Materials at the Heart of Critical Industries
Composite materials at the heart of the most critical industries: aerospace, automotive, energy, sport.
Sectors where every thermal process is decisive and where precision drives performance.
Thermal Challenges in Composites
Increasingly Sensitive Materials
From flax at 180°C to PEEK at 450°C, each new material narrows the permitted thermal window. The slightest drift irreversibly degrades the part.
Heterogeneous Parts
Variable thicknesses, local reinforcements, inserts: a single part combines radically different thermal requirements from one zone to the next.
Throughput Under Pressure
30 to 120 seconds of maximum heating time. Heating is the bottleneck that determines the profitability of the entire line.
Zero Right to Error
In aerospace as in automotive, every part produced must be compliant, traceable and reproducible. A process deviation means an entire batch scrapped.
Sopara’s Thermal Response
Thermal Solutions Designed for Composites
Applications in Composites
From automotive door panels to aircraft structures, from composite tanks to window profiles: Sopara infrared intervenes at every stage of manufacturing the most demanding composite parts.
Case Studies
Case Study 1
Aerospace Manufacturer
The Industrial Challenge
Industrialise up to 30,000 parts/year (1 part/6 min) in 3D thermoplastic composites with variable thickness, rendering conventional technologies obsolete: uncompacted parts, heterogeneous inter-layer temperatures, insufficient mechanical performance.
The Solution Implemented
Deployment of MIR HP Aero V5 (worldwide unique patent):
- Direct heating of 3D preforms
- Shape-adapted emitters
- Thermal pixelisation up to 132 independently controlled zones/m²
- Elimination of cold zones
The Impact
3D
Controlled heating of complex shapes
100%
Mechanical performance guaranteed
100%
Active emitter zone
Multi-zone
High-precision thermal control
Case Study 2
Aerospace Manufacturer
The Industrial Challenge
Industrialise carbon thermoplastic composites with fast cycles and no mechanical compromise, challenging conventional high-thermal-inertia technologies (400–450°C in 20 minutes) that limited throughput.
The Solution Implemented
Adoption of fast-response medium-wave infrared:
- low thermal inertia
- direct energy transfer to the material
- 10 years of development for one of the highest levels of thermal homogeneity in the world.
The Impact
Divided by 4
Energy per part
±10°C at 450°C
Thermal precision
5–10 min
Cycle time (vs. 20 min)
Case Study 3
Automotive Tier 1 Supplier
The Industrial Challenge
The specification called for high-power medium-wave IR (2×65 kW/m²) for door panels and rear shelves in natural fibres. Above 200°C, the fibres blacken and oxidise: high scrap rates and fire risk with the technologies proposed.
The Solution Implemented
Switch to short-wave IR, power reduced to 2×40 kW/m² (running at 60% of set point). Double-wall mobile panel for continuous heating. 14 regulation loops automatically compensating for absorption differences between the two faces. Full-scale trials at Sopara with a full-power generator.
The Impact
Divided by 2.5
Installed power vs. initial specification
Zero blackening
Natural fibres preserved, zero heating-related scrap
First trial successful
New two-tone material without changing parameters
2 lines deployed
In production in Mexico, R&D centre replicated in Spain
Credentials & Industrial
Deployment
Industrial Ecosystem
All French composite IRTs (Jules Verne, Saint-Exupéry, M2P, CETIM, ESTIA Compositadour) trust Sopara. A presence at the heart of French composite research, combined with deployment at major manufacturers and equipment suppliers in aerospace and automotive, on internationally scaled projects.
Knowledge Transfer & Expertise
Thirty years of composite expertise and over 800 test files accumulated. Partner of the Composite Academy, our experts lead training for methods engineers, R&D teams and technical staff. Recognition reflected by the publication of an article in JEC, the world’s reference composite journal.
Rigour & Project Methodology
Thermal audit, laboratory testing, industrial pilot, industrialisation, training and predictive maintenance. All installations incorporate native traceability: temperature curves per part, cycle memory, automatic element-by-element fault detection. ISO 9001 certified.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is precisely what the patented Aero V5 emitter enables: the only one on the market without peripheral cold zones. Working close to the parts, each zone receives exactly the required power, with a precision of 450°C ±10°C across the entire surface for the most demanding aerospace applications. Up to 200 independent zones controlled in real time allow zone-by-zone discrimination, regardless of part geometry. Our clients observe a drastic reduction in scrap from the very first production run.
The choice depends on the material and the process stage. Short-wave IR penetrates to the core and is essential for thick parts or natural fibres where any surface overheating irreversibly degrades the material. Medium-wave IR is preferred for high-performance composites such as carbon-PEEK. Sopara masters both technologies and determines the right combination through testing, including challenging the initial specification.
Infrared heats the part directly, without heating air or moulds. This is what makes the gains so significant. On throughput, our clients gain an average of 8 to 20% productivity on their thermocompression cycles. When replacing their gas ovens with our infrared installations, some clients have observed a sixfold reduction in energy consumption. Gains systematically measured and documented before any industrialisation.
This is one of its main advantages. Infrared heats the part directly and instantaneously, whatever its size, without having to heat and cool tonnes of steel in every cycle. Sopara has built the world’s largest aeronautical thermoplastic composite line — a reference that demonstrates our capability to process the largest and most demanding parts on the market.
This is systematic at Sopara. No project is industrialised without laboratory validation. With over 800 accumulated test files, our teams have developed unique materials expertise and can reproduce real production conditions to prove feasibility before any investment.
Yes, but with a particular mastery requirement. Natural fibres blacken and lose their mechanical properties above 200°C. Short-wave infrared, by penetrating directly to the core, makes it possible to reach the necessary temperature at the surface without destructive overheating.
All our installations incorporate SOPARA ThermalCore™, our thermal control and regulation solution. Temperature curves per part, cycle memory, automatic element-by-element fault detection: every parameter is recorded and auditable. An approach compliant with the qualification requirements of aerospace and automotive principal contractors.
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