Capability

From in-house tooling to multiple production methods, Sikes Composites Corporation is capable of delivering a broad range of services to its customers.  SCC employs three manufacturing method enabling the firm to produce components that meet the needs of each customer.

Light RTM (Vacuum Assisted)

For medium and high volume production, Sikes Composites is capable of producing components through light RTM (resin transfer molding).  While this process may be called by other names, it is simply the use of matched tooling and specialized fiberglass resins and fabrics to produce components with great accuracy and faster cycle times.  For customers requiring several hundred to several thousand units per year, light RTM may be a solid alternative to other open-molded composite production processes.

By using fiberglass matched tooling, creating a vacuum in the tool cavity, and then injecting resin into the closed mold, the results of traditional RTM can be achieved without the need for high pressure resin injection.  This reduction in pressure allows for the use of more economical tooling and enables customers to reap the benefits of resin transfer molded components at dramatically reduced up-front costs. 

Chopper Gun Application

At SCC, another of the primary production methods is chopper gun application.  Ideal for low and medium volume requirements, the chopper gun application is among the most widely used production methods in the composites industry.

At SCC, all chopper systems employ Fluid Impingement Technology or FIT systems.  Fluid impingement has multiple benefits including reduced emissions, limited blow-back during production, reduction in wasted materials common to standard chopper gun systems, and more uniform component thickness due to increased control of the flow of materials into the mold.

Hand Lay-Up

Sometimes, things just have to be done the old fashion way.  Since the concept of fiberglass began to take hold in the 1950’s, countless new manufacturing techniques have been introduced.  But, many customers still require fiberglass components that must be made the old fashioned way…with hand lay-up fiberglass.  

While hand lay-up fiberglass is among the oldest and perhaps least technical composites manufacturing process, this process still requires skilled laminators and close attention to produce high quality components.  At SCC, our well-trained laminators and attention to detail allow us to produce superior quality hand lay-up components.