Two test cylinders produced for the project

Richard Hardy, Chief Operating Officer of iCOMAT, with the two test composite cylinders produced for the ESA project, the one on the right produced using traditional composite techniques, the other through 'rapid tow shearing'. This ESA-led project constructed a test cylinder using a novel method of laying down carbon fibre, then tested it to buckling point within a crushing machine that subjected it to the equivalent of 10 tons of force. The cylinder met its predicted specifications perfectly, outperforming a traditionally-made equivalent using the same constituent materials. The company involved, iCOMAT in the UK, has now been shortlisted for the 2022 JEC World Composites Innovation Award – recognised as one of the year’s global top three main innovations in the field of aerospace composites.