites consolidated using hot gas torch assisted automated fibre placement. Composite Structures, 279. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114762
    15. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Zbigniew Stachurski, Raj Das, Paul Compston, Digital image and volume correlation with X-ray micro-computed tomography for deformation and damage characterisation of woven fibre-reinforced composites, Composite Structures, Volume 279, 2022, 114775, ISSN 0263-8223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114775.
    16. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Raj Das, Zbigniew Stachurski, Paul Compston, Characterisation of off-axis tensile behaviour and mesoscale deformation of woven carbon-fibre/PEEK using digital image correlation and X-ray computed tomography, Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 229, 2022, 109448, ISSN 1359-8368, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2021.109448.
    17. Oromiehie Ebrahim, Nair Vishnu, Bhattacharyya Dhriti, Prusty Gangadhara. Effects of ion irradiation on microstructure and mechanical properties of AFP thermoplastic composites, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    18. Islam, F., Donough, M. J., Oromiehie, E., Phillips, A. W., St John, N. A., & Prusty, B. G. (2022). Modelling the effect of hot gas torch heating on adjacent tows during automated fibre placement consolidation of thermoplastic composites. Journal of Thermoplastic Composite Materials. doi:10.1177/08927057221123477
    19. Li, M. Y., Stokes-Griffin, C., Sommacal, S., & Compston, P. (2022). Post-Forming Limits of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Tubular Structures in a Rotary Draw Bending Process. In Key Engineering Materials (Vol. 926, pp. 1379–1386). Trans Tech Publications, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-fxk5d9
    20. Mengyuan Li, Chris Stokes-Griffin, Silvano Sommacal, Paul Compston, Fibre angle prediction for post-forming of carbon fibre reinforced composite tubular structures, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 158, 2022, 106948, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2022.106948.
    21. Leow Christopher, Kreider Peter, Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Void reduction in graphene interlayer enhanced carbon fibre thermoplastic composites, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    22. Li Mengyuan, Stokes‐Griffin Chris, Compston Paul. Comparative Study on Heating Methods in the Post‐Forming of Carbon Reinforced Thermoplastic Tubular Structures. Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    23. Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Effects of differential tape and substrate temperatures on CF/PEEK laminates manufactured in an independently controlled dual‐laser tape placement process, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    24. Kreider Peter, Stokes‐Griffin Chris, Sommacal Silvano, Compston Paul. Characterisation of graphene‐enhanced carbon‐fibre/PEEK manufactured using spray‐deposition and laser‐assisted automated tape placement, Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20), Lausanne, Switzerland, June 26-30, 2022
    25. Arns, J. Y., Oromiehie, E., Arns, C., & Prusty, B. G. (2021). Micro-CT analysis of process-induced defects in composite laminates using AFP. Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 36(13), 1561-1570. doi:10.1080/10426914.2020.1866192
    26. Oromiehie, E., Gain, A. K., & Prusty, B. G. (2021). Processing parameter optimisation for automated fibre placement (AFP) manufactured thermoplastic composites. Composite Structures, 272. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114223
    27. Wanigasekara, C., Oromiehie, E., Swain, A., Prusty, B. G., & Nguang, S. K. (2021). Machine learning-based inverse predictive model for AFP based thermoplastic composites. Journal of Industrial Information Integration, 22. doi:10.1016/j.jii.2020.100197
    28. Zhao, C., Donough, M. J., Prusty, B. G., & Xiao, J. (2021). Influences of ply waviness and discontinuity on automated fibre placement manufactured grid stiffeners. Composite Structures, 256. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2020.113106
    29. S. Sommacal, A. Matschinski, K. Drechsler, P. Compston, Characterisation of void and fiber distribution in 3D printed carbon-fiber/PEEK using X-ray computed tomography, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 149, 2021, 106487, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106487.
    30. Leow, C., Kreider, P.B., Notthoff, C. et al. A graphene film interlayer for enhanced electrical conductivity in a carbon-fibre/PEEK composite. Functional Composite Mater 2, 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42252-020-00015-9
    31. P.B. Kreider, A. Cardew-Hall, S. Sommacal, A. Chadwick, S. Hümbert, S. Nowotny, D. Nisbet, A. Tricoli, P. Compston, The effect of a superhydrophobic coating on moisture absorption and tensile strength of 3D-printed carbon-fibre/polyamide, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 145, 2021, 106380, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106380.
