JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #112 - April/May 2017 - 23

Repair

Seamless repair alternative
for critical areas of pipelines
CNC

Fit for the Nordschleife
Natural fibre

Nonwoven biocomposites: tailor-made
multifunctional materials for the automotive industry

MANUFACTURING

Press

New HCL press for the moulding
of composite materials

23
25
26
28
press MANUFACTURING

New HCL press for the moulding
of composite materials

Javier acosta,
Composite Project Manager
Fagor Arrasate

he company has been producing
Composites Presses since 1980's conventional or either short stroke ones.
This last press was built in a different concept comparing to the new development,
which has been driven by the performance
in the final part, achiving a better part quality. This press has a structure that is slimmer
than conventional presses but, nonetheless,
just as robust. Its main distinguishing feature
lies in the absence of crown as the moulding force is exerted from the bolster, which
houses the main and parallelism cylinders,
so that the press comprises a slide and base
along with a number of serrated cylindrical
columns.
Up to 40% height reduction
By eliminating the crown, and the displacement of the hydraulics housed in it, the
height of the press is reduced by up to 40%.
In this type of press, the hydraulic unit can
be housed in the pit, at the ground level, or
on a platform, depending on the customer's

The new HCL - Hydraulic Composite Lightweight - concept developed
by Fagor Arrasate is an update to the short stroke presses that were
built in 1980's, designed to be able to mould different types of composite
materials. Thus, it can be used in SMC, GMT, D-LFT, HP-RTM and CRTM
moulding processes, as well as many other processes using vertical
presses.
needs since, as mentioned above, the main
and parallelism cylinders are housed in the
lower part of the press.
The absence of crown entails a new operating approach, since the reactions generated
in the slide when moulding on a conventional press are transmitted through the crown
and columns down to the base, thus giving
rise to the final reaction in the mould, which
shuts at a certain tonnage. In this new HCL
press concept, the reaction is generated by
locking the slide over the columns. As mentioned above, the entire length of these columns is serrated. On the upper part of the
slide, there are four serrated nuts cut in half
to lock the slide. These nuts are open when
the slide is in the approach phase when shutting the mould, or closed when moulding,
thus locking the slide. The slide is driven by
four external cylinders, responsible for its
rapid approach and withdrawal (Figure 1).
Extremely precise control
The operation or sequence for press moulding is as follows: the slide leaves the top dead
centre, held by the four external cylinders,
with the four half nuts (serrated) being open;

the order to lower the slide to a given point
is given at this point. The serrated column
passes through the slide, and between the
serrated nuts. The slide descends at a maximum speed of up to 1000mm/s (depending on the process). Then, with the slide
restrained and in the moulding position, the
four half nuts are closed, locking the slide by
means of the teeth. Once the slide has been
locked, the bolster starts to rise to perform
the moulding process, driven by the main
cylinders, giving rise to the moulding reaction owing to the slide locking. Moulding is
performed as the bolster rises but, addition-

Fig. 1: Slide
locking system

No112 April - May 2017

/ jec composites magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #112 - April/May 2017