Following the recent announcement of the doubling of the size of The UK’s National Composites Centre (NCC), the NCC has announced a significant new commitment to its ability to support future high volume product & manufacturing process development in the composites industries. Aimed at applications such as future automotive, commercial vehicles & rail manufacture, the purchase of what is believed to be the largest short upstroke press in Europe will set the centre apart in its ability to ‘form the future’ of high volume composites manufacturing technology. As well as its size, innovative design and variety of process modes, the press covers all common press methods for composite materials, providing a truly versatile device for the future of high volume composites manufacturing in the UK. Tom Hitchings, NCC business development director said: “The NCC went out to tender for a press to be the flagship item in a line to develop rapid manufacture of large composite components. I am pleased to say that Schuler have won the contract to provide a short upstroke press with 36,000kN of press force and a clamping surface of 3.6 x 2.4m. “The aim is to provide high rate and high volume press capability where curing takes just four to eight minutes. This press will provide a great opportunity to any company wishing to make the largest scale prototypes, utilising processes such as high pressure resin transfer moulding (HPRTM). “When dealing with large thermoplastic composite parts, the speed of closing is essential to avoid premature cooling. It’s also essential to provide the complementary surrounding high speed shuttle systems, infrared ovens and heated tools for tempering. All of this provides flexibility for the NCC to provide bespoke & versatile services to any company working in high volume composite manufacture, crucially in either short, long or continuous fibres.” Stated Schuler product manager, Raimund Zirn: “The benefits of the short upstroke press compared to down stroke designs are the high closing speeds of 1000mm/s, the shorter pressure build-up times of under 0.3secs and the significantly lower construction height. When vacuumising, fast resin injection, high resin pressures and tempered dies mean that the gelling process virtually begins with the wetting of the last fibre.” www.nccuk.com
