IComp has a comprehensive suite of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for composite materials research. In the modern laboratories located in UL, UCD, AIT and NUIG, IComp has full capability in all stages of composite materials R&D including processing and manufacturing, testing, characterisation and simulation. The table below gives an overview of our equipment and facilities but these lists are not exhaustive.
Please contact us if you have a query about something not listed here.
| Processing | Testing | Characterisation | Simulation |
| ATP (Automated tape placement) | Straining frames | Rheometry | Part modelling, design & optimisation |
| RTM (Resin transfer moulding) | Hydraulic testing | Spectroscopy | Liquid resin infusion simulation |
| Autoclave (400°C) | Fatigue testing | Contact angle analysis | Finite element analysis (micro & macro structure) |
| High-temperature VARTM | High-speed cameras | Surface and porosity analysis | Molecular dynamics |
| Melt spinning | Impact testing | Thermal analysis – TGA & DSC | Computational fluid dynamics |
| Dedicated preparation rooms | Coating and wear resistance measurement | HPLC (Chromatography) | |
| Cutting facilities | Adhesion testing | X-ray tomography | |
| 400°C High-precision hydraulic press | Erosion testing | NDT equipment including laser shearography and ultrasonics | |
| Furnaces | Mechanical strength, tensile, compression and flexural analysis | Nano-indenter | |
| Vacuum ovens | Shelf-life analysis | Optical microscopy | |
| Coating deposition facilities | Accelerated weathering | SEM/ EDX, TEM, AFM | |
| Injection moulding | Surface and thermal analysis | XRD, XPS | |
| Blow moulding | MFI (Melt flow indexer) | ||
| Thermoplastic compounding equipment | DIC (Digital image correlation) | ||
| Extruder | |||
| Hot drape former | |||
| 3D Printers | |||
| Laser scanner |
