Filament wound composites are high-strength structures created by wrapping resin-impregnated fibers such as carbon fiber, fiberglass, or Kevlar around a rotating mandrel that acts as a reusable core. The fibers are wound in precise patterns to build the desired shape and thickness. The wrapped structure is then cured in a composite curing oven, where heat hardens the resin and permanently bonds the fibers together. This process produces lightweight yet extremely strong cylindrical or tubular components used in applications such as pressure vessels, tanks, and structural components.
Wisconsin Oven manufactures high performance Composite Curing Ovens for processing filament wound composite shapes. The process involves wrapping resin-impregnated fibers, such as carbon fiber, Kevlar, or Fiberglass, around a rotating mandrel (which serves as a reusable core) and then curing the resin in a composite curing oven while continuing the rotation.
Alternatively, the impregnated fibers can be wound around a non-removable tank known as a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) used to contain compressed gasses or to hold water or other liquids. Filament wound composites create extremely strong, lightweight cylindrical and tubular structures.
Filament Wound Composite Curing Process
During filament wound composite curing, the structures are cured in an oven at 200°F to 400°F to harden the resin. The mandrels are kept rotating while being cured to prevent the resin from sagging due to gravity, which ensures a round profile. Wisconsin Oven provides mandrel rotators for use with our composite curing ovens that rotate the part continuously during the process.
Mandrel Rotators for Filament Wound Composites
In addition to stationary rotators that couple with the end of the mandrel to perform the rotation, many other innovative rotator designs are available, such as traveling load carts equipped with rotators, automatically coupled rotators that can engage from the side or the rear, multi-rotators to handle up to 16 mandrels simultaneously, and extreme duty rotators for mandrels over 40 feet long. In addition, we offer a wide range of useful features such as advanced control & data acquisition, our E-Pack™ energy efficiency package, and the DataSense® industrial IoT system, to provide maximum productivity and efficiency.
Top-Load Mandrel Cure Ovens
Another design option for filament wound composite curing is top-load mandrel cure ovens. This design saves floor space since the part is lowered directly into the oven from above without a load cart being necessary. This is especially helpful for processing very long filament wound composite parts since the floor space savings are even more significant.
In addition to manufacturing ovens for filament wound composite curing, Wisconsin Oven also offers curing ovens for vacuum bagged composites and honeycomb panels or blocks.
