FPC to explore new production concepts for lightweight components

SGL Carbon (Meitingen, Germany) and Fraunhofer IGCV (Augsburg, Germany) announced Sept. 17 the official opening of their joint Fiber Placement Center (FPC) with the goal of incorporating fiber placement technology into more high volume applications across industries. The new center is headquartered at the SGL site in Meitingen. System manufacturers Compositence GmbH (Leonberg, Germany) and BA Composites GmbH (Grenzach-Wyhlen, Germany) as well as the chair for Carbon Composites at the Technical University of Munich have also joined the cooperation. In addition, also the system experts Coriolis Group SAS (Queven, France) and Cevotec GmbH (Taufkirchen bei München) are planning to come on board as partners.

With different high-tech systems and a space of over 500 m², the FPC offers customers the option to develop new production concepts and demonstrate them in prototype production. SGL Carbon can begin with high-volume production of fiber-reinforced components. Both dry and pre-impregnated fibers with or without thermoplastic matrix systems will be processed.

Preparations of projects for secondary and primary structural parts with aerospace companies and various automotive parts manufacturers worldwide are currently under way. The center’s work is closely linked with that of SGL Carbon’s Lightweight and Application Center (LAC, Meitingen, Germany), a 1,500 m² facility working develop innovative lightweight structures, processes and prototypes.

The FPC team consists of several engineers, PhD students and technicians, so that all relevant core disciplines can be covered along the composite manufacturing process chain. Thanks to the cooperation with the Technical University of Munich and the Fraunhofer IGCV, this team will also be accompanied by students working in the course of final thesis so that also the best possible conditions for the promotion of young talents are created.