News: AMRC partners on £1.25m advance wind turbine blade production project

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is working alongside the University of Hull on a £1.25m project to help Siemens Gamesa tackle a key challenge in the construction of offshore wind turbine blades.

Turbine blades are made using a resin which is injected into a complex mould. However, due to the length of wind turbine blades – currently over 80m and getting bigger – it can be difficult to know whether resin has dispersed evenly through the blade. If resin is not sufficiently dispersed, the blade cannot be installed and the cost implications can be substantial.

A team at the University of Hull are now working with Siemens Gamesa, with support from the AMRC Composite Centre, to address this challenge using fibre-optic sensors embedded along the length of the blade.

If successful, it could have significant cost and efficiency benefits for the offshore wind sector.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

Professor Jim Gilbert, Professor of Engineering at the University of Hull, said: “We are delighted to have secured this significant new funding, which will enable the continuation of a successful partnership with Siemens Gamesa.

“As the offshore wind energy sector continues to accelerate, finding solutions to challenges such as this will be essential to ensure the UK can meet its ambitious net zero targets. This project builds on the University of Hull’s reputation as an expert in low-carbon energy, technology and sustainability, and also as a key stakeholder in the Humber region.”

Fibre-optic sensors installed along the length of the turbine blade will make it possible to know what is happening inside the mould as resin is injected - something which is very difficult using conventional sensors. The sensors will be able to monitor the temperature of the resin, how it is flowing along the blade, and whether it is curing at the rate it is expected to.

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Dr Clara Frias, Head of the AMRC Composite Centre, said: “If the UK is to achieve its goal of reaching net zero by 2050, we will need to harness the renewable energy sources at our disposal in the most efficient and productive way possible. Embedding fibre-optic sensors along the length of the turbine blade will give us valuable data, from which we can fully understand the wind turbine blade production process and how to improve it.

“Through this project, the AMRC, University of Hull and Siemens Gamesa can together boost offshore wind production, and ensure offshore renewables are central to the UK’s future energy mix.”

With a total research value of £1.25m, £1m of funding has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the project which will be led by the University of Hull and supported by the University of Sheffield AMRC and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy in the UK and Denmark.

It is a continuation of a successful wider project called Prosperity Partnership – which also brings in Durham University and Ørsted.

Professor Gilbert added: “This project builds on the substantial investment the university has made in Aura, cements the relationship with a key industry partner and establishes a new link with the AMRC in Sheffield.

“Collaboration, which is a key part of Aura’s ethos, is fundamental to the success of this bid: it brings people together across the University of Hull but also strengthens the long-term relationships developed with industry and academic partners.”

One of the reasons fibre-optic sensors are so important is they must be able to withstand the lightning strikes and storms offshore wind turbines encounter while operational.

The project - titled ‘Heterogeneous Fibre Optic Sensor Arrays to Monitor Composite Manufacture’ - is led by Professor James Gilbert of the Department of Engineering and Aura, along with Dr Howard Snelling in Physics and Mathematics and Dr Rob Dorrell in the Energy and Environment Institute. Dr Clara Frias and Dr Kevin Kerrigan, senior technical fellow in the AMRC Composite Centre, will be Co-Principal Investigators from the University of Sheffield AMRC, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

The work will extend research started as part of the £7.6m EPSRC/industry funded Prosperity Partnership: A New Partnership in Offshore Wind and will apply the approach to improve the quality of complex composite structures such as wind turbine blades.

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News: Nanoscale materials hold cure for manufacturing and aviation greenhouse gas emissions

Composite researchers at the AMRC are at the heart of a European-wide project to develop self-responsive aerospace composites that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and production costs in the aviation sector as it works toward the goal of net zero by 2050.

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is partnering with 16 industrial partners on the MASTRO project, which is tasked with developing intelligent bulk materials for a smart transport sector as part of Horizon 2020, the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020).

“There are three sections within MASTRO: automotive, infrastructure and aerospace; and the AMRC is leading the aerospace section of the project alongside Embraer. We’re developing three main technologies: self-cure, self-anti-icing and self-sensing,” said Matthew Collinson, Research Engineer in the AMRC Composite Centre.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The AMRC team are developing materials through the integration of carbon nanotubes – measured in billionths of a metre – which can be turned into smart products, and are now in a position to demonstrate the advances they have made.

“For the first year-and-a-half we’ve been working on developing the materials and so the next stage is developing the smart demonstrators. Now we’ve reached a point where we can build a section of a composite leading-edge wing – to show off the self-cure, self-anti-icing and self-sensing we have developed,” added Matthew.

The development of all three technologies centres on the electrically conductive nature of the composite structure, which is vital as the industry moves to more electrified aircraft, with the ultimate aim of one day being fully electric.

“Firstly, self-curing is a new manufacturing technique for these composites. Currently, they are manufactured in an autoclave but they can be slow and expensive to run. Running electrical current through the fibres of the composite to act as the heating element to cure the component can be cheaper, quicker and uses much less energy. It also complements our work on anti-icing,” said Matthew.

Another disadvantage of using autoclaves to heat composite structures, says Dr Betime Nuhiji, Technical Lead at the AMRC Composite Centre, is that engineers are limited by its size: “An autoclave produces high quality parts but it takes a lot of energy, a lot of time and you can only create a part that is as big as the autoclave.

“The Boeing 787 is manufactured in the biggest autoclave in the world, but it is expensive, not sustainable and not practical to build these huge autoclaves. The team has developed a heating system where a power supply is directly connected to the composite structure and a current is run through it; so it heats up, just like a heating element.

“There are so many benefits, but the main ones are low energy output and low equipment costs. There is also the close control of heating, because when you turn an oven off it is still hot, so you are still effectively heating the part; when you turn off the electrical system no more power is going through it.”

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Matthew said similar technology is used to investigate self-anti-icing: “Currently, aircraft remove surface ice by drawing hot air from the engine to melt the ice, but this takes power away from the engine and is less efficient, so we have been developing an electrical anti-icing system that doesn’t require separate heating elements in the component.

“Linked to both these technologies is self-sensing, monitoring the electrical resistance of the part to detect damage. When you get barely visible impact damage (BVID), the resistance changes so you can monitor that and detect where the damage is. BVID is something the aerospace industry is very interested in because it is very difficult to detect through visual inspection, which they currently do, on composite structures.”

