Re:Build Manufacturing launches line of thermoplastic composite slitting and ply stacking equipment

Re:Build’s automation team collaborated with Re:Build Oribi, which produces thermoplastic components, to design and build highly customizable composite converting equipment to improve the production efficiency of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite parts. Through this collaboration, Re:Build has developed and piloted the equipment internally, and now has optimized it for the broader market, equipping customers to bring new thermoplastic composite parts to market faster for a lower cost. The TPX product family allows manufacturers to slit tape to specified widths and to pre-stack tape into a specified format (width, thickness, roll length, ply shape) to produce tailored, offset laminates with varying ply orientations in a continuous roll. Designed to meet tolerance and volume demands for a range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, energy, and sports & recreation, the TPX portfolio can be customized by Re:Build’s automation team to meet any specific application requirements.  

The adoption of CFRTP composite materials continues to rise due to this material’s ability to meet the mechanical and structural performance requirements of a range of applications, be produced at high production volumes, and be recycled at end-of-life. Re:Build Manufacturing’s Director of Thermoplastic Technology, Jon Huang, explains that “there is a growing demand for thermoplastic composite materials for applications where minimizing weight, avoiding corrosion, and achieving excellent strength and durability are critical. While it is exciting that the market is finally realizing the benefits of thermoplastics, the knowledge and infrastructure to manufacture these components at scale has not caught up yet.” As the market continues to grow, the demand for material converters also grows, resulting in longer lead times, fewer material format options, and rising costs for the customer. Re:Build’s TPX line of processing equipment helps to address these issues and improve the industry’s capability and capacity for producing thermoplastic components.  

There are two separate products offered in the TPX product line: 

• Tape slitter: The slitter provides an ultra-compact alternative to standard slitting equipment, having a footprint of only 65” wide x 138” long x 95” tall, and is highly reliable, operating at production rates up to 200 ft/min. 
• Continuous roll ply stacker: The standard ply stacker offers ply orientation options of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 70° (all +/-) and uses ultrasonic tacking for ply-to-ply adhesion. Users can create and build custom ply stacks to achieve the desired material performance while accounting for batch size, timeline, material type, and part purpose.

Both systems are built to process commercially available thermoplastic tapes (6”- 24″ wide) but can be customized to meet nearly any requirement. TPX equipment also works with a wide range of thermoplastic polymers – from commodity grade PE up to higher temperature polymers, such as PEKK and PEEK – and any fibre type (continuous glass, carbon, aramid).  And, while the slitter and stacker are independent machines, they can also be used in tandem to further reduce production time, labor requirements, and development costs. 

“Outsourcing our material conversion was working well up until late 2020, which is when we started to see lead times increasing and the cost of conversion going up. This has not improved, and if anything, it has gotten worse because of enduring increases in transportation costs. The TPX equipment at Re:Build Oribi allows us to control nearly every aspect of our material input cost. This also has enabled us to allocate our most valuable resource – labor – to solve other, higher value-added challenges for us as we scale up our production volumes,” says Mike Gordon, Operations Manager at Re:Build Oribi.