STELIA Aerospace Composites, Tier 1 aerostructure producer, is third in Europe to add new Cincinnati tape layer.
STELIA Aerospace Composites has purchased a new Cincinnati CHARGER Small Flat Tape Layer (SFTL), for the company's plant in Salaunes, France. It will be used for layup of Airbus composite components, and is one of three recently sold to European Airbus suppliers. "The Cincinnati SFTL has enjoyed wide appeal in Europe because of its compact size, productivity and wide range of capabilities, despite strong competition in that region," said Steve Albers, Composites Product Manager for Fives Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati SFTL is a bed-type machine that features a simplified, versatile tape head and integral vacuum layup table. The SFTL platform provides a solution for production of long, narrow, flat parts such as spars, stringers, beams, flaps and skins. It is designed and built using modules and technologies from larger Cincinnati tape layers.
Offered in two models, the Cincinnati SFTL produces laminates up to 1.4 m (55 inches) wide on the standard machine, and 3.2 m (126 inches) wide on the wide version. Either model can be configured with additional bed and vacuum table modules to increase the maximum laminate length in one-meter increments to optimize the machine size for the customer's facility. Both models share the same compact design that fits easily into low-bay facilities, and installs on a flat floor without special foundation.
According to Albers, "The new generation tape head on the CHARGER SFTL is the most productive and consistent on the market for laminating and compacting layers of carbon/epoxy tape. The new head allows faster, simpler side loading of tape rolls up to 300 mm (12 inches) wide and 650 mm (25.6 inches) diameter. Common hardware permits layup of up to 300 mm (12 inches) wide tape with minimal changeover time. The advanced head design also features tape flaw detection, integrated ultrasonic laminate cutter and laser trace inspection for maximum system flexibility and performance."
For more information contact:
Fives Machining Systems Inc.
2200 Litton Lane
Hebron, KY 41048
859-534-4600
www.fivesmsi.com
www.fivesgroup.com