High Spec Ovens Meet NADCAP AMS 2750D Aerospace Standards

Four high-specification Carbolite ovens have been installed by Cobham Advanced Composites as part of a major upgrading of production at its Leicestershire premises in order to meet NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) standards for manufacturing aero-engine components.

The Rolls-Royce cell at Cobham's Shepshed premises manufactures 100 different aero-engine components such as terminal blocks, sole plates and in-fill and acoustic panels from carbon-fiber, sheet molding compounds (SMC) and bismaleimide (BMI) resin systems, which require thermal treatment before or after pressing. Carbon-fiber material is typically pre-formed for 45 minutes at 125°C and cured after pressing for four hours at 190°C, while the SMC is post-cured for 30 minutes at 125°C. The Cytec BMI resin material is pre-cured at 95°C for some ten minutes, depending on volumes, and post-cured for up to 24 hours at 250°C.

The NADCAP standard requires temperature variation to be no greater than ±5°C for all these processes, and in some cases no greater than ±2°C. In order to achieve these requirements, four existing ovens have been replaced with four new Carbolite PF200 units with fanned air circulation, which meet Rolls-Royce standard RPS953 issue 12 and the NADCAP AMS2750D class 2 standards.

The ovens, which have a maximum temperature of 300°C and capacity of 230 liters, have been supplied with Eurotherm 3508 main controllers and 3216CC over-temperature controllers with a tracking set-point feature. The controllers have RS485 digital communications modules, and each oven also has a thermocouple access port. Heat-up times are rapid, with the maximum 300°C being reached from ambient in only 30 minutes.

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Carbolite

110 South Second Street

Watertown, WI 53094

920-262-0240

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