In our production area, we have a one-line Towpreg impregnation machine and a prototype Filament Winding machine for Type IV pressure vessels. We offer potential customers the possibility to conduct tests on materials and operating process to provide a complete service and ensure adherence to declared standards of quality and efficiency.
Our main service is the impregnation of carbon fiber tow by thermosetting epoxy resin. Usually, customers provide us with the raw materials they wish to test on the machine.
Thanks to our more than 10 years of experience in towpreg machines production, we are able to process different types of fibres and resins and define the best machine configuration according to customers’ specifications.
During testing, our team of experts provide continuous assistance, proposing quick and safe solutions to ensure maximum reliability and responsiveness.
In addition, we offer additional services such as winding tests on the Filament Winding machine, Ansys simulations, Aerosol Jet Printing technology and a flat towpreg deposition machine.
We are committed to providing a complete and customized service to our customers, working with them in developing innovative and high-quality products.
PHISICAL TESTS
LABORATORY
Towpreg Lab Machine
Over the years, Comec has gained solid experience in impregnating carbon fiber tow with epoxy resin.
In our laboratory, we have a single-line towpreg machine for testing and development in collaboration with customers interested in this technology.
We are also capable of working with glass and natural fibers, as well as cyanate-ester, BMI, and phenolic resins.
The process is cooperation-based: the customer provides the fiber and resin specifications, and towpreg samples are produced to repilcate actual production. Each sample is weighed and inspected to ensure quality.
The results are shared with the customer, who receives the bobbins for further testing. This feedback allows us to determine the configuration best aligned with their production needs.
Our goal is to provide a reliable towpreg that can be fully integrated into the customer’s processes.
PrePreg Machine
Comec has a laboratory line dedicated to prepreg manufacturing.
The machine is designed for working with textiles and enables the production of prepreg rolls using materials supplied by the customer.
Specifically, the customer will provide the fabric, resin system, and backing materials for impregnation (coated paper and, if necessary, poly film).
The line allows to control main process parameters (temperature, speed, resin content percentage), ensuring homogeneous impregnation of the fabric and good repeatability of the resin content.
This configuration supports material development, process validation, and pilot batch production, reproducing typical conditions of the industrial process.
Filament Winding Machine
Based on our experience in Filament Winding for Aerospace applications, our R&D department has developed a towpreg winding system capable of manufacturing Type IV pressurized hydrogen tanks.
The process consists of winding onto a PA6 liner, avoiding typical issues of resin bath “wet-winding” and ensuring a more controlled, stable, and efficient deposition.
The system is able to process components up to 500 mm in diameter and 2.5 m in length and can be used for the part production and validation according to customer drawings.
Automated Fiber Placement Machine
Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) is an advanced technology for the automated deposition of composite materials, based on the handling of individual tows and its lamination along complex trajectories.
Our AFP machine works with ¼-inch towpreg, narrowed up to 8 lines to produce a 2-inch-wide tape, and is also capable of working with ¼-inch slit tape.
The system is installed inside a temperature-controlled room, which ensures dedicated environmental conditions throughout the entire lamination process.
The maximum part dimensions that can be tested are 1300 mm in diameter and 5 m in length.
The system is designed to work with both thermosets and thermoplastic materials, allowing for a wider and more diversified range of applications.
SCIENTIFIC TESTS
RESEARCH
Areosol Jet Printing
Aerosol Jet Printing is a technology that, starting from a digital model, allows direct, non-contact deposition on different printing substrates, whether planar or curved, homogeneous or irregular. The technology also allows the use of a wide range of conductive, organic and non-organic ink types. Thanks to this extreme process versatility, it is possible to carry out the study and characterization of passive sensors that can be applied across different industrial and consumer fields.
Our main application area concerns the functionalization of components made of composite materials, such as strain gauges aimed at structural monitoring. In parallel, among the most interesting application areas in which the company is engaged are bioengineering and study of metallic materials corrosion.
The company is able to make, design and qualify sensors made with this technology thanks to the know-how, software and equipment available in the laboratories.
Material Card
Our team with the use of lab machines is able to impregnate carbon fiber with customer-supplied resin and use it to make composite material samples, aimed at material characterization according to ASTM – UNI ISO standards.
WE WORK FOR YOU
SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR NEEDS
More than 60 Years of Experience
CERTIFICATIONS