    32. John Holmes, Silvano Sommacal, Raj Das, Zbigniew Stachurski, Paul Compston,  Digital image correlation with X-ray micro–Computed Tomography characterisation of woven fibre reinforced composites, ACCM 10, 1-3 Dec 2021, Virtual Congress, ISBN 978-1-925627-59-6
    33. Oromiehie, E., Garbe, U., & Gangadhara Prusty, B. (2020). Porosity analysis of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer laminates manufactured using automated fibre placement. Journal of Composite Materials, 54(9), 1217-1231. doi:10.1177/0021998319875491
    34. Mohammad Saadatfar, Alex Miles, Silvano Sommacal, Mark Knachstedt, Paul Compston. “3D characterisation of carbon fibre reinforced composite microstructure via X-ray computed tomography and fully convolutional network (FCN)”. Conference on Industrial Computed Tomography, Wels, Austria (ICT 2020), 4th - 7th February 2020
    35. Wanigasekara, C., Oromiehie, E., Swain, A., Prusty, B. G., & Nguang, S. K. (2020). Machine Learning Based Predictive Model for AFP-Based Unidirectional Composite Laminates. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 16(4), 2315-2324. doi:10.1109/TII.2019.2932398
    36. Silvano Sommacal, Alexander Matschinski, Klaus Drechsler, Paul Compston: “CF/PEEK 3D Printed materials microstructure characterisation by X-ray computed tomography”. SAMPE Europe Conference 2020, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 30th September - 1st October 2020
    37. Oromiehie, E., Das Chakladar, N., Rajan, G., & Prusty, B. G. (2019). Online monitoring and prediction of thermo-mechanics of AFP based thermoplastic composites. Sensors (Switzerland), 19(6). doi:10.3390/s19061310
    38. Oromiehie, E., Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2019). Automated fibre placement based composite structures: Review on the defects, impacts and inspections techniques. Composite Structures, 224. doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2019.110987
    39. C.M. Stokes-Griffin, A. Kollmannsberger, P. Compston, K. Drechsler, The effect of processing temperature on wedge peel strength of CF/PA6 laminates manufactured in a laser tape placement process, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 121, 2019, Pages 84-91, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2019.02.011.
    40. Wanigasekara, C., Swain, A., Nguang, S. K., & Gangadhara Prusty, B. (2019). Neural Network Based Inverse System Identification from Small Data Sets. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.
    41. Oromiehie, E., Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2018). Characterization of process-induced defects in automated fiber placement manufacturing of composites using fiber Bragg grating sensors. Structural Health Monitoring, 17(1), 108-117. doi:10.1177/1475921716685935
    42. C.M. Stokes-Griffin, A. Kollmannsberger, S. Ehard, P. Compston, K. Drechsler, Manufacture of steel–CF/PA6 hybrids in a laser tape placement process: Effect of first-ply placement rate on thermal history and lap shear strength, Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, Volume 111, 2018, Pages 42-53, ISSN 1359-835X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2018.05.007.
    43. Oromiehie, E., Gangadhara Prusty, B., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2017). In-situ simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature in automated fiber placement (AFP) using optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Advanced Manufacturing: Polymer and Composites Science, 3(2), 52-61. doi:10.1080/20550340.2017.1317447
    44. Oromiehie, E., Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2017). The influence of consolidation force on the performance of AFP manufactured laminates. Paper presented at the ICCM International Conferences on Composite Materials.
    45. Oromiehie, E., Prusty, B. G., Rajan, G., Wanigasekara, C., & Swain, A. (2017). Machine learning based process monitoring and characterisation of automated composites. Paper presented at the International SAMPE Technical Conference.
    46. Oromiehie, E., Prusty, B. G., Compston, P., & Rajan, G. (2016). In situ process monitoring for automated fibre placement using fibre Bragg grating sensors. Structural Health Monitoring, 15(6), 706-714. doi:10.1177/1475921716658616

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