Meeting increasing demand for composite components

Citation

(2002), "Meeting increasing demand for composite components", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774aaf.004

Meeting increasing demand for composite components

Keywords: Composites, Repair, Growth

It is reported that an extensive development programme at Brookhouse Composites Ltd, of Darwen, UK, will significantly expand the company's composites manufacturing and repair capacity. It is being carried out because of increasing demand from existing and new customers in, the aerospace and automotive sectors and will allow Brookhouse to be one of the few companies in the country to offer full processing capability for the manufacture and repair of composite components.

The expanded facilities will be located in the company's newly-acquired Holme Mill in Darwen, which provides 5000m2 of floor space and is adjacent to Brookhouse's existing India Mli factory complex. A special feature will be a 900m2 clean room, constructed to Class 100k standards, to meet the exacting standards of the aerospace industry. The new clean room is nearly three times larger than the existing clean room at India Mll.

The expansion will also see the installation of two further autoclaves. These will complement Brookhouse's existing three autoclaves at India Mill, which range in size from 1.3 m to 3.35m in diameter and from 3.0m to 6.71 m in length. The new autoclaves will be 2m diameter by 4m long and 3m diameter by 12 m long, so providing Brookhouse with the capability to handle an extremely wide range of composite components, in terms of both size and geometry (Plate 1).

Plate 1 The 3m diameter by 12m long autoclave being delivered to Brookhouse Composites' new Holme Mill facility

The new facilities have been designed to allow full process capability. Rolls of prepreg material can be precisely cut to size on a computerised, ply profile cutting machine and kitted for particular jobs by utilising a JIT system. Individual kits will be used in the clean room where they are laid up on mould tools manufactured at India Mill by Brookhouse Patterns Ltd. The components produced are then cured at specified temperature and pressure in the relevant autoclave, with test pieces being submitted to the on-site laboratory for mechanical test analysis. The components are then routed and drilled, before being subjected to interchangeability tests and nondestructive examination before being painted and assembled.

As Mike Howarth, manufacturing director of Brookhouse Composites, explains, " The new facilities will allow us to meet the ever- increasing demands of our new and existing customers more easily, in terms of delivery dates, flexibility and capability and provide a capability and service for the manufacture of new products within the aircraft sector."

"The expansion programme is a further declaration of our intention to maintain our lead in the field of composites manufacturing. We were the first composites structures manufacturing company in the UK to obtain the JAR-21 Sub Part G certification, which represents official approval to manufacture aircraft components certified for acceptance in all of the 28 countries which form the Joint Aviation Authority. This follows on from our JAR-145 award, which gives us approval to carry out maintenance and repair of aircraft composite components, and complements our other approvals for composites manufacture for both civil and military aircraft."

"Our increased and improved composites manufacturing facilities will also be used to reinforce our position within other industrial sectors, notably the automotive sector, and we have no doubt that our total composites capability and resource will be seen as a centre of excellence throughout industry."

Brookhouse Composites Ltd, Tel: +44 (0)1254 706000.