The team at the University of Strathclyde-operated Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) Group, has bolstered its technical capability with new equipment that will be used for ‘net zero’ focused R&D projects — an Accudyne automated fibre placement (AFP) cell, a DREF 3000 spinning system, and an Xplore FL fibre line.

Iain Bomphray, a director at the LMC, said: “We are excited about this new equipment and its potential to help Scotland’s manufacturers win the race towards ‘net zero’. The realities of the climate emergency have never been starker and every manufacturing business, whatever it makes, needs to be thinking about how it is going to reduce its impact on the environment and materials is a good place to start. Whether this involves reformatting in-process waste or end-of-life recyclate we aim to find a solution. Using this new industry-scale equipment we can safely explore new materials and processes away from the pressures of the production line.”

The LMC is currently involved in high-profile R&D projects and is seeking to develop the UK’s first wind turbine blade recycling pilot plant and save millions of tonnes of waste. Within its ‘Future Fibre’ programme, the team is also aiming to make ‘greener’ polymers for engineering and composites. Using its new bench top fibre spinning rig, it will explore new fibre formulations and hopes to make sustainable fibre from biomass, which could one day make its way into cars and aeroplanes.

The LMC’s new Accudyne AFP cell, the only one of its kind in Scotland, will allow manufacturers to try out and test new or different composite materials that are lighter and stronger than ‘more traditional’ materials such as steel and aluminium. Using its spinning system, a ‘unique capability’ in the UK, the team will also work to provide yarns with bespoke blends of fibres for producers of composite parts to find product solutions for previously recycled fibres.