wave power turbine components

A contract to develop composite blades for 1 MW power turbine saw us collaborate with By Design Group for laminate design and dynamic load testing of carbon fibre turbine blades.
The original design incorporated a stainless steel shank to hold the blade in place on the hub, but after initial testing the weight proved problematic and we were commissioned to design a composite shank (or root) with stainless steel threaded rings and smooth bearing faces to reduce weight.

 






















Utilising the existing tooling and developing a technique of false tools, removable sections and bladder moulding allowed us to laminate and bond the 'trapped shape' stainless steel components in one cure operation. This reduced the weight from 1.8 kg per blade to 1kg making an improvement to loading of related turbine components.

Forty blades were ordered and final weights of the blades varied by no more than 10gm.
The blades are destined for the 1 MW rated turbine developed by Oceanlinx based in Sydney.
Completion of the blades saw us also win the contract to build the nosecone for the turbine.

fins and foils

Since we have the cutter plotter, accurately cutting laminate for solid fins has become fast & simple. Approaching Chris Lockwood fin designer and windsurfing speed sailor for collaborative work was a good fit. We made several fins for Chris which he is now testing.

carbon fibre skiff hulls

Approached by a local boat builder to make three 14' skiff hulls was like a trip back in time when I started out working as a boat builder. Using pre-preg carbon fibre over a male mould, we laid up the hulls and deck components. Vacuum bagged, oven-cured and pre-preg carbon fibre proved a good combination as the hulls come out with a good weight and excellent structural rigidity. Following on from the 14' skiffs, two Cherub hulls were also produced in the same materials and method.

3D printing

Last year we purchased our first 3D printer (the 88th machine of the production line). As an early adopter, we had some issues but the 3D printing community is collaborative one and prior to the purchase of the second machine we felt confident in the technology at an 'industrial' scale.
The machines work tirelessly for us and they are not often idle. To date the biggest print we have completed is a 1.5m long asymmetric turbine blade that will be used to create a high temperature mould from which we will make the carbon fibre composite blades.
With experimentation we have found ways to make patterns, high temperature moulds and prototype components using these machines. They have become an invaluable tool and I see us purchasing more and larger machines in the future.

optical sensor device

A smaller, but nonetheless complicated part are the composite domes we make for Ocular Robotics www.ocularrobotics.com these domes are small (50mm diameter) but the weight, cosmetics and quality have to be 100%.
Initially we made the domes using oven-cured pre-impregnated laminates but due to cosmetic 'browning' issues we invented a new method utilising plastic printed components, trapped rubber intensifiers and an injection procedure to produce a composite RTM component with an 'A' class finish. These small components took all of our skill to reproduce in production quantities with consistent quality and weight.

ASCALON sculpture

The Ascalon sculpture in the forecourt of St Georges Cathedral in the centre of Perth is a proud statement of composite engineering design and ingenuity. We were approached by a colleague to be involved in the manufacture of the 12m high billow component for the sculpture after previous attempts at manufacture had failed in the preliminary stages.
Working from a complex 3D CAD model, the build method and laminate design was completed in collaboration with a local boat builder who has a CNC milling machine large enough to carve the polystyrene moulds from which the billow is laminated.
The final product was attached to a polished stainless steel pole with hidden fixings and installed in 2011. This project illustrates the possibilities of manufacturing in composites and we are proud to have been involved in the manufacture of a construction as complex as this. The work was also a finalist in the International Composites JEC Awards.

New CNC cutter/plotter

In mid 2012, we designed and built a 6m x 2m CNC cutter/plotter for precise, fast and efficient cutting of our materials. This machine allows us to cut hundreds of shapes with minimal waste on the 6m bed in minutes and was completed just in time for a large aerospace contract.

 

Although we designed that machine to cut and mark (pen, permanent marker or pencil) primarily pre impregnated composite laminates, we have the ability to cut structural foam cores, wood veneer and intend to fit an ultrasonic cutter later this year. There are also thoughts to incorporate a plastic printer extruder head to compliment our two 'smaller' plastic printers and give us the ability to print large objects to compliment our pattern and mould manufacturing.

UAV Engine Cowling



In 2012, Composite Components secured a contract to manufacture over a hundred of UAV engine cowlings for Orbital Corporation. The composite cowlings were engineered for a maritime environment with consideration for rough handling. The production rate was over twenty assemblies per week.

We were fortunate enough to work with another WA based company, leading the way in advanced engine technology. See:  'Orbital Lands UAV Engine in australianflying.com.au



 

Mine site lifting beam

In 2012 we were commissioned by a specialist mining equipment company to manufacture brackets and lifting beams dedicated to a particular BHP mine site conveyor belt. The requirement of the lifting beam was working load of 2 tons and failure at 6 tons. The 6 kg composite lifting beam and carbon fibre brackets (pictured) were tested and approved for use. 

 

 

Perth Transport Authority pods

Completed in 2010, Composite Components manufactured the corner mouldings for the Information pods at the Murray Street, Perth City underground rail station. See link below for pictures and information on the completed installation.

