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Closed Mold Alliance is an Industry Leading Resources for Composites Manufacturers
Within the composites industry, manufacturers have an invaluable resource available to them in the Closed Mold Alliance. The Closed Mold Alliance operates to educate composites manufacturers across major industries to transition from open to closed molding for their composites production processes.
Founded by Composites One, along with Magnum Venus Products (MVP), RTM North Technologies, and Aerovac, these companies provide leadership, knowledge, education and resources to allow manufacturers to take full advantage of the benefits available with closed mold processing. The Closed Mold Alliance focuses on the processes of light RTM, vacuum infusion, and reusable bag molding.
Complete closed mold support for customers
In closed mold processing, there are many decisions to make in selecting the correct products, materials, and processes that are most appropriate for the specific manufacturing requirements and end production goals, including:
- Process materials
- Catalyst
- Core materials
- Equipment
- Reinforcements
- Release agents
- Consumables
The Closed Mold Alliance works with the industry’s leading suppliers of closed mold products to help ensure manufacturers are selecting and applying the latest products and technologies to create manufacturing efficiencies. Some key products and suppliers include:
- Aerovac provides complete vacuum bagging and process materials that are essential to composite manufacturing in Aerospace, Wind Energy, Marine, Automotive, and more.
- For high-performing catalysts, Norox® offers a range of peroxide products for fabricators utilizing RTM applications, matching up basic chemical properties with the size and thickness of the profile.
- For core materials, 3A Composites offers various products or product configurations based on required structure and performance, geometry, and lamination process.
- For equipment, MVP offers a full range of metering and mixing equipment specifically designed for closed molding processes.
- Vectorply and Chomarat Group are two leading suppliers of composites reinforcement products, offering a wide range of reinforcement fabrics and fibers for unlimited composite applications.
- For closed molding release agents, Chem-Trend is a proven partner for release agents, purging compounds, and other process chemical specialties, helping manufacturers comply with government regulations.
- For consumables, products like 3M™ Wind Protection Tapes can significantly reduce and even eliminate leading edge erosion in wind turbine blades.
- For tooling, it’s important to utilize proper tooling designed for the specific composites manufacturing process, part performance requirements, and number of parts being produced.
Composites One and its partners through the Closed Mold Alliance are the industry’s leading closed mold process experts. We are here to help manufacturers select a process, invest in tooling, and optimize manufacturing processes on an ongoing basis to produce parts using closed molding and realize its benefits over traditional open molding.