Public Funding for Heraeus Noblelight Limited

Utilisation of lightweight solutions in vehicles is key to UK's/EU's 2050 Net Zero. Enhancing the UK's capability to produce lightweight structures with advanced performance and lower manufacturing cost, addressing the needs of the global market, presents an enormous opportunity for jobs and prosperity. Currently, fibrous composites incorporated in a polymeric matrix are the most advanced solution for transport applications due to their exceptional combination of high strength and rigidity with a low specific weight. However, their manufacture is currently limited to standard inflexible solutions - mostly straight fibre layers and relatively thin structures assembled after primary production - and is expensive. These hinder the expansion of composite materials applications and limit the overall economic and sustainability opportunity. ADIMAC puts forward a paradigm shift in composites manufacture through the development of a new process. The new process is based on the integration of two technologies established recently in the UK: (i) Rapid-Tow-Shearing (RTS) -- which is the world's first automated manufacturing process that can produce composites with curved fibre paths and; (ii) Layer-by-Layer (LbL) curing - a solution that allows fast and inexpensive production of thick composite components. The combination of these with developments around sequential processing and heating and tooling solutions will result in the Additive-Rapid-Tow-Shearing-Layer-by-Layer (ADD-RTS/LbL) process that will be capable to produce composite components with fibres following arbitrary curved orientations, unconstrained geometrical characteristics and optimised mechanical behaviour at low cost. ADIMAC is led by iCOMAT, who are the originator of RTS, and includes Cranfield University, who have developed LbL curing, Hereaus Noblelight, who are world leaders in radiation heating solutions for manufacturing, and Prodrive who are one of the UKs largest manufacturer of composites using pre-impregnated materials for the automotive, motorsport and aerospace sectors. The consortium is supported by three aerospace end-users (Rolls-Royce, Spirit-AeroSystems, GKN-Aerospace) on an advisory-role.

Composite materials are used in many industries, including aerospace and automotive, due to their advantageous material properties. The manufacturing processes used to make the composite components found in cars, aircraft etc. all use heating technologies to melt, soften or cure the constituent materials. There is a on-going need to increase the speed and quality of these processes, in order to satisfy growing demand in each industry, but current trial-and-error heating methods leave little opportunity for rapid and significant improvement. Therefore, a deeper understanding is required of the heating performance of the materials involved, combined with a knowledge of which heating technology is best for each process. This project will provide the knowledge required to achieve such improvements by combining physical testing and numerical simulation to inform the composites industry of the most appropriate heating technology for each particular manufacturing process and, furthermore, to give guidance on how to use that technology most efficiently. It will compare existing heating technologies, such as infrared lamps and lasers, with a new, innovate technology known as a Xenon flashlamp, and aims to provide improvements in the speed, cost and quality of manufacture as well as reduce the energy and waste materials used in such processes. A successful outcome to the project will help to maintain and enhance the UK's position at the forefront of composites manufacture.