Engel equips Open Hybrid Lab Factory with v-duo 3600 machine

ENGEL is building a v-duo 3600 machine for the Open Hybrid Lab Factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. 

 

Designed specifically for fiber-reinforced processing, the company’s v-duo series sets a new standard in energy efficiency with the use of the servohydraulic ENGEL ecodrive instead of a hydraulic accumulator.  

 

The vertical machines have a relatively small footprint and lower height and weight to reduce the foundation building overhead as opposed to presses traditionally used for similar applications. Their clamping unit can be accessed from all four sides instead of just two. The high rigidity and outstanding parallelism of the mould mounting platens guarantee the precision casting of even fine structures.

 

The largest machine in the series, the v-duo 3600, features a clamping force of 36,000 kN. One such machine is installed at BMW’s Landshut factory, which uses the HP-RTM process to manufacture large structural components of fiber-reinforced plastic composites.

 

The Engel v-duo 3600 for Wolfsburg will be fitted with two injection units to ensure deployment with maximum flexibility for various research purposes. In addition to facilitating multicomponent processes, this allows combining lightweight construction solutions with further injection molding technologies. 

 

Engel continues to work on innovative technologies for lightweight automotive construction in its own Center for Lightweight Composite Technologies in Austria. The company has established a number of key milestones in recent years in collaboration with its partners. 

 

The company has likewise defined several research projects to commence this autumn at a new research facility that is currently being built, hoping wide-ranging collaborative research will help unlock previously inaccessible potential in both market development and technology. It also hopes to speed up the application of innovative lightweight construction technologies in the mass production of automobiles. 

 

According to Peter Egger, director of the Engel Center for Lightweight Composite Technologies, "One important precondition for successful FRP projects is that the materials, design, and production process mesh in the best possible way. This can only work if enterprises bundle their expertise along the value chain. Composite engineering needs 'composite' development. That belief underpins our commitment to the Open Hybrid LabFactory association.”