Re:Build Oribi

Historically, composite materials, particularly those with continuous fiber reinforcement, have been largely confined to niche applications in the aerospace industry. While these materials offer tremendous potential to reduce weight, improve performance, and reduce costs, they’ve lacked an affordable conversion technology to turn them into finished parts at scale.

This is where Re:Build Oribi comes in. By partnering with customers from the earliest stages of design, the team combines expertise in composite material part design with production optimization to enable cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing. Through a sophisticated five-step process, raw materials are transformed into high-performance composite parts that are stronger, lighter, and tougher than traditional alternatives.

1. Material Selection: The process begins with careful selection of the right fiber type and resin system for each application’s specific requirements.
2. Automated Layup: Using proprietary automated layup machines, Re:Build Oribi creates flat laminates with remarkable speed, laying down material at a rate of around 1 second per linear foot. This automation ensures consistency and dramatically reduces labor costs compared to manual layup methods.
3. Blank Consolidation: The laminate is then consolidated using either press consolidation or vacuum consolidation. This step ensures the individual plies are properly bonded into a unified laminate.
4. Part Forming: This is where the capabilities truly shine. Using thermoforming presses ranging from 50 to 2,000 tons, with platen sizes from 39″ x 48″ up to 60″ x 72″, the team forms complex three-dimensional parts with draw depths up to 48”. The heated thermoplastic material is rapidly formed in matched-metal dies, creating parts with excellent dimensional accuracy.
5. Trimming and Finishing: Finally, parts are precisely trimmed using water jets, 3-axis routers, or multi-axis robotic trimming systems. Additional finishing operations include tumbling, deburring, and edge finishing to meet exact specifications.