WIREDGOV

Knowledge Transfer Partnership develops carbon fibre winding machine to create complex and curved components for next-generation cars and aeroplanes.

Specialist machinery manufacturer Cygnet Texkimp and the University of Manchester have created a cutting-edge machine to support the next generation of fuel-efficient cars and aeroplanes.

The 3D Winder is the world’s first robotic winding machine capable of laying carbon fibre to make complex, lightweight composite parts for industry.

It comes out of a 2-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

Find out more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and how they could benefit you.

Luke Vardy, Managing Director of Cygnet Texkimp, said:

The 3D Winder revolutionises what the composites industry can achieve with winding. It offers benefits in terms of cost and speed of manufacture as well as the strength, uniformity and repeatability of the finished product.

There is nothing else like it on the market at the moment. It is the first machine of its kind.

Turning research into reality

The 3D Winder builds on a prototype from the university’s School of Materials.

Through the KTP, the Northwich-based company brought in PhD graduate and composites academic, Dr Yan Liu, to develop this technology to work with more complex and curved shapes.

The resulting machine uses a technique called filament winding to create complex components such as fuel pipes and aircraft wing spars, which are the main structural members of the wing.

It does so cost-effectively, in high volumes and at high speeds. Trials have shown it to produce parts much quicker and to a higher integrity than traditional methods such as braiding and weaving. It has the potential to wind an aircraft wing spar in just a few minutes.

Click here for full press release