Denroy to focus on weight reduction at new centre of excellence
Above: Inspection cover assembly manufactured by Denroy Plastics, Northern Ireland.
Denroy’s Chairman, John Rainey is determined that Denroy not only flourish but lead in the aerospace sector through the development of world class R & D facilities. He said “We aim to commence building on our aerospace centre of excellence by the end of 2015. The centre will contain an ‘advanced materials R&D facility’ which will enable us to lead the way on plastic processes within the aerospace sector.”
As weight reduction is key to modern aerospace design, Denroy has developed products which reduce weight, costs and streamline the manufacturing process for aircraft through converting metal components and assemblies to plastics.
Ever since the days of the Wright Brothers, and all through the history of aviation, reducing weight and increasing efficiency have been central to the design of modern aircraft. With economic considerations becoming more and more central to both aircraft designers and businesses, the replacement of traditional metals with plastics both in the aircraft interiors and fuselage is gathering pace. As a long established company working in the highly skilled Northern Ireland aviation sector, Denroy has come up with some new and interesting metal to plastics conversion options.
Established in 1972, Denroy Plastics Limited is one of the UK’s foremost providers of precision plastics injection mouldings, and is a subsidiary of Denroy Group Limited. It is the only global company integrating the material Victrex ‘PEEK ESD101’ within their processes. Victrex is one of the highest performing engineering thermoplastics in the world, its chemical, hydrolysis and high wear resistance makes it key to the metal to plastics conversion process.
Victrex enables Denroy to improve the integrity of Aerospace products and components whilst reducing the overall weight and cost of material.
John Rainey - who has over 40 years’ experience in the aviation plastics field - talked about his company’s ongoing work within metal to plastics conversions: “Through the utilisation of materials like Victrex 'PEEK ESD101', we are the only injection moulding company worldwide using this grade of material for aerospace applications. We believe that the high wear resistance, excellent stiffness and Fuel / Chemical resistance create a niche in the Aerospace market for Denroy and effectively secures our future as a world leader in plastics conversion. Furthermore, the carbon content of our materials creates anti-static properties which help to preserve the life of the aircraft.
“At the heart of this process is the continual introduction and improvement of engineered plastics resins which have the strength and durability to compete with metal. This process of conversion enables intricate processes like the moulding of plastics parts into complex shapes to be performed at a much lower cost than machining metal components.”
