COMPOSITE FORMING
Composite Moulding
Composite moulding presses are heavy-duty, typically hydraulic presses, designed for forming high performance composite component and metal/composite laminates that can be used by various industries.
They are designed with extremely accurate temperature control and manufactured to tight tolerance to ensure flatness and parallelism of the platens, to allow manufacturers to produce extremely accurate components.
- Platens size can vary from 3m x 0.3m up to 10m x 2.0m.
- Multi-zoned heating control possible on larger platen sizes.
- Platens can be heated through use of electric cartridge heaters, steam, water or thermal fluid depending on temperature range and accuracy.
- The thermal fluid heating option offers very accurate ramping up and down control.
- Offering high temperature forming
- Platens accurately machined and ground flat and parallel.
Benefits
- Accurate temperature control
- Flatness/parallel platform for accepting tooling or flat panel products.
- Flatness/parallel accuracy during the pressing cycle.
- Creates strong and durable components.
- Ideal for creating high-strength/lightweight components.
Applications
Helicopter rotor blades, aircraft floor panels, bulkhead panels, Interior structural wall panels, and aircraft engine nacelles
COMPOSITE FORMING
High Pressure Resin Transfer Moulding
The High-Pressure Resin Transfer Moulding (HP-RTM) process is an advanced forming process used primarily in the automotive and aerospace industries to produce lightweight, high-strength components.
The Process
The process involves injecting resins using multiple injector heads into a closed mould containing pre-positioned carbon fibres at high pressure and at relatively fast injection rates. It is a highly repeatable process, due to its robust nature.
Benefits
The High-Pressure Resin Transfer Moulding process delivers several benefits, such as:
- Suitable for high-volume production
- Fast injection rates
- Fast cycle times
- High-quality components
- Excellent surface finish
It is ideal for producing high-quality composite parts with consistent properties and offering a good surface finish.
Applications
Aerospace, Automotive
COMPOSITE FORMING
Pre-preg Forming
The Pre-preg process is an advanced forming process used primarily in the automotive and aerospace industries to produce lightweight, high-performance composite parts using pre-impregnated materials.
Benefits
- Cost-effective composite forming process
- High-performance components
- Low-to-medium volume production
- Eliminates the need for manual resin application during the manufacturing process
Applications
- Aircraft panels
- Fuselage structures
- Helicopter rotor blades
- Automotive components
COMPOSITE FORMING
Multi-Daylight Platen Presses
Multi-Daylight Platen Composite Hot Forming Presses are extremely popular with various industries due to their capability to deliver increased productivity, with up to twenty component sheets being processed through the press at any one time.
Benefits
- Increased productivity (twenty sheets can be processed through the press at any one time)
- Reduced production costs
- Platens designed from solid steel construction to provide substantial resistance to thermal distortion
Applications
- General PVC floor tiles
- Decorative interior wall panels
- Aircraft interior panels