Abstract

The transport sector has exerted and continue to be the driving force for the development of new materials and lightweight solutions. The present study focuses on the work developed in a European project (CARBODIN https://carbodin.eu/) where one of the main objectives is to develop innovative and affordable solutions for advanced car body shells. Thus, contributing to the development of the next generation of passenger trains that will be lighter as well as more energy- and cost-efficient. Composite materials appear to be one of the most promising candidates to attain these ambitious targets. Therefore, new strategies to achieve greater automation are presented as novel manufacturing routes and offer a cost-effective industrial solution.  This study has allowed the integration of unconventional technologies, such as AFP, within conventional production systems, such as VIP, which is the key to developing sustainable units, overcoming the common difficulties associated with processing and achieving the modularity of the manufacturing process and the reduction of the weight of the final rail structure. For this reason, a comparison of the manufacture of both monolithic composites and sandwich structures have been obtained through the VIP process, manufactured in an automated and manual way. Several automated approaches have been studied, with the choice of the robotized lay up of bindered dry fibers. An out of autoclave manufacturing was assisted through different monitoring technologies such as resin arrival sensors and thermography in order to ensure high quality components.