How to increase machine performance with composite materials

To date, composite materials have generally been limited to specialised machine and automation systems, due to unfamiliarity amongst design engineers of their properties and value for money. Yet composite parts can play a vital role in revolutionising machine performance and can address many of the major challenges facing designers today.

The white paper, which is available via free download from the CompoTech website, explains the highly automated manufacturing process of axial fibre placement - which can produce beams and tubes that are 10 to 15% stiffer as well as offering up to 50% greater strength in bending. The white paper also covers: the advantages of composites, how these differ from other materials; areas of application for improving speed of manufacture, productivity and quality; and, the cost benefits associated with carbon fibre and the significant savings.

Composite components can be engineered to deliver twice the stiffness of steel at a quarter of its mass, while providing vibration damping properties up to 20 times better than steel and, importantly, thermal stability in conditions of widely varying machine temperatures.

Professor Milan Ruzicka, head of the Department Mechanics, Czech Technical University, Prague, said: “This is where the technical benefits of composites lie. Companies embracing such solutions make them innovators and enhance their reputations as leaders in their field.”

www.compotech.com/composites-in-machine-structures