Resin Dispensing For Composites
While originating as primarily an aerospace material, composite materials
are used today in a wide variety of industrial, automotive, power
generation, military, medical, recreational and consumer products
applications. Kirkco provides a wide range of turnkey metering mixing
and dispensing systems and equipment used in the composite industry to
combine resin components with glasses, carbon and Kevlar fibers to produce
extremely light and strong composite materials. Kirkco offers a complete
line of high-and low-pressure, single and plural component resin metering
equipment for use in the composite products manufacturing industry. With
simple, basic, manual units for laboratory use to our high-level computer
controlled processing stations. We offer complete turnkey systems capable
of interfacing with automation equipment such as robotics, clamps, turntables
or carousels.
Composite materials including resin impregnated with glass, carbon, or Kevlar
fibers are recognized as a critical part of modern aviation and aerospace applications
including structural components for commercial aircraft, the International Space
Station, satellites, rocket motor castings, and construction projects.
New uses for composite materials are developing at a rapid pace. Manufacturing
process used during the forming processes for composite materials include filament
winding, convolute forming, vacuum infusion, compression molding, wet and hand
lay-up methods. These manufacturing process are used for industrial applications
that lighten equipment weights, make automobile more fuel-efficient, lightweight
tanks made from composite materials are replacing heavy traditional metallic pressure
vessels. Improved subcomponents to replace existing metal construction, energy
storage batteries, radio antennas, blades for wind generators, and rollers for
the converting industry are but a few of the applications in which composite technologies
have changed our lives.
Custom Composite Resin Dispensing Solutions
Kirkco has for years been providing a wide range of custom resin metering, mixing,
and dispensing systems for epoxy, polyester and vinyl esters used with reinforcing
fibers such as glasses, carbon fiber and Kevlar. To manufacture composite materials.
By tailoring the design of our system to the specific need of our customers, our products
can typically meet any number of specification criteria.
Used in a wide range of applications for the production of structural components in
airplanes to common industrial uses in automobiles and reinforcement materials and
sports applications.
Aerospace Industry
Aerospace industry was among the first to realize the benefits of composite materials in the
past. Airplanes, rockets and missiles all fly higher, faster and farther with the help
of composites.
Plural Component Resin Compounds mixed with Glass, Carbon and Kevlar fiber composites
have been routinely designed and manufactured for aerospace parts. Aerospace industry
mostly uses carbon fiber composites because of their high performance characteristics.
Hand-lay-up technique is a common manufacturing method for the fabrication of aerospace
parts.
Power Generation Products
Wind energy is a rapidly growing market segment of the composites industry. Wind turbines
require the manufacture of large rotor blades, and other components using wet lay-up, and
prepreg lay-up and other processes.
Recreation Industry
Resin and fiber Composite material are used in a variety of demanding and competitive
recreational and sports applications. Typical products include golf club shafts, fishing
rods, wind surfing equipment, bicycle components, skiing equipment and tennis racquets.
Marine Industry
Composite materials are used in a variety of marine applications such as passenger ferries,
power boats, buoys, etc. because of their corrosion resistance and light weight, which gets
translated into fuel efficiency, higher cruising speed, and portability. Majority of
components are made of glass-reinforced plastics with foam or honeycomb as core materials.
Automotive Industry
Used in a wide range of composite applications for the production light weight and
extremely strong, corrosion resistant fiber compound materials for everyday
passenger car components to body shells for Formula 1 racing cars to hulls for
racing sail and power boats, and other high performance marine craft.
Equipment Used In The Composite Industry
Rotor blades for wind power stations, hulls for sailing boats, and wings
for light aircraft and even body shells for Formula 1 racing cars all have one
thing in common. They all make extensive use of low weight, corrosion resistant
fiber compound materials.
Kirkco has a varied and extensive range of machines to accurately meter, mix and
dispense the resin systems used in this expanding industry.
View Composites Brochure PDF
ELDO-MIX
There are a number of models in the versatile ELDO-MIX range of precision gear
pump driven machines, differing in volumetric output and the degree of control
and monitoring required for a particular application. In all cases, the gear
pumps are driven by frequency regulated geared motors that operate completely
separately from each other. The speed of the motors is pre-set and the mix
ratio can simply and easily be selected as required.
VISCO-MIX
VISCO-MIX machines are designed to draw materials directly from original drums of either 80 liters or 200 liters capacity. Two reciprocating double acting piston pumps are used to pump and meter the resin components, which make the machines ideal for use with the abrasive resins systems frequently encountered in the composites industry.
Proportioning is achieved by the use of a simple, infinitely variable mechanical lever mechanism, which can easily be adjusted between its upper and lower limits to the desired mix ratio.