The “ThermoPros” project, funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research under grant 03INT713BG, ran from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023. Its overarching aim was to establish a strategic partnership between Japanese and German partners and to develop technologies for the mass production of thermoplastic carbon‑fibre reinforced plastic (CFK) profiles. The project sought to create a low‑complexity, cost‑effective manufacturing chain that would incorporate several innovations, including roll‑forming for continuous production of profiles with local bulges, interval hot‑pressing for curved thermoplastic panels, and a novel heating technology to dramatically increase placement speeds for high‑temperature thermoplastics.

The technical focus of the report is the further development of the Continuous Resistance Heating Technology (CoRe HeaT). At project start, a prototype end‑effector had already demonstrated compatibility with dry‑carbon‑fibre preforms. Early trials suggested that certain thermoplastic prepreg preforms could also be processed, but the insulating matrix posed a challenge. The project investigated rapid assessment methods for preform compatibility, such as optical inspection, fibre‑volume‑fraction measurement, and micro‑slit imaging. These techniques allowed the team to predict whether a given preform would respond adequately to the CoRe HeaT system without extensive testing.

CoRe HeaT offers response times in the microsecond range, far faster than conventional heating methods such as hot‑gas, infrared, laser, or flash‑lamp, which typically respond in milliseconds or longer. This rapid heating enables tighter temperature control and higher placement speeds, directly translating into increased productivity. The project successfully adapted the technology to thermoplastic preforms, producing curved, unidirectional (curved‑UD) laminates that were then processed by the Japanese partner Tsudakoma using a Continuous Compression Molding (CCM) system to form structural panels. Mechanical testing of the resulting laminates confirmed that the rapid heating did not compromise material integrity; the laminates retained the required strength and stiffness for aerospace applications.

In addition to the heating system, the project developed a roll‑forming process for continuous production of thermoplastic profiles with local bulges, and an interval hot‑press technique for creating curved thermoplastic panels suitable for aircraft skin panels. These innovations collectively reduce process complexity and cost while maintaining high structural performance.

Collaboration was a cornerstone of the effort. On the German side, partners included Aumo GmbH, CTC GmbH, Carbon Truck & Trailer GmbH, HIGHTEX Verstärkungsstrukturen GmbH, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) with its Institute for System Light Construction (SY), the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU), and the Technical University of Chemnitz (TUC) with its Chair for Structural Light Construction and Polymer Processing (SLK). Japanese collaborators were Toray Industries, Inc., Maruhachi Co., Ltd., Tsudakoma Corp., Daido Kogyo Co., Ltd., the ICC Innovative Composite Materials Research & Development Center, and the Industrial Research Institute of Ishikawa (IRII). Tsudakoma played a pivotal role in the development and testing of the curved‑UD laminates and in the CCM process that produced the final panels. The project’s interdisciplinary nature combined expertise in materials science, process engineering, and structural design, enabling the successful translation of laboratory concepts into scalable manufacturing solutions.