Contract for the Design, Manufacture, Supply and Installation of an Automated Dry Fibre Pilot lInr

The equipment is being specified procured and commissioned to ensure suitability for industrial research and development programs as well as supporting maturation of emerging manufacturing technologies from academia toward industrial application. The equipment detailed in the specification is an automated machine capable of manufacturing a range of dry fibre preforms via automated deposition of reinforcement materials including wide fabric plies. Using one or more deposition methods the cell will be capable of depositing net-shape fabric plies with widths up to 5.0m over a working plan area of 20.0m x 5.0m. In addition, the NCC seeks the capability to deposit multiple unidirectional tapes in a dry fibre placement (DFP) process. grant funding in the range of £6.5m - £7m to cover the capital cost of the equipment has been identified, this is an estimated value. The budget will be set provisionally in the ITN Pack, and will be subject to an affordability test