TESTING


SETTING THE STANDARD


The University of Manchester’s National Composites Certification & Evaluation Facility, officially opened this summer, has been set-up to accelerate the standardisation of new material standards and aid the development of new processes. The centre is aiming to go far beyond this however, by establishing itself in a support role for the UK industry with an extensive state-of-the-art laboratory and business development capability.


decade, the gap between prototype and product can still account for a large part of development. Add to this that many companies and institutions are striving to achieve similar goals as far as new materials, testing and certification are concerned, the NCCEF has been established to provide cohesion to the efforts being undertaken within the industry and serve as a knowledge and resource hub. Formally opened last June, the NADCAP compliant


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laboratory has been operational since January 2010 and states its remit as working with companies to understand material performance and behaviour, make the transition from metals to composites, qualify parts for aerospace and other sectors, assess new materials and processes and evaluate 3D structures. Of these various challenges, the central task is currently to


develop a standard qualification for the certification of a range of specific carbon fibre and resin systems in order to remove one of the barriers to entry for companies new to the sector. Currently, the urgency of the environmental and cost issues surrounding the aerospace industry coupled with an anticipated dramatic increase in air travel and the large cost


32 | Composites in Manufacturing | Autumn 2010


hile the march of new material and process technologies into the wider manufacturing market is anticipated to increase rapidly over the coming


benefits of composite aircraft designs are the main drivers. While the OEMs have the financial muscle and the experience to certify materials themselves, the processes remain proprietary and exclusive only to themselves. Developing standards for key grades of material saves not


only on the huge expense of characterisation and establishing certification procedures, but also simplifies the approval process for suppliers and builds confidence in the markets, facilitating the drastic growth that is required to keep up with the world’s appetite for more efficient transport and power generation systems that drive the materials market.


Gearing up for growth


“The carbon fibre sector is growing at something like 25% a year,” explains NCCEF CEO Andrew Walker. “We believe it is at around 40,000 tonnes a year today and looking at demand we expect this to rise to between 240,000-330,000 tonnes in 10 years time, and between 1.5m-1.8m tonnes by 2023. These figures can be difficult to comprehend but to put it into context, for every factory operational now, the world will need 30 more. “The automotive sector is also beginning to wake up to mass production, but these companies will want different


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