Make it safe! Hydraulic presses from Wickert for armor and security

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Wickert Maschinenbau considers itself well positioned for the production of safety-relevant components for the defence industry, for example. Find out here why this opinion holds true.

Wickert Maschinenbau, a family-owned company based in the Palatinate region of Germany, has been developing and manufacturing complete production systems for the defence industry for many years with around 200 employees. These include hydraulic composite presses with automated loading and unloading and efficient temperature control. By their own admission, Wickert have enjoyed the trust of defence companies for many years, who manufacture complex safety-relevant components on these high-precision press systems. The fields of application for Wickert presses are diverse in the defence and security sector.

Wickert presses can be used for various composites

This is because Wickert systems can be used to process numerous thermoset (also known as thermoset) and thermoplastic materials, for example. These include fiber-reinforced composites, which are often reinforced with aramid fibers in the defence sector. High-performance thermoplastics such as PEEK (polyether ether ketone), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene = Teflon) and UHMWPE (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) serve as a matrix. The plastics are often used together with glass, carbon, ceramic and metal fibers made of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, boron carbide and aluminum, as well as with armor steel. The semi-finished products consisting of this material mix are heated in the composite presses, making them malleable and allowing them to be pressed into safety-related fiber composite panels.

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Important press parameters can be customised

Among other things, users use Wickert's press systems to manufacture armor to protect civilian and military vehicles, ships and aircraft from bullet damage. However, the systems are also equally suitable for the production of ballistic protection plates for personal protection. For example, helmets and shields. Incidentally, all Wickert press systems are custom-made in Germany. And Wickert develops and manufactures all hydraulic composite presses itself at the company headquarters in Landau according to the respective requirements. The machines have a modular design and are adapted accordingly in terms of pressing force, temperature control concept and automation. They are also designed precisely with the desired tools in mind or - with the corresponding confidentiality requirements - prepared in such a way that the user can adapt them themselves.

Features shorten the cycle times per component

Wickert can offer many options for the design of the presses. Processing temperatures of up to 500 °C are possible, as are freely selectable press forces of up to over 100,000 kilonewtons, which the systems can achieve in just a few seconds, as the company emphasises. Heating rates of 55 °C per minute and cooling rates of up to 100 °C per minute can also be achieved if required. All systems are characterised by high temperature homogeneity with a deviation of less than five degrees over the entire pressing surface. The dimensions of the presses and their precision heating plates can also be freely selected. The outstanding features include the precision of the systems with plane parallelism of less than 0.1 millimetres and a maximum lateral offset of 0.02 millimetres. Thanks to a smart design and fast pressure and temperature control, energy requirements can be reduced and the production cycle shortened. This not only increases the number of pieces per hour, but also makes manufacturers more flexible in order processing, as Wickert explains.

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Wickert presses can also do Smart Factory

On request, the press systems can include automation systems, including raw material handling, press operation, removal and post-processing. Planning is carried out by our own development department, which designs individual concepts for automation and special solutions. This makes it possible to develop systems with fully automated production. In addition, presses and peripheral components can be networked with other system participants and higher-level process control systems in the sense of a smart factory. If required, Wickert can take on the entire project management from planning to commissioning as a general contractor. The worldwide service includes remote maintenance in real time and on-site support.