Advancing Composite Manufacturing Research with the University of Leeds
Background
How an industrially representative research cell is supporting sustainable materials, advanced composites and the next generation of manufacturing innovation.
The University of Leeds is at the forefront of research into advanced composite materials and sustainable manufacturing, supporting innovation across sectors including aerospace, automotive, marine and space.
To strengthen its composite manufacturing capability, the University partnered with Composite Integration to install a Composite Integration Research Cell comprising a CIJECT resin injection and infusion machine, mould tool and CIVAC vacuum system. The installation delivers the precision, process control and traceability required for both research and education.
Today, the Composite Integration Research Cell underpins a wide range of research projects, enabling the development of sustainable, recyclable and multifunctional composite materials while providing students and researchers with an industrially representative manufacturing platform.
Challenge
As research into advanced composite materials continues to evolve, universities require manufacturing equipment capable of delivering both research-grade precision and industrial relevance.
The University of Leeds was seeking a composite manufacturing platform that would support a broad range of research programmes while providing students and researchers with practical experience of modern industrial composite manufacturing technologies.
Key areas of focus included:
- Driving scalable innovations in high-performance composites.
- Developing sustainable composite manufacturing processes.
- Research into recyclable composite materials and associated processing parameters.
- Investigating smart and self-repairing composite materials.
- Supporting collaborative research across multiple industrial sectors.
The University required a manufacturing platform offering exceptional process control, repeatability and traceability, ensuring experimental results could be measured, analysed and reproduced with confidence.
Solution
Why Composite Integration?
The University selected Composite Integration because the Composite Integration Research Cell provides the process control, manufacturing visibility and traceability required for advanced composite manufacturing research and education.
Unlike conventional laboratory equipment, the platform enables researchers to accurately control resin mixing and injection while continuously monitoring critical manufacturing parameters throughout the moulding process.
Integrated pressure and flow measurement provide valuable manufacturing data, allowing process variables to be measured, analysed and repeated across multiple research programmes, helping ensure reliable and repeatable experimental outcomes.
The Solution
Composite Integration supplied a Composite Integration Research Cell comprising a CIJECT resin injection and infusion machine, mould tool and CIVAC vacuum system, designed to deliver the levels of precision, repeatability and process visibility required for advanced composite manufacturing research and education.
The laboratory cell provides:
- Controlled dual-component resin mixing.
- Accurate resin injection.
- Integrated pressure monitoring.
- Flow-rate measurement.
- Repeatable manufacturing parameters.
- Full process traceability.
This enables researchers to manufacture consistent composite components while capturing the process data required to validate research findings and support ongoing process development.
Results
Technical Highlights
Applications
Research Areas Supported:
- Automotive
- Aerospace
- Marine
- Space
- Other high-performance engineering sectors
The CI Research Cell has been used to manufacture a wide variety of fibrous and particle-based polymer composite components, supporting research across these sectors.
Research Outcomes
- Supports multiple advanced composite research programmes
- Enables repeatable manufacturing for experimental validation
- Provides detailed manufacturing data for research analysis
- Strengthens collaboration between academia and industry
Educational Benefits
The Composite Integration Research Cell also provides students with hands-on experience using industrial composite manufacturing technology, helping prepare the next generation of engineers with practical knowledge of modern Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) processes and manufacturing best practice.
What’s Next?
As research into sustainable materials, recyclable composites and multifunctional structures continues to accelerate, the University of Leeds remains at the forefront of composite manufacturing innovation.
Composite Integration is proud to continue supporting this work through an ongoing partnership that combines industrial manufacturing expertise with academic research. Together, we are helping develop the processes, technologies and engineering expertise that will shape the future of composite manufacturing.
