Wickert Maschinenbau to unveil high speed heating-cooling press at JEC 2023

Wickert Maschinenbau will unveil WLP 250 S, a fast heating-cooling press, at JEC World 2023. The composite press with a heating platen size of 600 x 600 mm and a pressing force of 25 t excels with heating and cooling rates of up to 50 K/min. Standard presses are available for temperatures up to 450 ºC. 

Their main application is the processing of high-performance thermoplastics in the aerospace industry, but they are also used to manufacture membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for fuel cells.

Besides high-temperature presses, the family-owned business provides manufacturing solutions from a single source for the entire composites value chain. The heating-cooling press presented at the trade fair is a laboratory system for research.

Wickert Maschinenbau will unveil WLP 250 S the press at JEC World 2023.

Another customer-specific version of the fast heating-cooling press with temperature control rates of 35 K/min, which Wickert is currently manufacturing for Chemnitz Technical University, is also designed for scientific applications. 

It features a pressing force of 3000 kN, built up in less than 1s. The maximum heating plate temperature is 420°C. The press is scheduled for installation at the customer's site in April and will be used for innovative research projects.

Wickert integrates a temperature control system with two separate circuits in the presses ensuring that the short heating and cooling rates are achieved. Inductor coils in the heating plates cause the mold halves to heat up quickly, while integrated channels with cooling water ensure that they cool down rapidly. 

In Landau, Wickert manufactures a customer-specific version heating-cooling press with a pressing force of 300 t for TU Chemnitz.

The company guarantees a homogeneous temperature with a maximum deviation of ± 5ºC over the entire temperature range up to 500ºC and the entire plate surface.

Thanks to the rapid temperature control of the molds, the presses play a tangible role in cutting cycle times in high-temperature processing while speeding up production. When working with thermally fast-acting particle foams, the rapid heating and cooling rates are a prerequisite for economically efficient processing.