Tube rolling involves placing material fibers around a circular mold, or ‘part’, to be heat cured and then removed.

The process begins with the cutting of patterns, commonly referred to as 'flags', from epoxy pre-impregnated carbon, glass or aramid cloth. Flags are expertly rolled around a steel or alloy mold (mandrel). It is vital to achieve a tight roll, ensuring minimal air entrapment and optimal fiber alignment.

Next, the part is pressure-wrapped with a plastic film. This process, known as debaulking, further compacts the part and purges any remaining air.

Finally, the part is heat cured, then removed from its mandrel, leaving a hollow tube.

Key benefits of the tube rolling process are:

The ability to place fibers along or around the part depending on load situations that the part is to be subjected to

The capability to achieve a very thin wall, with fiber running in the zero degree (lengthwise) orientation – essential for stiffness-critical applications

The ability to achieve very high fiber-to-resin ratios with near perfect fiber alignment, due to the high tech nature of pre-impregnated fabrics

At all stages of the design and production process, CTS takes great care to ensure fiber orientation is preserved, given that a slight misalignment of fiber can reduce the strength of part by 40%, and result in very early part failure.