HOT DRAPE FORMING PLANT

Details

The plant, named HDF4, enables the “hot drape forming” phase for carbon fiber parts. These parts, placed on specific mandrels, undergo a heat treatment under vacuum, allowing them to take the final shape (determined precisely by the mandrel), before the “curing” phase in the autoclave.

The HDF4 consists of a supporting structure made up of two vertical trusses and a horizontal structure also composed of modular and assembled aluminum trusses. This supports the heating system (a matrix of lamps individually controlled by a PLC) and the cooling system to carry out the different required cycles.

Attached to the horizontal structure is a frame holding a silicone membrane, used to create vacuum conditions when the parts are positioned on specially designed tables.

The Hot Drape Forming process is managed via an operator panel through a PLC, featuring a user-friendly interface that allows maximum configurability in terms of lamp activation, movement along the Z-axis, and process timing, ensuring that all different families of parts can be handled with the appropriate “recipes.”