Design, Stressing, Tooling, Manufacture - under one roof

Our expertise in composite materials includes:

• Product Design
  • Aesthetic end products - form, finish and feel.
  • Tooling designs allow all-side tool faces - quality inside and outside.
  • Composite materials mean superior strength, rigidity, lightness and economical production.
• Tooling, Patterns and Moulds - Design and Manufacture
  • Tooling for composites - cheaper, lighter, stronger than for resin or plastic injection moulding.
  • Initial curing takes place on the tool.
  • Low cost of composite tooling makes multiple tooling for simultaneous production economically viable.

• Production processes
  • Autoclave - Our home-built 4-by-2 metre machine has PLC control with selectable heat distribution and PID temperature regulation.
  • RTM and VART (vacuum assisted resin transfer) offer insensitive processes, requiring little skilled operation, with consistent product quality.
  • At Epsilon, we operate multiple moulds served by one injection/vacuum machine for simultaneous production of different components.
  • Product cycle time for complex components can be as low as 20 minutes.
• Commissioning
  • Epsilon is accredited by local agencies and work in compliance with ISO9001-2000.
  • Our in-house skills in quality control and qualification enable turnkey production.

We also use the following supporting processes

• Honeycomb/Pre-preg
• RTM (resin transfer moulding)
• Vacuum bag infusion
• Hand lamination
• Post-curing
• Trimming
• Final assembly of parts

• Marce Firefighting:
  • Epsilon manufactures a double cab extension that is mounted on a Mercedes Benz chassis. The main structure is made from composite materials. This cab extension has passed SABS Testing.
  • A watertank is manufactured for each firetruck. These are all made from composite materials.
  • Most of the trucks and watertanks are built using a spray-up process (choppergunning)
• Aerosud Aviation:
  • Handrails: Handrails for various airlines are built using a phenolic prepreg (Pre impregnated with resin material). The resin system used meets FST (Fire Smoke and Toxicity) requirements specified.
  • High Temperature Tooling: Tooling is constructed using resin systems able to withstand in excess of 160 deg C. These tools are used in the manufacture of aircraft interior parts.
• Fugro Airborne Surveys, Spectrem Air, New Resolution Geophysics, Wild Dog:
  • Various parts such as wingtips, pods etc are designed and constructed for these companies.
• Southern Medical:
  • X-Ray transparent Carbon Fibre Parts – such as Surgery Tables and Operating blades – are manufactured.

See this link for examples of our work in the field of composites technology: