Presses and press systems are used in aircraft manufacturing – something well known to leading aircraft manufacturers. As a specialist in press systems, WICKERT was commissioned to build a composite press system. The challenges involved in developing this system were groundbreaking.
When the official project launch of the twin-engine long-haul aircraft Airbus A350 XWB took place on December 1, 2006, no one at WICKERT in Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, imagined being part of this innovative development.
WICKERT developed a composite press for the production of passenger doors and cargo hatches for the wide-body aircraft of the A350 series. This marked the beginning of the company’s most demanding project to date – the development of a composite press system for Airbus.
But what makes these enormous aircraft so special? The wingspan of the A350 exceeds 64 meters, surpassing that of the Airbus A330. The base version of the A350-800 alone accommodates 270 passengers. A key advantage of this new development is the tremendous fuel savings.
Airbus itself reports approximately 30 percent savings per seat compared to a competing aircraft in the same class. A major contributing factor is the use of lightweight high-performance materials – also used for the aircraft doors. These doors are manufactured using a press from WICKERT.
The (carbon) fiber-reinforced composite components produced using the so-called Resin Transfer Molding process (RTM) are used not only in aircraft manufacturing but also in the automotive industry.
Thermoplastic fiber-reinforced composites in particular offer significant advantages in terms of weldability, processing times, and recyclability. In addition, composite materials offer great flexibility in part geometry and design.
Another advantage: Due to their low melt viscosity, thermoplastic in-situ polymerizing material systems can penetrate fiber structures very effectively. This allows for the production of structural components with a comparatively high fiber volume content while maintaining good impact resistance.
The RTM process is a closed method in which the resin (the matrix) is either drawn into the glass and carbon fibers under vacuum or injected under pressure. In the case under consideration, the injection method is used.