Matthew said to enable these smart functionalities, it has required some development of the resin: “Within a composite, the fibres are extremely electrically conductive but the resin is electrically insulating. Part of the project to develop these bulk materials is to make the component more conductive by mixing carbon nanotubes into the resin, so that the whole part is conductive, not just the fibres.

“Doing that should enhance every aspect of the MASTRO project. The self-curing and the anti-icing will perform better because the heat is distributed more evenly. And then we will also get increased response in damage detection because, again, the whole composite is conductive rather than just the fibres.”

Betime said the challenge now is creating panels that replicate how they would need to be used in a real-world environment, on the leading-edge of an aeroplane wing.

“At the start of the project we conducted lots of trials on smaller panels to optimise how to detect damage and cure effectively. Now we need to upscale as the final demonstrator we want to show is the leading-edge, which is two metres long,” said Betime.

Matthew said the Covid-19 pandemic has meant work on the MASTRO project has had to slow down briefly over the summer, but a physical demonstration of the ground-breaking work they have been conducting is imminent.

“We started the latest work package at the start of 2020, which was making the two demonstrators – which have slightly different properties, then finishing the design and starting to manufacture.

“We have been delayed but we have now manufactured our first self-curing, self-anti-icing and self-sensing part and can start testing very soon.”

The overall objective of the MASTRO project is to develop intelligent bulk materials, incorporating self-responsive properties that increase consumer safety, component life-span and performance while reducing maintenance and manufacturing costs, and through-life greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU 2020 Strategy states that Europe needs to turn into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy, based on knowledge and innovation. Horizon 2020 is the financial instrument of the Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness, driving economic growth and creating jobs.

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News: Steady progress in developing new anti-roll bar technology

Experts from industry and academia continue to highlight the Sheffield city region's (SCR's) expertise in finding solutions within the cutting edge automotive sector.

The latest project is developing a revolutionary high-performance hybrid composite-metal anti-roll bar for trucks and trains and shows that the technology has the potential to spin out into other sectors such as aerospace and could see the UK take a global lead with these products.

Engineers at Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd, based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, are working on the project, co-funded by the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK, with Sheffield-based Tinsley Bridge Ltd, one of the world's leading suppliers of anti-roll bars, and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

The project is investigating the development and manufacture of lighter composite materials as an alternative to traditional metal anti-roll bars. Lightweight anti-roll bars could cut fuel consumption and emissions from rail and heavy road vehicles whilst also improving their reliability. Anti roll bars, also referred to as a stabiliser bars, sway bars, or torsion bars, is the part which stops your car tipping over when you steer heavily into a corner.

The previous Innovate UK funded project achieved a significant 65% reduction in the weight of the stabiliser bar by replacing the current solid steel component with a carbon fibre composite member. The new stabiliser bar design achieved this weight reduction without compromising performance, and offered improved durability, given that the carbon composite materials are less affected by fatigue.

The new project will further develop and refine the design of the anti-roll bars and undertake a wide variety of laboratory testing to simulate the conditions that the anti-roll bars will face during their service life.

PES Performance is heading up the engineering and design side of the project, using its expertise in composites and lightweight materials to design the anti-roll bars. The PES team will utilise Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to simulate if the proposed designs can resist the loads an anti-roll bar is subjected to prior to manufacture. Also, PES Performance will 3D optically scan the manufactured parts as part of the quality inspection process to check the quality of the manufactured parts against the original design specifications.

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Also based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside its Factory of the Future. The centre produced the anti-roll bar prototypes using its MF Tech filament winding system. This is a technique in which filaments of glass or carbon impregnated with resin are wound onto a rotating mandrel to form the desired shape. It also used its CT scanner capability to inspect the inside of the bar, checking the structural integrity and verifying the build quality.

Russell Crow, project manager at Tinsley Bridge (pictured, third right), said: "The targeted application of composite materials in automotive and rail applications has the potential to form the basis of a new era of vehicles. Significant weight reduction can be achieved by redesigning structural and safety-critical components to maximise their performance when manufactured from non-traditional materials.

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"The goal of this project is to demonstrate what can be achieved on a heavy-duty anti-roll bar without compromising the safety of the vehicle. In order to deliver such a challenging brief, we built a strong consortium, comprising of world experts in their respective fields. I am delighted that we found such engineering and manufacturing expertise in the South Yorkshire region."

Dean Gardner, engineering director at PES Performance Ltd, added; "Carbon fibre composites are commonly used in high-end supercars, but have yet to see widespread use in the volume automotive sector. This project aims to show the wider benefits that these materials can provide.

"One of the major challenges has been to achieve a strong and durable interface between the materials in the hybrid anti-roll bars design, in order to achieve the required fatigue performance. With our experience in lightweighting and composites, it is good to be working with Tinsley Bridge and the AMRC on this exciting, potentially ground-breaking project."

Anthony Stevenson, technical lead for the AMRC Composite Centre (pictured, far right), added: "The collaboration with Tinsley Bridge and PES Performance has resulted in the development of a completely new hybrid component to meet the challenges of heavy vehicle stabiliser and torsion bars for the very first time; all whilst introducing weight savings that lead to a variety of benefits such as improved fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.

"We are delighted to continue the project to further developing a new design for the hybrid anti-roll bar as the collaboration has the potential to develop a leading place for the UK with a disruptive technology that has global implications; one that will also have applications in other sectors including the aerospace and rail industries."

PES Performance website
Tinsley Bridge website
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News: AMRC accelerates use of recycled composites

British motorsport and technology success story, Prodrive, is working with experts at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing on the latest lightweight composites.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

Prodrive, the world's most successful multi-disciplined motorsport businesses, is working with the AMRC on its P2T (Primary To Tertiary) philosophy, which is used for manufacturing recyclable composite components.

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Hannah Tew, partnership lead at the AMRC Composite Centre, said her team has been working with the company to further advance its recyclable composite process closer to full production. The focus is on automation and lowering production costs.

Hannah said: "The results from our initial press trials look promising and we're very much looking forward to supporting Prodrive in automating the process going forward."

