The German company Ross Composites Machinery has supplied a technically enhanced filament winding system for the production of hydrogen tanks.
Type IV hydrogen pressure tanks consist of a thermoplastic inner vessel, also called a liner, that achieves the necessary pressure stability through fiber reinforcement during filament winding. Hydrogen tanks are characterized by low dead weight and high safety, making them suitable for many mobility applications.
The new filament winding system with three spindles, like every system, has been planned and engineered to precisely meet the customer’s application requirements.
“The powerful drive concept combined with the new machine frame structure has resulted in a performance improvement of approximately 40% compared to the international state of the art”. Dr. Andreas Ryman, General Manager of Ross Composites Machinery Ross’ machine has five interpolated axes and five additional CNC programmable axes. The equipment is suitable for both series production and development – in each case the traditional wet winding process is used.
On-the-go impregnation stations can use individual spindles individually by separating them to avoid unnecessary resin consumption. The scraper, controlled by the CNC system, sets the resin gap precisely and repeatably. The equipment is suitable for processing carbon and glass fibers and reduces roving stress by reducing wrap angle.
The uniform yarn takeoff speed can reach 4.5 m/s. With this machine, it is easy to convert to the tow winding process.
The automation of the machine is increased by using Roth RCA (Automatic Binding and Cutting of Fibers). For example, for the winding of pressure vessels, the unit has, among other functions, an automatic pressurization and measurement system that can establish and adjust the necessary liner internal pressure during the winding process. The extremely high machine stiffness minimises mechanical influences in the manufacturing process and ensures maximum precision during filament winding.