High-Quality Tooling from Solvay Performs at High Temps Needed for Aerospace

Aircraft wings and flaps. New airplane parts, workshop. Physics of the flight.

Tooling used in the manufacture of composite parts can be made from a variety of materials including composites. The ideal materials used in composites tooling are often determined by the required volume of composite part production and curing temperatures. Tooling produced with composite materials are often more cost-effective and simpler to integrate into composites manufacturing.

Composite materials remain a growing choice for tooling because of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) match between the tools and parts, which enables the manufacturing of more precise composite parts. Composite tools are used in a variety of industry segments, including aerospace.

Aerospace manufacturers can benefit from high-temperature tooling that delivers the desired dimensional stability, low CTE, competitive cost as compared to metal solutions, and durability in considering the number of cycles the tool is capable of withstanding. The tools used in aerospace composites manufacturing offer many of the same benefits of the composites they are producing, including:

• Dimensional accuracy
• Thermal stability
• Durability
• Easy to manufacture
• Lightweight
• Quick and easy to modify and repair

Tooling production uses products such as tooling boards that are lightweight, achieve a desirable shape with excellent surfaces, and can withstand heat exposure up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Solvay tooling solutions

When it comes to the production of high-quality composite tooling, Solvay offers a tooling product line that is distributed through Composites One and brings a new level of performance to today’s composites tooling marketplace.

These materials offer many advantages.

• Ability to mold many matrices including epoxy, BMI, and phenolic composite parts.
• Lowest cost production rate tools
• Highest possible tool and part dimensional accuracy
• Fastest tool build times in the industry
• Tooling prepreg materials/prototype to rate production tools

There is a lot to consider when it comes to your composites tooling needs. Quality tool construction is critical to the quality of the part produced, and a significant level of expertise in tooling design and manufacturing is required. The experts at Composites One guide customers in selecting the right materials to accomplish their end goals. Some questions to consider when determining tooling needs include part requirements, process being used, and material options.

Composites One supplies the materials needed to build high-quality tools, with the technical support and hands-on guidance to make manufacturers successful.

Learn more about composite tooling solutions available from Solvay and Composites One.