| Southdown Composites, near Alton in Hampshire UK, won a contract in 2001 to
produce components for Shorts, the aircraft manufacturer in Northern
Ireland. Southdown, as composite manufacturing sub-contractors, also use the oven for
moulding other lightweight, strong structures such as components for Mitsubishi
Motorsport. Aerospace composite components are manufactured to very strict standards,
with Shorts giving a detailed specification as to how the oven must
perform. The oven was designed and built to make best use of the available
space in the factory unit. The oven operates at better than +/-3°C
throughout the working chamber.
Oven control is via a programmable temperature controller that monitors
product and air temperature in the oven. This allows Southdown to operate
the oven with a 'head of temperature' to speed components curing.
Monitoring product temperature allows a higher air temperature to be used.
As the product reaches the required curing temperature, the oven air temperature
is reduced to match product temperature.
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