​As P2T composites do not require heat or pressure during manufacture, there is no need for an autoclave - thus reducing costs and enabling the scaling up of production without major investment. The process uses a reactive thermoplastic resin instead of a thermosetting type and composites produced can be recycled multiple times.

Prodrive Composites believe they are the first to develop this technique with recycled fibres, which emerged through a development programme with an automotive OEM customer who required a high-performance structural material with lower environmental impact than conventional composites.

John McQuilliam, chief engineer at Prodrive Composites, said: "End-of-life recycling is one of the biggest debates in the composites world today. The issue affects automotive manufacturers and wider industries too, such as marine, where old fibreglass boats are often broken up and sent to landfill. The main barrier to recycling has been the type of resin used; thermosetting resins predominate but these cannot be readily recycled.

"We have been working with the AMRC and a series of large trial panels have been produced using an innovative process which can readily be automated. These trials have demonstrated that recyclable composite panels can be produced at a rate and cost to suit many industries.

"The unique feature of the P2T process is the reduced tooling cost and lead time compared to existing metallic or composite solutions."

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The ongoing research between the AMRC and Prodrive Composites is set to expand considerably over the coming year and is being closely monitored by numerous companies in various industries looking to improve their environmental impact with high performance, light-weight components.

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News: AMRC prepares to go ultrasonic

£1.8m has been invested in the world's largest ultrasonic assisted machine tool by the University of Sheffield AMRC Composite Centre to extend its world-leading research capabilities in composite machining.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the university's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The DMU 340 G linear machine tool arrives at the AMRC at the end of the year and will be the first of its size to be fitted with an ultrasonic-capable spindle for use in five-axis machining applications.

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Research focuses on the production and machining of composite components, including hybrid parts which combine high-performance metals and composites in a single structure. Such structures can provide significant weight savings while maintaining the highest material and structural performance, offering improved fuel efficiency for aerospace and other transport applications.

The machine is capable of providing significant improvements in composite machining, ranging from high-end luxury vehicle monocells to next-generation aeroengine lightweight fan blades. It is also capable of titanium drilling and finishing operations and working with materials of the future such as glass fibre reinforced aluminium, a glass fibre in a resin laminate interspersed with sheets of aluminium and an array of high-temperature composite materials.

The advantage of the ultrasonic capabilities is that the high frequency movements – 40,000 micro-movements per second – bring a higher degree of control of chip formation and heat within the system. The result is less damage, less waste and a better finish – which is why the technology is suited to machining hard, abrasive, brittle material like carbon fibre composites, alloys and CMCs.

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Project proposals are already in the pipeline and the machine will have applications for companies like McLaren, Roll-Royce, The Boeing Company, BAE Systems and Airbus. It also opens up opportunities in the renewables, medical and construction sectors.

Dr Kevin Kerrigan, the lead for the Composites Machining Group at the AMRC Composites Centre who helped DMG Mori create the machine, said: " This machine is the first of the DMU 340 G product range to have the ultrasonic assisted machining kit. It cements the AMRC's reputation for world-leading research for capabilities in composite machining."

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News: Composites experts combine in Rotherham

The 2018 Composites UK Annual Conference is taking place on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham next week. The site is home to a number of pioneering composite projects.

Composites UK is the trade association for the UK composites supply chain. It is hosting its annual conference and a dedicated aerospace showcase at The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing on April 18 - 19.

Described as a "must-attend event for companies wanting to keep up-to-speed with strategic thinking," the programme is split into four sessions covering securing the future of the UK composites industry; progress in delivering the UK Composites Strategy; building the infrastructure to support a UK supply chain and finally a case study session from companies at the forefront of composites manufacturing innovations.

Speakers include BEIS, British Standards Institute, Composite Integration, the Department for Exiting the EU, ESI UK, FDM Digital Solutions, Lucintel, National Composites Centre and R-Tech Materials.

Dr. Sue Halliwell, operations manager at Composites UK, said: "With the uncertainty of what Brexit will bring, this event aims to keep industry up-to-date with current thinking in order to plan ahead. The strategic sessions will highlight key opportunities and challenges for the UK composites sector with development projects showcasing how we are taking a cross-sector approach to develop UK GDP. If you're looking to grow or maintain your business then you need to meet the strategists and leading industry players who will be at this conference."

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The following day sees the separate Aerospace Sector Showcase on which Composites UK is working closely with the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) to deliver a cohesive programme.

GKN Aerospace, ADS Group, Airbus and Spirit AeroSystems will join with other researchers and exhibitors.

Claire Whysall, communications manager at Composites UK, said: "This is the second time we will have organised a showcase event for the aerospace sector and we are delighted to have the invaluable support of ATI for 2018. The addition of Airbus and Spirit AeroSystems to the programme really shows that the key players in the aerospace industry are looking to engage and open up their supply chain to the composites community."

Based on the AMP the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The AMRC played a major role in the Integrated Wing Project, a previous R&D project lead by Airbus. In an effort to improve efficiency, the project team focused on identifying new materials and manufacturing processes, like using composites, to produce actuators and braces for aircraft landing gear that would be lighter than those currently made with high tensile strength steel.

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Experts at the centre are currently working on commercialising a new, proprietary technology for applying the "wonder metal" graphene to critical composite structures in sectors such as aerospace.

The centre has also installed a unique, high pressure press to help luxury car manufacturer Bentley reduce weight and greenhouse gas emissions.

Supercar manufacturer McLaren is reshoring UK production​ at a new purpose-built factory on the AMP and is working on a two-year research and development programme with the University of Sheffield on how best to manufacture its carbon fibre chassis.

AMP-based PES Performance works at the cutting edge of composite design in F1, aerospace, marine, Olympic sport and medical technology.

Composites UK website

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News: AMRC gets RAF up and running

The Royal Air Force's (RAF's) bobsleigh team will compete in the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association's British Championships this weekend, in a bobsleigh given a new lease of life with custom composite repairs manufactured by the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre's (AMRC's) Composite Centre.

At the University of Sheffield AMRC with Boeing on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the state-of-the-art centre supports the development of advanced composite materials and works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The RAF has eight, two-men bobsleigh teams and their sleds entered in the annual competition in Austria, where they hope to become British bobsleigh champions. Until recently one of the teams sleds had been out of commission following an impact that damaged its left bale, or wing at the front of the sled.

