The Collins Aerospace Composite Center of Excellence in Banbury, UK – formerly the Crompton Technology Group (CTG) – designs, qualifies and manufactures high-performance structural and non-structural aerospace composite products for military and commercial applications.
As an alternative to metals and alloys, composites can deliver you significant benefits that include:
- Operational cost savings
- Reduced energy use and emissions
- Design alternatives
- Reduced part count
All without compromising strength or durability by being easier to form into complex shapes. Constructed with a non-conductive glass fiber and an epoxy resin tuned to a specific resistivity, our composites allow the static charge generated from a lightning strike to dissipate.
Our filament winding and precise fiber placement expertise enables us to control the properties and qualities of each advanced composite product. These include size, thermal and electrical properties, strength, mass, structural performance and stiffness.
We have a fully flexible production capability to meet your unique requirements, including one-off problem solving, bespoke projects or volume manufacturing. Our design, development and testing capabilities allow for new techniques and concepts to be created and fully tested to ensure products meet the highest quality standards. We have ISO 9001, AS 9100 Rev C and ISO 14001 accreditation for our quality and environmental management.
Our advanced research and development capabilities, combined with a comprehensive array of experiment facilities, enable us to produce anything from rapid one-off prototypes to conducting an intensive, detailed, full-certification program. The range of capabilities and facilities include:
- Concept and structural CAD (SolidEdge and NX)
- Finite element analysis (Ansys and Abaqus)
- Robotic filament winder
- NDT (C-scan and X-ray)
- Robotic, multi-axis braiding
- Axial mechanical testing (static and fatigue)
- Torque testing
- Pressure testing
- Seal endurance testing
Collins Aerospace has developed highly automated manufacturing production lines capable of producing composite components at high volumes with minimum manual intervention. We can produce over 150,000 composite components a year, primarily for the aerospace industry. And while we continue to invest in new technology and production equipment, our current capabilities include:
- 3 x autonomous wet winding lines
- Slit prepreg tape filament winding
- 3 x multi-spindle winding machines
- 5 x cure stations
- Robotic machining facility
- 9 x 3-9 axis CNC machine centers
- NDT
- Dimensional inspection
