NCC, an industry leader in developing innovative manufacturing methods, is using its signature Rapid Fiber Preform Process and its automated preform technology to produce a broad range of composite items. Used to manufacture the high quality preforms critical to successful closed molding processes, the technology is based on the Programmable Powdered Preform Process (P4) created by Owens Corning and integrated at NCC.
One of the first organizations to make preforms with robots, NCC has refined the technique and advanced the use of robots at its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Kettering, Ohio to develop its unique Rapid Fiber Preform Process.
Manufacturing benefits include:
- Fully automated process for chopping and spraying fiber
- Low cost
- Produces higher quality and performance than traditional sprayup
- Rapid fabrication – suited for high volume production
- Complex geometries
- Allows for precise fiber orientation
- Reduced scrap and material waste
- Selective inclusion of performance additives
Equipped with a two-station P4 preforming cell for the Automotive Composites Consortium (ACC), a single station P4 preforming cell modified for aerospace applications (P4A) and a single station performer (SSP) for commercial applications – NCC has used its Rapid Fiber Preform Process to produce a variety of items with dramatic results. The center has also made significant advances with development projects using this process:
- Pick-up truck boxes realized a 33 percent weight savings with no cost increase when compared to the traditional steel structure
- Composite fire helmets tested 15 percent lighter than SMC parts yet impact resistance
was increased by 15 percent - Access door for a fighter aircraft generated a cost savings of 46 percent with a nine
percent reduction in weight when compared to other composite parts - Tailcone for jet transport netted a cost savings of 80 percent with a two percent increase in weight when compared to composite assembly products
For more information about NCC’s Rapid Fiber Preform Process contact Jessica Ravine at jravine@compositecenter.org
You may also want to view NCC’s professional papers for more technical detail by clicking on the link below:
Directed Fiber Preform Case Studies