Iredale Pedersen Hook (architects) website
Australian Design Review article

260 nosecones later...

After another Avon decent the composite nosecones we make for Spirit Paddle sports were in demand again. Since we began making these parts for Spirit they have proven to be tough and reliable when it comes to bashing into rocks! Neither Spirit nor us thought we would make so many and after 260 parts its time to retire the old moulds and move into RTM.
The new nosecones will look and prove to be better than the originals with a clear finish to reveal the kevlar reinforcements and an RTM (resin transfer moulding) method of construction to efficiently mould the both the outer and internal shapes to ensure a correct fit to the kayak and a more streamlined leading edge to part the way.

2011 International Moth World Championships

I had 2 weeks off work early this year to make my way to Lake Macquarie (NSW) to participate in the Moth World titles.

Preparation prior to the event was unfortunately non existent, but the journey was well worth it as I had two whole weeks to learn how to sail the boat and conduct boat prep, which to date has never happened

The regatta was quite windy and with multiple races per day - my lack of sailing over the past 5 years and low level of fitness showed and this did not help any of my race results. I was happy to say the boat held together and as the regatta went on I felt more comfortable with all the systems and controls.

Now that I am back there is a list of new parts to make and refine in order to get the boat to some sort of race pace. I look forward to have a working boat again and spending some time on the water this summer (whats left of it).

completed projects and recent events

Forlano Design engaged us to manufacture 3 furniture pieces last year to made to be made from Walnut. Although composites is our main line of work, years as a pattern maker, boat builder and model maker mean I can still accomplish wood craftsmanship when required.  The pieces are: 'Terrain', 'Expectant' the chest of drawers hall unit, and 'Terrain shelves' the fractal set of shelves.

For 'Expectant' I enlisted past employee, friend and wood craftsperson Evan Gist, he selected the walnut from the yard, machined and dressed the wood and superbly built and coated the carcass and door fronts. I took over from there and aligned and installed the drawers into the carcass and designed and integrated the rebated and angled handles.

To create Ruby was a challenge, my first thoughts were to look at 5 axis CNC machining, however it proved an extremely difficult and expensive exercise to machine all 56 pieces both sides with variations on the champers. So I fell back to doing it by hand - with a 4" grinder and some 80 grit sandpaper.

 

 

 

 

 

Using the CAD model to help with reference points for both sides of the 56 pieces I got through most of the pieces in an intense 5 hour session. The alignment of all three parts was tricky but was worth the effort. The piece looks amazing and complex ...a great design.

 

Terrain shelving, was much simpler, based on the same method of manufacture as the 'Terrain' stool, it came together quickly and were painted in an off white.  They are able to fit on a wall in a variety of combinations and rotations. (4 of the six pieces are shown)

 

completed projects and recent events

Thales is one of Australia's largest defence suppliers and working with them on high level projects has been and continues to be a great experience. Early last year we were designing and building a carbon fibre housing for a collection of electrical and computer equipment. The 'ATAC system' objective was "to create something small and lightweight that would offer almost the same power as one of our (Thales) existing 100 kg servers". The arrangement of internal parts and overall design and composite material selection was very much a collaboration between Thales technical staff and composite components working together.

Although it looks simple the design and manufacture of this housing was not, many elements had to be taken into consideration from the electrical resistance properties of the selected composite materials to how Thales technical staff can work on and upgrade the components and how to keep the operators from tampering or accessing the very same internal components!


The ATAC project was seen as a success by the Thales 'deployables team' and has now led to further work for us on similar defence oriented electrical and computer based projects for Thales.

completed projects and recent events

We have been quite busy since the last post and keeping the 'news' up to date has unfortunately slipped way behind.
We completed some major works and a lot of minor works in the time that has passed, and I have listed with images some of these projects.
UAV Vision: after working with UAV Vision for the past 3 years we were contracted to create a complete set of steel production tooling and component parts for a new design. The steel tools were based on 3D models received from the client and from these we drew the 3D mould models and organised all the CNC machining. The moulds were made over a 2 week period and shipped to us polished and ready for use. The quality of the moulds was great and we have not needed to rework or maintain the moulds other than the occasional re-prep of the release agent after a series of parts.

Some of the details were quite small with rebates for 2.5mm machine screws and 3mm 'O' ring seals on 4 of the parts. Photos of the moulds receiving a release coat and the prototype camera housing and a 'primed' camera housing are shown

The Cerebral Palsy Association has kept us busy over the last 5 years we have been suppling their composite seats and last year was no different. After discusioins with the specialists we made some changes to the manufacture of the seats to improve the build time and quality and they now come out better than ever, coincidentally a study conducted by Curtin University (for the Cerebral Palsy Technical department) demonstrated that the composite seats we produce were superior in most aspects to the traditional materials and the existing seat construction method for the particular tasks they must perform. We look forward to continuing to produce these seats in the coming years.