A new automation sensation!

Cygnet Tekimp's Filament Winding Machine (002)
Cygnet Tekimp's Filament Winding Machine (002)

With the goal of developing the most effective way of creating strong, lightweight and uniform filament wound parts through the control of resin to fibre ratios, Cygnet Texkimp’s ground-breaking 3D Winding machine is set to address some of the big gaps in the composites production market.

Fibre converting specialist and custom machine builder Cygnet Texkimp recently completed a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership with The University of Manchester to develop new and cutting-edge ways to manufacture complex, high volume parts using filament winding technology.

Partnering with the University’s School of Materials, Cygnet Texkimp carried out an extensive programme of research into advanced filament winding techniques and developed two new pieces of filament winding technology.

The focus of the project was to develop Cygnet Texkimp’s ground-breaking 3D Winding machine in order to address one of the biggest gaps in the composites market - how to create components cost-effectively, in high volumes and at high speeds. Based on the 9-axis robotic winding concept first developed by Professor Prasad Potluri, Cygnet Texkimp has created the world’s first robotic 3D winding machine capable of making complex parts for the global automotive and aerospace industries.

Alongside this technology, the company has also developed a 4-axis, robotic filament winding cell incorporating the well-proven driven unwind system to handle multi-filament bobbins and provide accurate tension control of the fibre. The technology has been designed to fulfil increasingly common customer requirements to better control resin to fibre weights and manage data and QA for the process.

“Filament winding is the best-established method of making composite parts,” begins Cygnet Texkimp’s technical manager, Andy Whitham. “Our goal has been to develop the most effective way of creating ideal parts in terms of weight, strength and uniformity by controlling resin to fibre ratios.”

An integrated online resin metering system is central to Cygnet Texkimp’s design.

“Fibres are fed to an applicator head where they are accurately spread and coated with a controlled amount of resin before being guided onto a mandrel. Because the resin is applied at the point of application, the machine can use resins with a shorter pot life or faster cure cycle, again increasing the output of the system as a whole.

“The technology has been designed to respond to inherent variations in the speed at which filaments are wound onto the mandrel, controlling resin flow under all conditions during the wind.”

The wind of change

In terms of the industries most benefiting from Cygnet-Texkimp’s production capabilities, Whitham is seeing demand for this technology from manufacturers of parts including drive shafts, and beams for automotive applications.

“As well as being lighter than conventional materials, filament-wound parts can be tailored to provide a degree of flex that acts as an important safety property in the event of a collision. The wind can also be adjusted to change the material thickness or geometry and increase strength in certain areas.”

The company’s filament winding cell can also create aerospace grade parts using slit tapes or tow-preg.

“The precision placement of tapes, including thermoplastic tapes or comingled tows can be achieved by simultaneously heating and laying the filaments,” explains Andy. “This is a faster, cleaner way of creating lighter parts, which is particularly attractive to the automotive industry.”

It's interesting to know what happens to any mandrel used during the filament winding process. Whitham says that conventionally, the mandrel is removed after curing and this allows it to be reused, with cleaning, handling, refurbishment and so on.

“Alternatively, the mandrel can be made of a light polymer or aluminium former which is left inside the part contributing little to the overall strength of the final product. In contrast, our 3D Winder requires very little strength from the core compared with conventional rotating mandrel technologies. This means the mandrel can be light enough to become part of the final structure and therefore does not need to be removed.”

Today’s manufacturers are giving increasingly more consideration to the implementation and use of automation in production. By fully-automating its filament winding technology into a bespoke manufacturing solution, Cygnet Texkimp has added another layer of efficiency and productivity.

“There’s a lot that goes on in a filament winding cell, and many opportunities to improve the process using automation. We offer a full suite of automation from fibre handling and resin mixing to management of the finished part and maintenance of the mandrel. We use robotics to remove and clean the mandrel and to perform additional checks, periodic servicing and replacement of the mandrel to ensure the process is always running as efficiently as possible.

“We also offer part traceability through automation and can integrate the whole production cell to include part ID, resin preparation, putting the part into an oven, applying shrink tape if required, removing and caring for the mandrel, processing the part including non-destructive testing, adding other parts, and cleaning the system.

“The ability to identify and trace each mandrel or part and therefore provide the end user with lifecycle information is useful. Using automated software makes it possible to identify each mandrel in a system and log it with its own individual history so that effective planned maintenance may be carried out before parts are manufactured.”

Rotating and innovating

With regard to the main focus areas of Cygnet Texkimp’s current R&D efforts and the future of the filament winding sector, Whitham adds that “in the near future and led by demand from the markets we serve, the company’s own R&D activity will include more research and product development around the use of thermoplastics, improved resin to fibre control for traditional thermosets, the fabrication of more complex parts, the addition of more winding-in features, such as RFID, fasteners, etc. Our aim is to provide greater levels of precision and traceability of parts whilst maintaining or improving cycle times.”

Finally, what truly differentiates Cygnet Texkimp from the competition is the fact that it is a custom machine builder with decades of expertise in special purpose machinery design. This means that rather than offering a standard product, it tailors each solution to suit the customer’s exact requirements.

“Our technology portfolio extends far beyond filament winding to include creels, prepreg, coating, lamination and consolidation processing lines, tape-slitting and spooling, and filament-winding equipment, alongside state-of-the-art fibre handling and robotics systems,” Whitham concludes. “So, we’re capable of integrating filament winding machinery into a full production line and managing the whole process from design to commissioning.”

http://cygnet-texkimp.com

Company

Cygnet Texkimp

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