Wisconsin Oven Corporation announced the shipment of one (1) Gas Fired Walk-In Batch Oven to a leading manufacturer in the defense industry. This batch oven will be used for curing filament wound composite materials.
The oven has the capacity to process a 78,000 pound load of composite material wound on a 40’ long mandrel, carried on a load car. The work chamber dimensions are 10’ wide x 42’ long x 9’ high with a qualified work zone of 8’ wide x 40’ long x 8’ high. The oven is equipped with a rotation system at the rear of the oven, which rotates the mandrel during heating to prevent drooping of the uncured composite. The rotation system features a variable frequency drive for speed control flexibility and a manual rotation handle to allow rotation of the part in the event of a power outage.
This filament wound composite curing oven has a maximum operating temperature of 500°F and uniformity of ±10°F at set points of 150°, 250°, and 350°F. This was verified before shipment with a sixty (60) point profile test. The combination airflow arrangement maximizes heating rates and temperature uniformity of the product by supplying air to the work chamber through 42 foot long ductwork located on each side of the work chamber, near the bottom of the chamber, to assure that the air passes vertically through the product on the way back to the heater house. A PLC-based Wisconsin Oven Premium Control System provides high level monitoring and control of critical variables for consistent composite curing along with advanced reporting capabilities. An industrial IoT system remotely monitors the oven health using sensors on the equipment, providing predictive maintenance and remote fault diagnosis.
“In filament wound composites, accurate and reliable rotation of the material is critical to optimal part results. The rotation system on this oven is designed with both a variable frequency drive for precise speed control during the filament winding process and a manual rotation handle as a backup to safeguard against power interruptions. This ensures consistent, high-quality cures and prevents costly part defects” – Jeff Judd, Sales Engineer
Unique features of this filament wound composite curing oven include:
• Temperature uniformity of ±10°F at multiple setpoints
• Split line construction for ease of shipping and installation
• Interior lighting to illuminate the interior
• Two (2) 42,000 CFM recirculation blowers
• Wisconsin Oven Premium Control System
• Turnkey installation, start-up, and training
• Data-Sense® IoT (Internet of Things) equipped
• One vertical lift, pneumatically operated door
• OSHA compliant railings and ladder for roof access around the blowers
• Three (3) 8-position thermocouple jack panels
This filament wound composite curing oven was fully factory tested and adjusted prior to shipment from the Wisconsin Oven facility. All safety interlocks were checked for proper operation and the equipment was operated at the normal and maximum operating temperatures. An extensive quality assurance check list was completed to ensure the equipment met all Wisconsin Oven quality standards. This equipment is backed by Wisconsin Oven’s Exclusive and Unprecedented 5-Year WOW™ warranty (parts only).