That is until RAF Bobsleigh team manager Cpl. Ross Brown met AMRC Composite Centre development engineer Craig Atkins at this year's Cosford Air Show and was invited to visit the AMRC.

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Cpl. Brown (pictured back, centre), said: "We were keen to see if working together would be of benefit and to create partnerships with British organisations that may be able to help us further the sport. So we took along three of our different sleds and were delighted the AMRC agreed to assess the various ways the damaged sled could be improved and carry out the substantial repair work it needed to get it back into service."

AMRC Composite Technician Josh Oxley took on the task of repairing the sled. Oxley started work at the AMRC in 2012 as an apprentice and after three years, qualified as a Composite Technician for the AMRC Composite Centre.

He cut away the section of the sled bale finding numerous old repairs, so putting the skills and techniques he has learnt into practice, he engineered a new bale section from carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP).

Oxley (pictured, left) said: "This is the first composite repair I was tasked with since qualifying as a composite technician, so it was a really exciting job to do. I engineered a new bale that was lighter which is important for the weight of the sled, but one that was also stronger and lessens friction on the track compared to a cast repair."

Cpl Brown added: "I was hugely impressed by the AMRC Composite Centre and the work carried out by Oxley went above and beyond what I expected.

"Structural integrity of a sled is paramount when travelling at speeds of up to 100mph down a concrete tube covered in ice. Regarded as Formula One-on-ice, bobsleigh races are won or lost by hundredths of a second, so a quality repair is of the upmost importance to us."

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News: AMRC to help commercialise graphene use in composites

Experts at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing are set to work on commercialising a new, proprietary technology for applying the "wonder metal" graphene to critical composite structures in sectors such as aerospace.

Redcar-based Applied Graphene Materials, a leading innovator in the manufacture and application of graphene, has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with the AMRC, which has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

Graphene is light, 200 times stronger than steel, but it is incredibly flexible. It is the thinnest material possible as well as being transparent. Applied Graphene Materials has registered a patent having developed a highly innovative, new technology it calls Structural Ink which comprises the deposition of graphene nanoplatelets directly onto composite laminates in a controlled and targeted manner.

The agreement will focus on the development and commercial exploitation of Structural Ink technology, through collaboration projects with AMRC's industry partners. AMRC members include leading names in the aerospace sector such as Airbus, GKN and Rolls-Royce. Another member, automotive manufacturer, McLaren, continues to focus on carbon fibre in its supercars and is investing £50m in a Composites Technology Centre in Rotherham.

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By adopting Structural Ink technology, end users will have the ability to increase mechanical toughness, which can be derived through the addition of graphene. Application to specific areas will enable the optimisation of the performance and structural design of composite materials. Ultimately this will improve component integrity and performance, enable further weight reduction and also reduce total manufacturing costs.

At an early phase in the development cycle, AGM plans to locate a technology demonstration cell within the AMRC's Composites Centre.

Richard Scaife, manager of the AMRC Composites Centre, said: "Over the last 24 months, our research staff and engineers have been collaborating with Applied Graphene Materials on its Structural Ink technology development and we are delighted that we are now able to progress to a formal, long term agreement.

"While this technology is still relatively immature in aerospace terms, we believe it highlights significant potential for performance improvements with both weight and cost savings to those designing critical composite structures. In the near future we will be sharing information on this technology with our aerospace partners, but also see the potential for early adoption with partners operating in less safety critical industrial sectors."

Jon Mabbitt, chief executive officer of Applied Graphene Materials, added: "We are very excited about the opportunity that Structural Ink opens up for AGM and our customers. Whilst we continue to collaborate with customers on developing tailored graphene dispersions for a range of applications, this printing technology offers AGM another route to market and a tried and tested product offer that we believe will be very compelling for composites end users."

Last year, innovative Rotherham company, Metalysis, which recently opened a new centre on the AMP, reported that it had successfully synthesised graphene using its innovative electrochemical process. While graphene is traditionally known to incur high costs of production, Metalysis is able to produce the largely industrially inaccessible material at no additional production cost to its conventional operations.

Applied Graphene Materials website
AMRC website
Metalysis website

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News: New McLaren marks carbon fibre future

Supercar manufacturer McLaren has unveiled its second-generation Super Series - with the next generation of key carbon fibre "tubs" set to be built in the new £50m, 75,000 sq ft factory that is planned for Rotherham.

McLaren will reshore UK production​ at a new purpose-built factory in the Sheffield-Rotherham Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID) with a multimillion pound Composites Technology Centre responsible for the development and manufacturing of advanced carbon fibre chassis for McLaren Automotive's supercars.

At the Geneva International Motor Show, McLaren launched the new 720S, which is lighter, faster and even more dynamically capable than its McLaren 650S predecessor. It weighs just 1,283kg.

This is largely thanks to the new carbon fibre "tub" and upper structure, the McLaren Monocage II. This technology delivers extreme strength and rigidity in a lightweight structure and is the ideal base for any supercar.

For the 720S, lightweight aluminium and composite bodywork wrap tautly around the contours of the Monocage II to create what the designers call "a form with dramatic intent and striking beauty in equal measure."

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In the first-generation Super Series models, the integrated carbon fibre structure stopped below the windscreen and windows but the Monocage II now includes the roof and extends over the engine bay. McLaren engineers have capitalised on the structural integrity of this to deliver unusually slim windscreen pillars and glazed C-pillars that taper from the roof in a distinctive teardrop motif.

Mark Vinnels, executive director - Product Development at McLaren Automotive, said: "The carbon fibre Monocage II structure at the heart of the new McLaren 720S provides exceptional rigidity and strength with low weight, enabling the strikingly thin pillars that are key to the futuristic design and excellent cabin visibility. Overall, this is a car that combines technology and beauty in perfect harmony."

Adam Thomson, body manager at McLaren Automotive, added: "Every road car that McLaren has ever produced has used carbon fibre as its base structural material. That's a technology that we've taken from Formula 1 and introduced into road cars.

