Group Rhodes showcases aerospace forming at Advanced Engineering

Group Rhodes, through its Rhodes Interform division, will exhibit its advanced hot and cold forming machinery for metals and composites at the Advanced Engineering 2026 show in Birmingham (Stand Q150). As the aerospace sector faces continuous pressure to reduce aircraft weight to improve fuel efficiency and increase payload capacities, the Wakefield-based manufacturer provides bespoke press solutions designed to produce lighter, stronger, and highly complex components from advanced composites, titanium, and aluminum alloys.

Automating bespoke composite and metal forming
At the event, the company will showcase its extensive portfolio, ranging from heated platen presses for thermoset and thermoplastic composite parts to high-tonnage hydraulic presses for metal forming. The engineering team recently delivered on a multi-million-pound contract involving the design, build, and commissioning of three bespoke hydraulic presses tailored for manufacturing high-tech composite components used in light aero structures. Each machine is engineered around specific production rates, featuring automated robotic handling and recipe-driven Human-Machine Interface (HMI) controls for seamless turnkey integration.

Additional Context: The mechanics of Superplastic Forming and Diffusion Bonding (SPF/DB)
This section details metallurgical processes and structural benefits not included in the original press release.

Superplastic Forming and Diffusion Bonding (SPF/DB) is a highly specialized manufacturing technique predominantly used for titanium alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, in the aerospace sector. At extreme temperatures (typically around 900°C), certain fine-grained alloys exhibit "superplasticity," allowing them to stretch extensively without necking, tearing, or failing. During this state, inert argon gas pressure forces the heated metal sheets into a complex die cavity. Concurrently, Diffusion Bonding occurs when multiple sheets are pressed together at these elevated temperatures, causing atoms to diffuse across the joint interface and fuse the materials at a molecular level. This eliminates the need for heavy mechanical fasteners, rivets, adhesives, or traditional welding, resulting in a single, seamless, hollow structure. SPF/DB drastically reduces the overall part count, assembly time, and structural weight while maximizing the fatigue resistance and aerodynamic integrity of flight-critical components.

Edited by an industrial journalist, Lekshman Ramdas, with AI assistance.

www.rhodesinterform.com