An innovative technical concept and a commited conversation in the developement phase convinced us to work with Münstermann,
Chrisitian Schmidtbauer and Alexander Heuber -from the industrial engineering and faculty managenent departments of the Austrian company, FACC- describe the beginning of a new partnership. Since the beginning of the year, a Münstermann heating chamber and curing oven have been producing fiber-composite products at the St. Martin location. This was the first time Münstermann built thermal-processing equipment for FACC.
FACC – A Leader in the Composite Industry
Our client is one of the leading suppliers of lightweitght fiber-composite products for the aircraft industry. Overhead storage bins and winglets are two well known products manufactured by FACC. The company’s headquarters is located in the town “Ried im Innkreis“ in north Austria. The company has many facilities in other countries including: China, The USA, Canada, Russia, and The United Arab Emirates.
Fiber Composites – Fimiliar and New Terrain for Münstermann
Uwe Schwinhorst, an engineer for the thermoprocessing equipment, managed the project for Münstermann. He explains why this collaboration was particulrarly interesting:
- Heat Treatment is critical for the production of fiber-composite products. We were able to incorperate experiences from past projects in order to solve new problems.
- The heating chamber is used to heat the compression molds. The molds ensure the parts form to the desired shape. It is important the oven has the correct heat input. Therefore, the oven is heated not only with convetion, but also thermal oil. The thermal oil is regulated by a special pipe system.
- IThe fusion of fiber composite material and the binder takes place in the curing oven. In order to produce flawless products, the temperature in the furnace chamber may only have slight deviations from the desired temperature. The hardening process is carried out under vacuum to eliminate air pockets in the finished composite part. The furnace is equipped with vacuum ports. During hardening, a vacuum-tight envelope encloses the composite part.
Find out more about FACC’s products here: http://www.facc.com