"The Monocage concept was introduced on the 650S and has evolved through our P1 into Super Series. Monocage II weighs just less than 102 kilos and is assembled in-house at McLaren and becomes the building block for the entire rest of the vehicle assembly.

"Monocage II really makes 720S unique in its segment. It's a great expression of the carbon engineering that we have inside McLaren and allows the engineers here to really show their potential for what we are capable of delivering in carbon as a material. Our design team have done a fantastic job of the exterior styling of the 720S but I think the real success is on the engineering detail on the inside of the car."

McLaren Automotive and the University of Sheffield will deliver a two-year research and development programme, which will lead to the development of a production facility to build its carbon fibre chassis.

The new McLaren Automotive facility is due to start construction in early 2017 with the first pre-production chassis, built using trial manufacturing processes in the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, expected to be delivered to the McLaren Technology Centre in the second half of 2017. Full production at the facility will begin by 2020.

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News: AMRC Composite Centre wins funding

The Composite Centre of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing has won £360,000 in funding to investigate the way composite material is developed for use in automotive components.

The centre has formed part of a UK-wide research consortium tasked with developing innovative new manufacturing technologies and processes for composite material in the automotive sector.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

With funding from Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, the consortium will focus on a project to create strong lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures to help vehicles deliver lower emissions. It is made up of seven other companies and research organisations such as Jaguar Land Rover, SGL Carbon Fibres Ltd, the University of Nottingham and Nifco UK Ltd.

Composite assemblies used in automotive manufacturing, such as side impact beams in door panels or roof panelling are created using separate carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CRFP) structural composite components.

These structures are secured by fixtures that are then "over moulded" together using more composite material, this not only makes the final parts more aesthetically pleasing, but can also incorporate additional functional features and details to any completed structure.

The CRFP comes as "preformed blanks" of material which are then cured to the desired shape; it is the development and production of these preformed blanks that the AMRC Composite Centre will be investigating, using state-of-the-art technologies to create a more cost effective process for manufacturing automotive composite components.

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Hannah Tew, partnership lead at the AMRC Composite Centre, said: "Our role within the research project is to look at how the preformed blanks can be made cheaper, faster and stronger, using less material to produce lightweight composite automotive assemblies.

The centre will investigate the use of creating the CRFP material using 3D weaving of commingled fibres and co-weaving of carbon and thermoplastic fibres, instead of the traditional 2D weaving.

Dr Hassan El-Dessouky, composites technical lead, at the AMRC Composite Centre, said: "The 3D weaving will provide different material properties for the preformed blanks than traditional 2D technology, improving performance and making it cheaper and quicker to produce. It is hoped we prove that less material will be needed making 3D woven CRFP more cost-effective."

Research will also be carried out to see if the way the CRFP fibres are orientated during weaving affects the production and quality of the composite material, allowing the team to improve component geometry and "lightweight" the composite material more than standard composites.

The AMRC is also set to receive sign off today for £10m via the Sheffield City Region to fund the development of Phase 1 of its Lightweighting Centre, a project aimed at supporting the manufacturing and research of lightweighting structures and materials.

Phase 1 involves the development of a 8,300 sq ft facility on the Sheffield Business Park to house a 300 tonne hydraulic press and associated equipment and experimental capital equipment required to deliver research programmes for three OEM investments. The scheme is the focus for a number of inward investment propositions. SCRIF funding is sought as part of an overall £25m capital investment project for phase 1.

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News: GameBird takes flight

A spectacular aerobatic aircraft, which passed airworthiness tests at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, has been put through its paces at the world's largest recreational aviation, experimental aircraft and aeronautics airshow.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham and a partner in the HVM Catapult (the government's strategic initiative that aims to revitalise the manufacturing industry), the AMRC focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors.

It houses an Advanced Structural Testing Centre (ASTC) which provides state-of-the-art means, methods and skills to validate engineering materials, components, assemblies and full products.

Lincolnshire-based Game Composites utilised the centre when it needed testing for a new aerobatics aircraft. The company was founded with the aim of creating an easy handling two seater aircraft that would be recognised as the most fun to fly aircraft in the world.

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The GB1 GameBird was the first fixed wing, light aircraft to undergo a full airworthiness test in the UK for more than 30 years.

Now it has taken to the air in the skies above Wisconsin, in the USA, at the EAA AirVenture annual airshow, which is attended by more than 550,000 enthusiasts from 80 countries.

The first public display at Airventure in Oshkosh, WI, saw co-founder Philipp Steinbach take the controls. Philipp is a former German national freestyle aerobatic champion and aircraft designer.

Engineers at the ASTC designed a bespoke test rig to apply forces up to ten times those exerted by gravity, simulating the forces the aircraft will have to cope with as it carries out high speed manoeuvres.

Following the ASTC's work and further tests on seats, harnesses, the GB1's fuel tank and baggage compartment, the aircraft completed European Aviation Safety Agency flight tests ahead of its debut at the EAA AirVenture airshow.

Phil Spiers, head of the ASTC, said: "It's been a privilege to be involved in proving the safety, security and integrity of this aircraft and fantastic to see the GB1 up in the air.

"This is the first, fixed wing, independently designed and built light aircraft to be certified in the UK for 30 years. Now that we have re-established this country's capability to carry out the full range of airworthiness tests we hope other designers will chose to have their testing done here."

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News: Latest AMRC project on composite production

A European research project involving experts from the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, has led to new technologies and techniques being used in composite production.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham and a partner in the HVM Catapult (the government's strategic initiative that aims to revitalise the manufacturing industry), the AMRC focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors. It is a partnership between industry and academia, which has become a model for research centres worldwide.

Nine companies from five countries and four research organisations from different countries, took part in the REFORM project, funded by the European 7th Framework Factory of the Future Programme and sparked by the increasing use of fibre-reinforced composites to replace metals in the transport and construction industries.

The project has cut the energy used in some processes by more than 50% reduced production costs by more than 45 per cent and increased recycling of some consumables and raw materials to around 95%.

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Composites are being used in the aerospace and other transport sectors to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency, while the combination of strength and light weight they offer has led to increasing use in the construction of structures like bridges.

However, the manufacturing and assembly processes used to make composite structures are not always as environmentally friendly as they might be and the potential for recycling composites has been limited.

