Epona CDuro mountain bike developed for enduro racing. Source (all images) | CompoTech Plus spol. s ro
CompoTech Plus spol. s ro (Sušice, Czech Republic) develops automated carbon fiber lay-up (AFL) placement and winding technology for the production of high-performance carbon fiber reinforced epoxy parts and large structures. Using its R&D and design engineering resources, CompoTech has also developed its proprietary Integrated Loop Technology (ILT) for producing continuous fiber joints that do not require drilling or fastening.
CompoTech's proprietary automated fiber winding, placement, and joining technology is proven in the CDuro carbon fiber bike frame. The wound tubular frame components include ILT end joints that allow bike frame sections to be joined without the weight added by fasteners or the loss of mechanical performance that comes from drilling holes in continuous carbon fiber. ILT joints also reduce overall assembly time and labor costs.
The latest in the CDuro Bike project, the CDuro Epona mountain bike, is fitted with a custom-designed “Intend Carbonite” suspension fork, which is said to feature carbon fiber reinforced epoxy fork tubes that are much lighter and stiffer than existing aluminum designs. The composite suspension fork is the result of a joint project between bicycle component manufacturers CompoTech and Intend Bicycle Components GmbH (Freiburg, Germany), and further enhances the bike's “extreme sports” performance.
For manufacturers looking to bring automated carbon fiber part manufacturing capabilities in-house, CompoTech also offers customers turnkey automated fiber winding and filament placement machines. Each custom-built automated machine comes with patented advanced winding technology as part of the package, as well as after-sales technical and product development support.
An early prototype carbon fiber reinforced epoxy component that makes up CDuro's lightweight bicycle frame.
CompoTech's winding technology was developed 30 years ago as an in-house filament winder with “true zero” degree axial fiber placement and was originally used to manufacture high performance whitewater sports paddle shafts. Today, 6-axis FANUC robot integration enables automated precision zero degree carbon fiber axial placement with pitch fiber to produce square carbon fiber epoxy reinforced beams and tubes for industrial applications requiring high stiffness and natural frequency.
According to the company, the parts CompoTech produces offer improved mechanical properties, reduced weight (typically 25% lighter than steel), increased efficiency/productivity, reduced costs, and the added benefit of reducing a company's carbon footprint by requiring less energy to run machines and production lines.
CompoTech manufactures a variety of carbon fiber and carbon fiber-metal hybrid parts that are custom designed and supplied to OEMs as lightweight, high-performance composite part alternatives with mechanical properties comparable to steel and aluminum. Examples of CompoTech manufactured parts that are preferred over metal include composite beams, rotating shafts, spindles and tools for production machinery and automation lines.
