Composite Integration has spent the last three years developing highly automated commercial solutions for the infusion of structural composite components. The technology was developed initially for the marine sector and has now been successfully transferred into production in the wind energy sector.

As part of a recent large contract, following on from a collaborative R&D development, a number of Direct Infusion units have been installed and commissioned during August and September 2013 for full scale production. The equipment is highly process driven and contains a number of features to control the process, record process data and communicate with networked data acquisition systems.

Composite Integration has spent several years refining the pumping systems and control methodologies which enable materials with varying viscosities, temperatures and flow rates to be accurately controlled during the infusion process. The successful implementation of this technology in large scale production in both the marine and wind energy sectors has cemented Composite Integration’s position as market leader in this area.

The benefits of utilising this process are significant in terms of health & safety, reduced material usage, improved product quality and simplified operation. Waste material on a typical 200-300kg infusion is less than 500cc’s.

Direct Infusion Technology is a powerful step forward in improving composites processing techniques. It is applicable to infused parts from less than one square metre up to the largest items so far infused at 530 square metres (>6000Kg of resin). Development of this highly effective technique continues.