REFORM co-ordinator, Dr Rosemary Gault, from the AMRC, said: "REFORM focused on four areas – forming, machining, assembly and recycling – to make sure gains made in one area did not lead to waste and inefficiency elsewhere.

"The project has created a series of new technologies and techniques that are ready to be introduced by industry and could make a significant contribution to cutting the cost and environmental impact of the growing use of composites."

A state-of-the-art facility allows the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials.

Laser-assisted tape lay-up systems with advanced control are now being made available to composite manufacturers, water jet machining has been tailored to composites and modular, light weight, reconfigurable composite fixturing and tooling has been developed.

As a result of the research, it is now possible to recycle scrap material and turn it into boards that can be used to make parts, new tooling, replacements for fixtures and for any application where flat boards and assemblies are required.

Meanwhile, work on methods for recycling laminates and fibres succeeded in producing material using up to 80% less energy at about a fifth of the cost of virgin fibre.

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News: AMRC up to the test

Experts at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AMRC) have undertaken what is thought to be the UK's first full airworthiness test for 30 years.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham and a partner in the HVM Catapult (the government's strategic initiative that aims to revitalise the manufacturing industry), the AMRC focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors.

It houses an Advanced Structural Testing Centre (ASTC) which provides state-of-the-art means, methods and skills to validate engineering materials, components, assemblies and full products.

Lincolnshire-based Game Composites utilised the centre when it needed fatigue testing for a new aerobatics aircraft. The company was founded with the aim of creating an easy handling two seater aircraft that would be recognised as the most fun to fly aircraft in the world.

Although the new GB1 has been designed and built in the UK, Game's initial plan involved shipping the aircraft to the Czech Republic for full airworthiness certification, until Phil Spiers, head of the ASTC became aware of the project.

"When I heard about the plans to design and build an aerobatics aircraft within 60 miles of the AMRC, I was determined that we should keep the whole production process, including testing, inside Britain," says Phil.

The ASTC believes this will be the first time in more than 30 years that a plane has been designed, built and tested in the UK.

"We hadn't done it before but we have the skills and experience in abundance to help this manufacturer get its planes into the sky as quickly as possible," adds Phil.

Engineers at the ASTC designed a bespoke test rig to apply forces up to ten times those exerted by gravity, simulating the forces the aircraft will have to cope with as it carries out high speed manoeuvres.

They made some of the parts of the rig, while other components were made elsewhere within the AMRC.

The ASTC called on the skills of welding specialists from the Nuclear AMRC next door and the abilities of the AMRC's own apprentices to construct a complete "whiffletree," which distributes test forces over the aircraft's fuselage and wings, causing them to twist and flex as they are designed to do in flight.

Mounting the plane on the whiffletree was a big challenge in itself. The fuselage, with wings fitted, had to be lifted four metres into the air and then flipped upside down.

The ASTC has also had to devise a way of heating the whole of the aircraft to 70°C while some of the tests were carried out. Calling on subsidiaries of Sheffield-based leading European supplier of specialist building products, SIG, a box was created around the aircraft's body which maintained the temperature, while remaining cool to the touch outside.

After 71 633 cycles of fatigue testing, the successful completion of airworthiness tests of the GB1 could open the way for the testing of light aircraft to return to the UK and further contracts.

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News: AMP engineers working on complex composites

Engineering experts from across the Sheffield city region are working together to develop a revolutionary system to cut transport emissions and costs while boosting reliability and durability.

Tinsley Bridge, the Sheffield-based SME that is one of the world's leading suppliers of anti-roll bars, has joined forces with Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), both of which are based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.

PES Ltd was established based on the F1 concept of driving innovation in multiple sectors. It specialises in enhancing the performance of components, products and systems by delivering integrated engineering thinking alongside innovative design, materials, manufacturing and testing technologies.

The AMRC focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors. It is a partnership between industry and academia, which has become a model for research centres worldwide.

The trio has launched a project, co-funded by the UK's innovation agency, Innovate UK, to develop unique, high performance, metal composite hybrid anti-roll bars for trucks and trains.

The bars are safety critical suspension components that are currently made from metal and the project aims to significantly reduce their weight by developing a composite alternative with metal end pieces.

Reducing weight will cut fuel costs and emissions. Using composites could also mean the bars will never need replacing – unlike their metal counterparts – and will increase the dynamic loads the bars can cope with.

One of the major challenges will be achieving a sufficiently strong bond between the metal and composite and researchers will be investigating a number of innovative solutions.

Tinsley Bridge is already the fourth largest supplier of anti-roll bars to global OEM truck manufacturers and a key development partner for stabiliser and torsion bars to vehicle manufacturers.

Successful development of metal composite hybrid bars through innovation and research would create an advanced version of the product to counter the threat of low cost foreign competition and open up new opportunities.

Mike Maddock, managing director at PES (pictured, far left), said: "There could be multiple spin-offs, including opportunities in the aerospace sector, if the work we are doing comes to fruition.

"This project also highlights the value of strong collaboration to drive innovation which delivers technical advances, enabling UK PLC to take the lead in multiple sectors. Bringing together the knowledge and expertise of SMEs like Tinsley Bridge and PES, working in partnership with the AMRC raises the profile of local businesses and the region in the global market place as an important part of the Northern Powerhouse."

A state-of-the-art facility allows the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials.

Matt Smith, from the AMRC Composite Centre, said: "Although composite materials are used in a range of industrial applications, they have not been developed as a hybrid component to meet the challenges of heavy vehicle stabiliser and torsion bars.

"The strong technical and environmental benefits, increased durability, improved fuel efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions means we have the potential to develop a leading place for the UK with a disruptive technology that has global implications."

PES and the AMRC have previously worked together on a project to research the potential alternatives to composite technologies currently in use such as carbon fibre and epoxy resin systems. The technology has the potential to revolutionise the production of low volume specialist components for high performance vehicles.

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News: AMRC's Korean link up pioneers new methods in automotive manufacturing

Composite experts at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing in Rotherham, have been recognised for their work on a collaborative project with counterparts in South Korea.

The AMRC's £4.5m composites centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) provides a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials. The centre also works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.


