The Composite Centre at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) (
www.amrc.co.uk) has announced that its high-pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM) and composite press facility is now ready to host collaborative R&D projects with manufacturers in the composites industry.
The bespoke Krauss Maffei RimStar Compact is the most advanced HP-RTM system operating within a UK research institution and is being used by the AMRC to support the development of novel composite technologies.
The system has dual resin feeds and mixing heads, with the resin and hardeners mixed at the impingement head — located in a closed, matched mould — under a high-pressure colliding process and instantaneously injected into the preform.
The multiple heads mean that the resin flow rate can be higher.
Darren Wells, AMRC Composite Centre research engineer, said: “This unique feature of the system allows us to extend the range of highly reactive but fast-acting resins and hardeners we work with, giving us greater flexibility to conduct research with novel or unusual composite materials and to produce more-complex geometric component structures.
"These highly reactive resins are being used more frequently within HP-RTM techniques and have made it possible for us to bring cure times down to within 3min, which offers huge savings in turnround times.”
A UK-manufactured press with two separate lower platens (allowing for both heated and cooled processes) completes the system.