Omega Systèmes expands composite formatting capabilities to meet future aerospace program demand
Installation of a flexible converting line at the Web Industries company’s Nantes site increases French production capacity to supply commercial-scale volumes of thermoset slit tape.
Thermoset slitting line at the Nantes-based Center of Excellence. Photo Credit: Web Industries
To support European aerospace’s goal to reduce the environmental footprint of the air transport sector while increasing global competitiveness, Omega Systèmes, a Web Industries (Marlborough, Mass., U.S.) company, has installed and commissioned a thermoset slitting line at its European Center of Excellence in Nantes, France. This investment was partially funded by a grant awarded to Omega Systèmes under the France Relance [Recovery] plan.
The production line will be dedicated to efficiently manufacture spooled thermoset slit tape within a controlled aerospace-grade environment. It will also provide improved material yields with reduced associated waste for end-use customers while maintaining Web’s high standard of slit tape quality, according to the company.
The new line expands the company’s existing composite cutting and kitting and thermoplastic slitting services, and will enable Web Industries to meet the increasing demands of its customers and partners for aerospace-quality services regardless of the material input and output formats.
Master rolls of thermoset materials are converted into precision width slit tapes ranging from 3 to 12.7 millimeters and wound onto long-length spools. Output formats are customized to conform to application specifications, winding patterns, size and weight constrains and additional material requirements. Web Industries says the technology is qualified for all major automated fiber placement (AFP) systems and joins existing slitting lines at the Nantes site that are also qualified for all AFP and automated tape laying (ATL) systems.
According to Web Industries, its Center of Excellence offers the European market access to technical teams and pilot lines to support the demonstration and rapid development, testing and qualification of different composite materials. The facility features thermoset and thermoplastic formatting lines with commercial-scale capacities and processes ready to support the commercialization of materials used in primary and secondary structures for emerging aerospace and space projects.
“We will deliver higher-value products to the market that meet the requirements of future aircraft programs. Customers will benefit from our large-scale aerospace-quality production capacities, allowing them to reduce costs through economies of scale and get their products to market faster,” Sebastian Fehl, Web Industries’ director of operations for Europe, says. “We are continuously investing in providing the best production standards to our supply chain partners. The addition of this capability at Omega Systèmes now offers our customers in Europe a full range of production scale material formats to support AFP, ATL and hand layup of thermoset and thermoplastic composite materials.”
Web Industries’ ongoing investment in and development of new technologies, backed by the modernization of its facilities, reinforces the company’s position as a key supply chain partner for European commercial aerospace programs.