Carbon fibre composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace, marine, automotive and other high-value industries for their combination of light weight and high strength.

Researchers Jounghwan Lee, Richard Grainger and Kevin Mee were part of the team that won the JEC Asia award for innovation in automotive applications for their work on developing a complex composite acoustic cover for a car engine bay that can be cured in an industrial microwave.

The AMRC team carried out the research in partnership with South Korean research centre KCTECH (Korea Institute of Carbon Convergence Technology) and the Ssangyoung Motor Company.

Economic and environmental drivers have forced the composite manufacturing industry to consider moving away from traditional oven or autoclave curing, which has high energy costs and long cycle times that are not suitable for large production. In addition components are subject to pressure, as well as heat in ovens or autoclaves.

Microwave energy penetrates into the material and energy is not wasted heating the rest of the oven. Using microwaves reduced curing time and energy consumption by up to 30% for the acoustic cover and further gains are expected following additional research.

Jounghwan Lee, research engineer at the AMRC (pictured), said: "It was great to win this prestigious award for our first collaboration with KCTECH.

"Microwave curing is a new technology, which has only been used for simple shapes in the past. It offers a number of benefits over other methods, including saving time and energy.

"We had to undertake a lot of research and development to satisfy all the requirements and to make the part successfully."

The AMRC Composites Centre joined forces with KCTECH to collaborate on developing novel technologies in 2012 following a visit to the AMRC by KCTECH's president and the mayor of Jeonju City, in South Korea, where the company is based.

The Centre is now working on a further project with KCTECH to develop a novel manufacturing process to make automotive leaf springs using composite materials, which would be lighter and more energy efficient and also give car passengers a more comfortable ride.

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News: AMRC puts on a display for Red Arrows' 50th season

Designers, engineers and apprentices at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing in Rotherham have put their skills on display as engineers from the Red Arrows paid a flying visit.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) and a partner in the HVM Catapult (the government's strategic initiative that aims to revitalise the manufacturing industry), the partnership between industry and academia focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors. It employs around 200 highly qualified researchers and engineers from around the globe, who have worked on manufacturing challenges for likes of Airbus, Boeing and GKN Aerospace.

AMRC's Composites Centre staff Conrad Sdao, Craig Atkins, Paul Rigden and Phil Greenway used their skills to make a scaled down replica of the tailfin of one of the BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce-powered, Hawk T1 jets, which the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team flies.

The fin is resplendent with the design created especially this year to mark the 50th season milestone of the team, renowned for its trademark combination of close formations and precision flying.

The replica fin will go on display at the Red Arrows' home base at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and is also likely to be used to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects to pupils.

Researchers from the AMRC's Design Prototyping and Testing Centre produced a Computer Aided Design model of the tailfin which apprentices from the AMRC Knowledge Transfer Centre used to create a mould.

Then the Composites team went to work, carefully lining the mould and curing the material in a special oven, before bonding the two sides of the fin together and finishing it, ready for presentation to the Red Arrows senior engineering officer, squadron leader Haroon Raja.

Squadron Leader Raja said: "The hi-tech, precision work of the Royal Air Force and the Red Arrows demonstrates not only the importance of STEM subjects but also the huge variety of roles and careers in which they form a vital part.

"Every time you watch a display in the air by the Red Arrows, they are a tangible reminder of engineering excellence and the work of well-trained and motivated personnel on the ground, whether they be technicians or logistics personnel."

Craig Atkins, development engineer at the AMRC Composites Centre, said: "We wanted to congratulate the Red Arrows on their achievement and do something that would promote STEM subjects to young people.

"We thought the tailfin would be an iconic thing to make, particularly as it carries the new design, marking the 50th season."

In September, the AMRC was one of the organisations taking part in a STEM day hosted by the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton which saw more than 300 school children gain a better understanding of these crucial subjects.

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News: AMP firms race ahead with biocomposites

Companies on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham that are researching the use of biocomposites are attracting the interest of automotive clients interested in making bodywork panels for cars from materials such as hemp and cashew nut resin.

The £100,000 ELCOMAP (Environmentally friendly lightweight composite materials for aerodynamic body panels) project has been researching the potential alternatives to composite technologies currently in use such as carbon fibre and epoxy resin systems.

The technology has the potential to replace some or all of these raw materials with sustainable carbon-neutral alternatives that can significantly improve the environmental performance of composites manufacturing and revolutionise the production of low volume specialist components for high performance vehicles.

Project partners include Performance Engineered Solutions (PES) Ltd, TEKS UK Ltd and the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing.

Instead of working to create flat fascia panels, the team set themselves the challenge of creating a rear bonnet/boot from a Porsche racecar. The original steel part was measured using a 3D optical scanner, a layup and assembly drawings were created and special tools were designed for manufacturing prototype carbon fibre moulds.

The companies used the clean room, large oven and autoclave in the AMRC Composite Centre to produce the prototype parts, and also drew on the expertise of the research group.

After successfully producing two Porsche panels, the team challenged themselves further by making a larger and more complex Subaru front end.

The panels were finished using conventional automotive painting and lacquering. After initial laboratory testing, the parts were subjected to a real-life challenge – the Porsche panels were fixed to a car and trialled on the Serre Chevalier race circuit at speeds of over 100mph. The panels performed just as well as the steel original even though the final Porsche part weighed 3.9kg compared to the 10.4kg weight of the original steel part.

Teks has showcased the biocomposite concept to partners in the motorsport community, especially in the rally sport sector. Roland Krain, general manager at Teks, said: "Our rally clients are very interested in using high performance renewable materials for a greener more sustainable motorsport, paving the way for a wider greener automotive future."

TEKS and PES are now talking to a number of automotive clients of different sizes to provide pre-series structural panels for extensive life cycle testing.

A state-of-the-art facility allows the AMRC Composite Centre to provide a full range of design, manufacturing, assembly and structural testing services for advanced composite materials. It has enabled the two companies to draw on the resources and expertise they needed to demonstrate the benefits of biocomposites for this niche market.

Dan Fleetcroft, engineering design director at PES, said: "For a company of our size, it'd be very difficult to pull all the resources together in one environment to make it viable to carry out this kind of research project.

