Filament Winding

Stronger Than Steel

The filament winding process was originally invented to produce missile casings, nose cones and fuselage structures, but with the passage of time industries other than defense and aerospace have discovered the strength and versatility of filament winding.

Entec Composite Machines is the world’s oldest continually operating manufacturer of filament winding machinery, with over 40 years’ experience in the field, and has built more multi-spindle filament winding machines than any other manufacturer. Entec changed the face of filament winding by producing the world’s first computer-controlled filament winding machine, and has continued to lead the industry ever since. Entec engineers also created the world’s most-used application software for winding pattern generation, FiberGrafiX.

Filament Winding Defined

Filament Winding is the process of winding resin-impregnated fiber or tape on a mandrel surface in a precise geometric pattern. This is accomplished by rotating the mandrel while a delivery head precisely positions fibers on the mandrel surface. By winding continuous strands of carbon fiber, fiberglass or other material in very precise patterns, structures can be built with properties stronger than steel at much lighter weights.

A winding machine can be as simple as one axis of motion or as complicated as five or more axis of motion to create more precise patterns for higher performance parts.