IACMI-The Composites Institute member innovations are making headlines. Read the press release below for more information on Roctool’s recent announcement:
LE BOURGET DU LAC, France, September 7, 2017 – Roctool, a leading developer of mold heating and cooling technologies, has announced the installation of its leading-edge molding technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Roctool’s large double-zone generator and its latest performance cooling unit were installed at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at ORNL for early stage research and development (R&D) applications in automotive, aerospace, aircraft, military, energy-related and consumer goods.
“The installation at ORNL will afford leading OEMs better access to Roctool technology, enabling them to test and evaluate the benefits for composite molding programs,” said Steve Verschaeve, Roctool’s Vice President of North American Business Development.
The equipment is available to industrial collaborators through ORNL and IACMI R&D programs focused on the processing of new composites (commingled, non-woven), renewable composites such as bioderived fiber and self-reinforced PP (SRPP), and high-performance composites (high-temperature for the aerospace market).
“We are excited to add Roctool’s heating and cooling mold technology to our research capabilities in additive and composites manufacturing at the MDF where both ORNL and IACMI led projects can utilize the latest in compression molding technology for lightweight composites,” said Bill Peter, ORNL Director of the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
“Roctool’s innovative molding technologies will accelerate the overall impact of our programs and expand composite processing capabilities for our industrial partners and the growing workforce,” said Uday Vaidya, Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing for ORNL and the University of Tennessee and the Chief Technology Officer for IACMI-The Composites Institute.”
Along with the equipment installation, Roctool has developed a special preliminary mold for compression molding programs. The highly detailed mold – which will be installed later this year – incorporates numerous design features for a range of composite products. A new mold is under construction for more advanced manufacturing trials. Customers can also build their own Roctool mold for specific application needs.
The DZ 150KW, dual zone 150KW per side and 300KW total, induction generator is an ultra-compact model dedicated for Roctool processing. Its design saves valuable floor space and simplifies inline integration. A remote control unit permits control of the heating cycles via feedback to the microcontroller. The RPC C24 micro cooling unit effectively purges the system and then uses water to efficiently cool the mold.
Roctool envisions working with customers like ORNL and IACMI on pre-series development projects.
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About Roctool
Roctool is a Technology & Manufacturing solutions provider offering engineering services and systems for injection and compression molding. Its R&D team is constantly adapting its induction technologies to more materials, in order to draw benefits such as reduced cycle times, surface quality, lightweighting, product performance, and overall cost reductions. Roctool’s latest technology: IDH – Induction Dual Heating, is a leading Heat & Cool process combining composites with overmolded plastic features, which targets major brands in innovative industries, e.g. automotive, aerospace, consumer products, and electronics. Those brands already use Roctool processes in production, in particular HD Plastics™ capabilities for plastic molding and Light Induction Tooling™ for composite parts. Roctool is listed on Alternext. Its headquarters and R&D center is situated at Le Bourget du Lac (France). Roctool also has offices and platforms in North America, Japan, Taiwan, and Germany.
About IACMI-The Composites Institute: The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), managed by the Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation (CCS), is a partnership of industry, universities, national laboratories, and federal, state and local governments working together to benefit the nation’s energy and economic security by sharing existing resources and co-investing to accelerate innovative research and development in the advanced composites field. CCS is a not-for-profit organization established by The University of Tennessee Research Foundation. The national institute is supported by a $70 million commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, and over $180 million committed from IACMI’s partners. Find out more at IACMI.org.
About Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov.
This research is supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-Advanced Manufacturing Office under the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. AMO supports early stage applied research and development of new materials, information, and processes that improve American manufacturing’s energy efficiency, as well as platform technologies for manufacturing clean energy products.
Press Contact:
Joseph Grande
J. Grande communications Inc.
413.684.2463
Read more about the story on Composites World and Plastics Today.