RISE SICOMP is shaping the future of composite materials with AP&T's latest press technology | AP&T

The use of lighter composite materials may be on the rise for the cars of the future. Kent Eriksson and Roger Nyman of AP&T display a combined hat rack and back wall made of an advanced carbon fiber composite.

The RISE SICOMP research institute in Piteå in northern Sweden specializes in developing new composite materials. Among other things, they are collaborating with the car industry on several projects to develop components that will make cars of the future lighter, more energy efficient and have less of an impact on the climate and environment. The latest press technology from AP&T gives researchers new opportunities for testing and demonstrating their solutions in industry-like conditions.

For many years, researchers at RISE SICOMP have been following AP&T's press technology development with great interest. Recently, they decided to invest in an AP&T servo hydraulic press to start operating at the end of 2020.

AP&T's servo hydraulic press makes it possible to vary, control and monitor the entire forming process with extremely high precision, making it a flexible, highly usable tool for research and development of various materials such as biocomposites. The press itself, however, is a fully commercial product. The same technology that the researchers use can already be utilized in large-scale industrial production.

“The combination of new materials and advanced forming technology provides car manufacturers greater freedom when it comes to manufacturing products of the future. It is an incredibly exciting development. Together with RISE SICOMP researchers, we are creating the conditions the industry needs to be able to take the next technological step in making lighter cars that have less of an impact on the environment,” says Kent Eriksson, Sales Manager at AP&T.

AP&T servo hydraulic press facts

Technology and functionality: Servo motors instead of control valves; closed-loop control system; energy recovery at retardation, kinetic energy storage; active parallelism; synchronization with automation equipment.

Advantages: Robust process, high precision and repeatability; parallel movement of the uppermost part of the tool, even when unevenly distributed; quick acceleration and retardation – short cycle times and high production capacity; 40–70% lower energy consumption per manufactured product.

Read more about AP&T’s servo hydraulic press here.

For more information on RISE SICOMP, see ri.se