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26 Mar 2008  -  France

Aerovac France doubles its manufacturing and storage facilities

© Aerovac

Aerovac France doubles its manufacturing and storage facilities.
Through a new building of 1800 m², Aerovac France will increase its manufacturing space from 1070m² to 1970m² in response to the increasing demand for tooling manufacture. Already equipped with 2 autoclaves, 2 ovens, a cold room, a draping silicone room, a draping prepreg room and a welding room, this new space could be equipped with a clean room, a cutting room and eventually an additional autoclave. The storage of supplies for the vacuum materials composites will be directly incorporated into the new building, allowing it to move from 900m² to 1800m². This new building will integrate kitting activity. The increase in space will enable Aerovac to respond with increased efficiency to the needs of smaller and larger national and international manufacturers.

Kitting
Aerovac offer a brand new service for the management of consumables for the manufacture of composite parts: consumables kits cut to measure, ready to be placed directly on the lay up. Aerovac are now equipped with several cutting machines which are able to provide from simple linear cuts up to much more complex tailored shapes. Aerovac have significant width and length cutting capabilities ideally suitable for small and large composite structures. Its equipment is able to transform its range of vacuum consumables from very thin films (release film) to the thicker fabrics (Breather and bleeder). The formats cut to requirements are then packed and sorted in accordance with customer requirements in order to maximise productivity. Kitting simplifies and improves the management of consumables, eliminates off cuts (hence waste) as well as errors during fabrication. It has been proven to offer significant increases in operator performance by eliminating the time required for cutting and retrieval of products from workshop racks. Kitting is without doubt the ideal solution for cost reduction initiatives and improved productivity for serial production of advanced composites.

Vacfilm 200G
The new Vacfilm 200G, available in 12 m wide, is, according to Aerovac, the largest vacuum bagging film of the market, which is ideal for use in the areas of marine and wind energy. The vacfilm 200G is a multilayer film, a high-strength and elongation of a major while being flexible easy to handle. Able to reach a temperature up to 110 ° C, the Vacfilm200g was developed specially for applications in Resin Infusion and low temperature processing. The Vacfilm200g is a co-extruded film with an excellent resistance to polyester, vinylester and epoxy resins.

3D welded vacuum bag
Welded vacuum bags can help to standardise, and speed up lay up time in the following ways:
•3D welded vacuum bags are designed as a bespoke solution, to suit individual customer requirements;
•Shaped bags help to de-skill the vacuum bagging process, reducing the likelihood of operator error when bagging.
•Studies have shown that on average, 3D welded bags offer a time saving of 60%, and a noticeable reduction in waste material, when compared to standard surface bagging.
•Welded bags can also be supplied as part of a consumable kit, to offer further time savings and reduction in waste material.

About Aerovac
Aerovac is involved in composite process materials of the aerospace, motor racing, marine, electronics and wind energy industries. As part of leading aerospace distribution group, Umeco plc, Aerovac specialises in the sourcing, distribution and development of composite process materials and reusable vacuum bagging systems for the international advanced composite industry. The product range covers vacuum bagging films, sealant tapes, bleeder & breather fabrics, release films, release fabrics /peel plies, flashtapes, self-adhesive tool release, vacuum fittings and rubber membranes. Aerovac is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of rubber constructions including reusable vacuum bags, pressure bags, intensifiers, heated membranes and sealing systems. With high performance autoclaves, Aerovac is also specialised in manufacturing composite moulds with geometrical demands and wide dimensions. Aerovac Systems holds the internationally recognised ISO 9001 and EN 9120 certifications and operates total quality control procedures throughout the manufacturing and distribution processes.

Source : Aerovac