FOR AUTO RTM

Mubea Carbo NEWS Tech
attaching air bag holders. This is a highly
loaded area during air bag deployment,
thus the need for precision and high
quality in the adhesive bondlines. Ovens
nearby post-cure the epoxy adhesive,
after which the seats are transferred to
machining and finishing areas further
down the production hall.
Adjacent production bays feature
dozens of mini-autoclaves (see “Miniautoclaves
for visual carbon parts” on p.
54). The final stations in the production
hall include the CNC machining center
with several fully enclosed, specially
vented CMS Industries (Zogno, Italy)
workcells; the finishing department with
two paint booths and one curing booth
and a quality-assurance department,
features automated CMM and other
scanning equipment. At the production
hall exit is a shipping area crowded with
parts awaiting boxing, and boxes ready for
shipment, a testament to the company’s
growing production volume.
To support that growth, MCT maintains
a materials warehouse at the production
hall’s other end, just prior to the RTM
area. Entered through an industrial roll-up
door, its floor-to-ceiling racks are filled
with bar-coded supplies, including rolls of
vacuum bag film and other consumables.
Behind the storage racks, a large automated
door reveals a prepreg freezer that
easily accommodates a forklift for loading
and unloading. Next to the production
hall entrance, Karas demonstrates a
computerized 3D warehouse system for
storing and automatic retrieval of components
like metal inserts. The system tracks
and maintains inventory in order to keep
up with serial production.
Karas says that a variety of carbon fiber
tow sizes are kept on hand, including 24K
and 12K, with the latter most common in
Žebrák. Woven, unidirectional and multiaxial
dry fabrics and prepregs are used,
supplied by Cytec (West Paterson, NJ, US),
Formax (Leicester, UK), Delta-Preg SpA
(Sant’Egidio Alla Vibrata, Italy) and Hexcel
Composites (Stamford, CT, US). The
company also has worked with recycled
CF nonwoven materials, considering it a
key innovation and materials option. At
the moment, epoxy, typically sourced from
Hexion (Columbus, OH, US), is the principal resin system used in Žebrák, but MCT is
open to all materials as it works with customers to develop the best possible solution
for each program.
Material of the Future
Is MCT limited to carbon fiber? “We are absolutely open to other materials,” replies
Siegmann, noting, “We use aramid and glass fiber materials for different applications.
However, we don’t see other fibers competitive enough vs. metal.” With carbon,
he explains, “the processing and tooling cost is the same, but the weight advantage is
much higher.”
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