National Composites Centre Commissions Cygnet Texkimp Filament Winding Machine for New Era of Hydrogen Vessel Development

Composites technology company Cygnet Texkimp, Northwich, UK, has delivered a four-axis filament winding machine to the National Composites Centre where it will form part of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing and test facility for hydrogen transportation and storage. The multi-functional filament winding technology has been developed by Cygnet Texkimp to provide the NCC and its partners with the capability to wind all types of filament from towpregs to dry fiber and glass fiber, and all combinations of fibers and resins including high viscosity and fast cure resins. Marcus Walls-Bruck, Head of Hydrogen at the National Composites Centre said, “It will help the UK create supply chains to achieve its net-zero ambitions. A key technology that underpins our state-of-the-art design, test and manufacturing facility for hydrogen, it will be used to create pressure vessels for a number of applications, with this capability supporting industry in developing business cases and products to enter this growing market.” The filament winder is designed to wind four tows simultaneously. Each tow has its own tension control unit and dancer arm which regulates feeding and winding tension to enable faster and more accurate winding. A customized software package, developed by Cygnet Texkimp’s in-house team, also allows the NCC to record data including winding tension and speed, resin temperature and air pressure within the mandrel. The filament winder is served by two four-position creels, which are designed to feed different types of fiber into the process. The machine also features two types of in-line spreading and coating capability which can be quickly and easily deployed for dry-wind applications: a temperature-controlled wet-out system with adjustable spreader bars to spread individual fiber tows for consistent resin impregnation, and a coating drum and blade to control the volume of resin applied to the fiber. To identify growth opportunities in Capacitor Winding Machine Market Report: Trends, Forecast and Competitive Analysis to 2030, please visit https://www.lucintel.com/capacitor-winding-machine-market.aspx