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3D weaving of carbon fibre has been proven as a cost-effective method for producing high quality, large scale, high thickness laminates for use with liquid resin injection processes to produce light-weight composite materials for a variety of industries. However, to create composite preforms for use in the automotive and aerospace industries, a number of additional processes are key to enabling wide spread adoption of the technology. This project therefore focuses on the development of additional processes to create variable thickness, stabilised near net shape preforms and allow a UK SME, Antich & Sons, to move beyond the current state of the art. These preforms will allow efficient use of material within the component, be more easily handled and transported and be the correct size and shape to drop into the moulds used for injection of the composite matrix resin. The developments allow a significant step up the value chain by moving from a weaver of fabric to a manufacturer of advanced composite preforms which are ready for the next step in the manufacturing process.

Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMCs) offer the strength and stiffness of steel, but with the density of aluminium, making them an exciting candidate for reducing the weight of ground and air vehicles to help improve efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Advantages over carbon fibre reinforced plastic composites include higher temperature resistance, better toughness, recyclability and no corrosion in contact with aluminium structures. However the drawbacks are the current high cost of the alumina reinforcements and difficulty in applying existing techniques to high volume manufacture. This project aims to further develop and demonstrate a novel multiplex energy laser consolidation (MELC) process in combination with advanced 3D weaving to produce AMC components in a rapid, low energy, low waste process which is anticipated to enable the tough cost targets of the automotive industry to be met whilst reducing CO2 emissions in both the manufacturing and use phase of the components.

The BAM project researches the use of 3D woven composite material for application to aircraft structures and potentially for use in other sectors in particular the automotive sector. The expected benefits include lower weight structures and reduced manufacturing and assembly costs. The project also considers the design requirements and potential blockers in developing the technology. Suitable candidate structures will be investigated and the associated FE and other predictive software will be developed, delivering an engineering tool set. Manufacturing processes will be assessed and used to manufacture various elements of a typical test pyramid to compare the predictions with the actual performance and to begin thinking about the quality control aspects leading to the route to certification. The overall objectives of the project are to develop the complete process from design to the manufacture of 3D woven composite fabric components thereby enhancing the UK supply chain in the technologies required to deliver more innovative composite structures.

Aluminium Matrix Composites (AMCs) offer the strength and stiffness of steel, but with the density of aluminium, making them an exciting candidate for reducing the weight of ground and air vehicles to help improve efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Although in existence for many decades, the barriers to widespread uptake are ever decreasing and these materials are steadily making their way into mass vehicle production. Advantages over carbon fibre reinforced plastic composites include higher temperature resistance, better toughness, recyclability and no corrosion in contact with aluminium structures. This project will investigate the feasibility of an entirely novel manufacturing process for producing these materials which can remove many of the limitations of the existing processes. The new process uses multiple lasers to consolidate novel woven composite material into potentially large and complex shapes, enabling AMC to be used in large structures such as automotive vehicle bodies or aircraft fuselages. It will also enable production of continuous AMC strip, a first for AMC production processes and a major enabler of cost reduction.