"To drive new technologies and innovation into the market takes collaboration, knowledge and investment. The AMRC is at the forefront of developing new manufacturing technologies, so we become aware of them more readily than through trying to read all the journals and research papers."

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News: Sound future for Wilson Benesch

Wilson Benesch, a manufacturer of high end audio loudspeakers and turntables, has secured funding to carry out further research at its new R&D facility on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham.

The Sheffield-based firm began its life in 1989 when a similar government R&D grant was used to create the world's first carbon fibre sub chassis turntable. It was a time when the world was tuning in to CDs as the sound of the future but more research followed and Wilson Benesch created more world's firsts using advanced composites engineering and acoustic design.

From the world's first tapered carbon fibre tonearm, to the world's first curved carbon fibre loudspeaker, the novel Clamshell Isobaric tactic driver and the patented Torus Infrasonic Generator; Wilson Benesch has pushed the envelope of what is possible within audio engineering.

The research projects saw the company work with the University of Sheffield on the AMP and at the end of 2013, the audio pioneers opened a new R&D and demonstration facility of their own on the park.

The Technology Strategy Board offers co-funding to UK-based pre-start-ups, start-ups, micro businesses and SMEs, to carry out science, engineering and technology R&D projects which could lead to successful new products, processes and services. With four patents already in place and a further eight in progress, the SMART funding is valued at approximately £250,000, part supported by the Technology Strategy Board and in part by Wilson Benesch.

A spokesperson for Wilson Benesch, said: "The new Research & Development Facility will allow Wilson Benesch to accelerate its product development and SMART funded research programme.

"The huge success of our many pioneering R&D programs has always been built upon collaboration with the greatest minds and organisation's across the globe.

"Having completed large parts of the Cardinal loudspeaker and Geometry Series developments with the [Sheffield] universities, the new Wilson Benesch Research Facility will provide a vital base from which these key partners can work collaboratively on the new technologies born from the SMART project.

"In 2014 Wilson Benesch celebrates it's 25th anniversary and begins what promises to be a rich period in the company's history."

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News: Spinning a hi-tech yarn at the AMRC

Research engineers at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing are continuing to be at the forefront of composite materials and their potential use in the automotive industry.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

The AMRC is working with Huddersfield textile firm, Antich & Sons Ltd, on a new project that aims to develop the tools and capabilities both for predicting the behaviour of 3D woven textile composites and for the manufacturing methods for producing components.

Antich & Sons Ltd manufacture the finest British worsted cloth for famous worldwide fashion brands, with over 40 weaving machines running 120 hours a week. On top of their expertise in weaving textiles for the fashion industry, over the last five years they have also developed capability for weaving technical fibres such as carbon, glass, kevlar and alumina for use in composite materials. This includes the development of a state of the art jacquard based 3D weaving machine for making net shape 3D composite preforms, as well as working with Jaguar Land Rover to develop aluminium matrix composites for use in their road cars.

The firm is a partner with Basingstoke-based Composite Metal Technology Ltd, in a government-backed £7m project that will increase the production of innovative composites which combine the strength and stiffness of steel with the weight of aluminium.

The AMRC is helping to bridge the gap between academia and industry and a KTP associate in Textile Composite Engineering is being recruited to work in Huddersfield and at the AMRC to help validate the cutting edge manufacturing methods.

The job description states: "Due to a certain level of immaturity in development and validation of these techniques, the uptake of complex preform composites has been somewhat restricted in industry. By improving and validating methods, confidence in these materials can then match their potential. This will open new markets and reduce the time to market for Antich & Sons and allow them to secure a future in technical weaving alongside their traditional weaving activities."

Previous work on composites at the AMRC include researching the potential use of biocomposites, such as hemp and cashew nut resin, to make bodywork panels for cars and the carbon fibre reinforced plastic and other composites used to make aircraft components significantly lighter.

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News: AMRC to experiment with "string" manufacturing

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing in Rotherham has secured £50,000 to carry out experimental work in composites manufacturing.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, the AMRC has a £4.5m state-of-the-art centre supporting the development of advanced composite materials inside the Factory of the Future. The centre works with complex hybrid components and systems, which require manufacturing expertise in both composite and metallic structures.

Complex and finely detailed fibre-placed structures are being developed for aerospace manufacturing and are playing a major part in weight reduction. Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has an airframe (the fuselage, wings and undercarriage) where nearly half is made up of carbon fibre reinforced plastic and other composites.

The new funding is from the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Composites (CIMComp) and will be used to carry out a feasibility study into the monitoring of automated composites manufacturing in-situ in a project called "string manufacturing."

Carbon fibre composite materials are increasingly used in aerospace, marine, automotive and other high-value industries for their combination of light weight and high strength. But they also present a host of manufacturing challenges.

Due to the cutting-edge manufacturing techniques used in composite manufacturing, defects in complex composite structures may only become noticeable after the manufacturing process is complete. The current quality control methods are used only once the full structure is solidified. At that stage, if the damage is detected, the whole component needs to be rejected as the material is beyond the state of repair, leading to high production costs and waste.

The new research, led by Professor Keith Worden with Elizabeth Cross at the university's Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Alma Hodzic at the AMRC, is hoping to develop a structural health monitoring technique that can be carried out during the manufacturing process.

Experimental work will be carried out in the world-class facility of the AMRC with Boeing using an Automated Tape Placement (ATP) robot from Automated Dynamics. The system uses an automated "lay-up" process of layering composite fibres and adhesive onto the surface of a mould and is capable of producing new kinds of fibre-placed structures which are complex and finely detailed than those in current aerospace manufacturing.

The structures will be monitored as they are being created by applying a system of acoustic signals through the mould supporting the manufactured piece.

The research documents state that: "This approach to automated composites manufacturing will revolutionise the current industrial practices, potentially halve the production time, remove the need for post-processing inspection, and by nature become applicable to all advanced manufacturing methods and composite systems.

"This approach will create an enormous impact in the aviation industry, where the speed of manufacturing of novel composite airplanes (Boeing 787 and Airbus 350) depends entirely on the currently used composite manufacturing practices and the ability to assess the structural integrity of the system, carried out after the production."

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