The AMRC is working with Bentley, Sigmatex, Expert Tooling and Automation, Granta Design, Cranfield University and Wakefield-based production equipment specialist Group Rhodes as part of the Lightweighting Excellence (LX) programme, backed by the UK government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative.

Today, preforms, which are impregnated with polymer resin and cured to create composites, are designed for low tack-time and production speed, but the resulting part uses more material than necessary structurally.