Omega Systèmes expands composite formatting capabilities

To support European aerospace’s goal to reduce the environmental footprint of the air transport sector while increasing global competitiveness, Omega Systèmes – Web Industries has installed and commissioned a thermoset slitting line at its European Center of Excellence.

This investment was partially funded by a grant awarded to Omega Systèmes under the France Relance [Recovery] plan.

This production-proven line will be dedicated to efficiently manufacture spooled thermoset slit tape within a controlled aerospace-grade environment. This new line will provide improved material yields with reduced associated waste for end-use customers while maintaining Web’s high standard of slit tape quality.

The new line expands the company’s existing composite cutting and kitting and thermoplastic slitting services, and it will enable Web Industries to meet the increasing demands of its customers and partners for aerospace-quality services regardless of the material input and output formats.

This line converts master rolls of thermoset materials into precision width slit tapes ranging from 3mm to 12.7mm and wound onto long-length spools. Output formats are customized to conform to application specifications, winding patterns, size and weight constraints, and additional material requirements. This technology is qualified for all major AFP systems and joins existing slitting lines at the Nantes site that are also qualified for all AFP and automated tape laying (ATL) systems.

The Center of Excellence in Nantes offers the European market access to technical teams and pilot lines to support the demonstration and rapid development, testing, and qualification of different composite materials. The facility features thermoset and thermoplastic formatting lines with commercial-scale capacities and processes ready to support the commercialization of materials used in primary and secondary structures for emerging aerospace and space projects.

“We will deliver higher-value products to the market that meet the requirements of future aircraft programs. Customers will benefit from our large-scale aerospace-quality production capacities, allowing them to reduce costs through economies of scale and get their products to market faster,” said Sebastian Fehl, Web Industries’ director of operations for Europe. “We are continuously investing in providing the best production standards to our supply chain partners. The addition of this capability at Omega Systèmes now offers our customers in Europe a full range of production scale material formats to support AFP, ATL, and hand layup of thermoset and thermoplastic composite materials.”

Web Industries’ ongoing investment in and development of new technologies, backed by the modernisation of its facilities, reinforces the company’s position as a key supply chain partner for European commercial aerospace programmes.

www.webindustries.com