The new facility, which will create more than 100 new jobs in Scotland has been equipped with state-of-the-art composite manufacturing machinery using the latest automation and robotics. With this new facility, Spirit will achieve the required rate of approximately 700 aircraft and 7,000 spoilers annually.

The opening of this new facility is part of Spirit’s journey to becoming a leader in advanced out of autoclave composite technology. It demonstrates how we can develop cost-effective new technologies and manufacturing processes that will play a central role in the next generation of aircraft programs.

Scott McLarty, Spirit AeroSystem’s senior vice president of Airbus programs

Spirit AeroSystems is one of the largest manufacturers of aerostructures in the world with design and builds capabilities for both commercial and defence customers. In addition to spoilers, the company currently produces Airbus’s A320 family leading and trailing edge.

The post Spirit AeroSystems Opens New Composites Manufacturing Facility appeared first on Composites Today.

In the past, team members have been limited to using commercially available woven reinforcing materials, now, they will be able to design and weave their own material. The new capability means the Centre will be able to push the boundaries of processes like Resin Transfer Moulding, where components are made by injecting resin into a mould into which dry fibre has been laid down.

The centres researchers have been studying how resin flows through fabrics made from carbon fibre and found the resin flow through the fabric isn’t symmetrical, despite the weave pattern being perfectly symmetrical. They believe this may be a result of slightly differing yarn tensions within the fabric.

Now they hope to increase their knowledge by experimenting with different tensions for the warp – the long continuous threads and the weft – the thread that is fed across the loom between the warp threads to create the woven material.

AMRC Composite Centre’s Dr Jody Turner said;

If we can control warp and weft tension we might be able to influence resin flow. We also want to push the machine to the limit of its capabilities. For example, it isn’t designed to produce three dimensional structures, but we are hoping to create structures like pockets and flaps.

If the researchers are successful, they could be able to weave materials that could be opened up to form a series of boxes or a honeycomb structure that would give the completed composite component additional strength.

The post Research Centre Invests in Custom Composites Loom appeared first on Composites Today.

Henkle’s partner network which includes carbon fiber manufacturer Zoltek and the sports car builder Roding Automobile have created a lightweight yet high-strength carbon roof segment of the 950 kg sports car, the superlight Roding Roadster R1 to showcase the process.

Composite materials based on carbon fibres combine lightness in weight with enormous strength, thus also offering outstanding characteristics in terms of safety and crash behavior. Good mechanical properties such as rigidity in the resin system employed are thus essential, particularly when it comes to absorbing the huge forces encountered in motor sport.

Until now, there have been certain limitations in the use of lightweight components as they are restricted in the degree to which they can meet the requirements of the automotive industry in respect of cycle times and level of automation. In particular, composites have been very rarely used for the external components of vehicles as the requisite post-treatment of the surface for subsequent painting has been too costly and time-consuming, based as it is on manual processes.

KraussMaffei together with a partner network has now succeeded in producing in a fully automated process composite components that exhibit a surface quality suitable for immediate painting. This has become possible thanks to the development of Loctite MAX 3: This new, three-component polyurethane-based matrix resin system from Henkel contains not only the resin and hardener but also a high-performance release agent aligned to a self-releasing polyurethane lacquer manufactured by Rühl Puromer GmbH.

Georg Käsmeier, Managing Director of Roding Automobile said;

The component quality achieved in this project with Loctite MAX 3 is outstanding. Given the clear trend toward painted carbon components in particular, we see enormous potential for this process being used in conjunction with RTM technology for duplicate industrial production.

The polyurethane-based matrix resin technology is characterised by significantly faster curing compared to the epoxy resins usually used for the resin transfer moulding process. Due to its low viscosity, the resin penetrates the fibre material more easily and with less alignment disruption, giving rise to shorter injection times and thus short cycle times in series production.

Henkel has also improved the temperature resistance of the PUR resin, bringing Loctite MAX 3 up to a level comparable with that of epoxy resins in relation to this particular property. This high temperature resistance means that the fibre-reinforced composites can be de-moulded quicker.

With the internal release agent ensuring easy detachment of the component from its mould, the resultant surface is of sufficiently high quality to allow immediate painting and bonding. While enabling manufacture of external and visible components with an outstanding surface quality, this also accelerates the production process, facilitating increased automation and thus mass production.

[rssless] [/rssless]

The post Henkel Showcase new Lighter-weight Automotive Components appeared first on Composites Today.

The Brazilian company Edra Equipamentos has developed a sustainable technology for the molding of composite parts. Named RTM-G or Resin Transfer Molding – Glass, the process combines the injection of resin into the mould with the use of post-consumer waste from tempered glass, which acts as reinforcement material in place of traditional fibreglass or glass mat.

As well as allowing the reuse of the glass that would be discarded, the RTM-G only uses colourless resins derived from renewable and recycled sources and the peroxide used for curing or hardening the polymers is free of phthalates, which are substances considered harmful to the environment.

Initially, RTM-G will be used by Edra Equipamentos to produce furniture, in the initial testing phase tempered glass waste has rendered a very interesting aspect to the tables and benches that they produced.

[rssless][raw][connections id=’171′][/raw][/rssless]

The post Edra Equipamentos Develops Sustainable Technology for Composite Moulding appeared first on Composites Today.

The new Transportation Research and Application Centre will be sited at Momentive’s Duisburg plant, already an epoxy production and R&D facility which develops new formulations for a range of end uses. The availability of fast-reacting formulations now allows slow Resin Transfer Moulding processes to be replaced with fast-moulding methods. Driving down cycle times for composite components can minimise times for automotive applications. The new lab will house a dosing/injection unit and press from Cannon, specifically engineered for the rapid production of small-batch epoxy composite test components.

The Centre’s main applications technology equipment will be installed by the end of March and the centre is expected to be fully operational in its first phase by April or May.

[raw][connections id=’75’][/raw]

The post Momentive to Open Advanced Applications Development Centre in Germany appeared first on Composites Today.

Formax a manufacturer of carbon fibre and speciality reinforcements has formed an research collaboration with the Polymer and Composite Engineering (PaCE) group based at Imperial College in London.

The project will focus on developing the technology of short and long fibre composites in the form of a novel binding chemistry. The findings will improve the processability of carbon preforms for RTM and infusion techniques, but most importantly enhance the mechanical performance of the finished carbon composite.

Formax are working closely with PaCE members Professor Alexander Bismark and Dr Koon-Yang Lee. PaCE is a multidisciplinary research group, bridging the gap between chemistry, materials science, processing and engineering applications. This recent collaboration with PaCE is possible as a result of Formax obtaining two funding streams from Imperial College – the Knowledge Transfer Secondment (KTS) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Oliver Wessely, Managing Director of Formax said;

We are immensely proud to be affiliated with such an accredited research group at Imperial College. By working closely with the PaCE team, Formax will continue to pursue and deliver high quality and innovative bespoke reinforcements.

[raw][connections id=’18’][/raw]

The post Formax Teams up with the Imperial College to develop Binding Technology for Carbon Composites appeared first on Composites Today.