An infrared heating system
from Heraeus Noblelight is
helping to ensure the quality
of composite aerospace
structures made at the GKN
Aerospace facility near Bristol.

Each of three composite
rear wing spars is made by
laying up pre-preg carbon
composite tape on a mandrel
and then curing the assembly
in an autoclave. Such
complex lay-down operations
can sometimes produce
wrinkling of the final surface
due to voids and excess resin
between plies or laminates.

GKN Aerospace’s engineers
decided that de-bulking
could provide significant
benefits and asked Heraeus
to carry out trials using
infrared emitters to provide
the required heat. On-site
trials followed using a
portable infrared system.

A prototype was supplied;
this was then replaced by a
scaled-up 465 kW production
system, where each of the
three heating sections has
seven controllable zones to
provide precise surface
heating.