Composites design and manufacturing services for aerospace, defense

Matrix Composites (Rockledge, Fla., U.S.) is emphasizing its design and manufacture services for a broad range of high-performance composite components and assemblies. 

Operating under ITT Connect & Control Technologies (White Plains, N.Y., U.S.), Matrix Composites serves the needs of customers engaged in critical applications in the aerospace and defense industries. Full-service capabilities include design, development, tooling, fabrication and integration. The company’s experienced team of engineers routinely applies the latest technologies in materials and processing methods to fabricate complex geometries.

With a heritage deeply rooted in materials and process engineering, Matrix says it excels in the field of precision resin transfer molding (RTM) and conventional composites. The company’s robust manufacturing methods are ideal for composites and integrated structures requiring multiple finished surfaces, low void content and high fiber volume. Using precision machined tools and high-pressure processing systems, Matrix produces composite components with a high degree of repeatability and process control.

Other supported processes include hot isostatic resin pressure molding (HiRPM), compression molding, autoclave and oven curing, and trapped rubber and bladder molding. HiRPM, the company’s proprietary closed molding solution in particular, is an ultra-precision technique used to custom manufacture parts for aerospace and defense applications. The technology is a compilation of distinctive tooling and manufacturing methods that reportedly result in improved part quality and reduced cost.

Matrix Composites highlights notable product experience in:

• Commercial aviation: Fixed and rotating engine components; complex integrated engine structures; engine nacelles; and waste tanks.
• General aviation: Interior and seat components; skins; primary structures; heat and A/C ducts; wind-swept surfaces; and waste tanks.
• Military/defense: Skins; spars; radomes; antennas; munitions housings; ducting; and fixed and rotating engine components.
• Aerospace: Space shuttle composite shields; satellite and space optics structures; space hab floor panels; aircraft fuselages, interior components, wind-swept components, radomes and fairings, antennas and ducting; and fixed and rotating aircraft engine components.
• Infrastructure: Artificial foliage for theme parks and cellular towers; lightweight honeycomb launch tower platforms; and composites for ground support systems.