Hexcel Composites

Project Brief

Hexcel Composites enlisted AMI to design and manufacture a resin heater for their production plant in Duxford, United Kingdom.

Problem

The unit was needed to fit within a tight space envelope and would be required to comply with pressure equipment directive (PED) for a CAT 1 pressure vessel to ASME V111 div1 design code.

Solution

Hexcel kindly furnished us with the full specifications for their requirement, and work began on the design of the replacement resin heater unit.

The heater was thermally and mechanically designed by AMI with a removable heating element to support maintenance and to reduce costs for potential re-supply. A technical documentation pack was supplied to show the conformity of the pressure equipment to the relevant PED Cat 1 vessel requirements, including design analysis and the necessary risk assessments. All welding was carried out to ASME VIII code and unit pressure tested to 160psi.