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Composites, technologies, equipment.

"Composite-Expo 2027" Exhibition
March 16 - 18, Pavilion 1, Halls 1 and 4, IEC Crocus-Expo, Moscow, Russia.

Website: composite-expo.com
Youtube: youtube.com/user/compositeexpo
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Dear participants and visitors!

Behind three active days of the Composite-Expo 2021 exhibition.
We will post the final information on the event (press release, photos, feedback from participants, statistics, etc.) on the official website in the near future.

We are grateful to our regular exhibitors, as well as companies that took part in the event for the first time for making a decision about full-time participation in the exhibition in this difficult period, and visitors for their active interest in the event and the business program within its framework!

We hope that in 2022 nothing will prevent the exhibition from being held in full, with the full participation of our foreign exhibitors!

The 14th International Exhibition Composite-Expo will be held from March 29 to March 31, 2022.

Advance booking of stands is already open!
Sandia National Laboratories’ Brandon Ennis holding a carbon fiber plank.
Photo courtesy Randy Montoya.
Composites
Sandia National Laboratories’ Brandon Ennis holding a carbon fiber plank. Photo courtesy Randy Montoya.
Carbon fiber wind turbine blades could reduce cost

Sandia National Laboratories has released a new study which suggests that a new carbon fiber material could bring cost and performance benefits to the wind industry if developed commercially.

According to the company, wind blades containing carbon fiber weigh 25% less than ones made from traditional glass fiber materials. That means carbon fiber blades could be longer than glass fiber ones and capture more energy in locations with low wind. A switch to carbon fiber could also extend blade lifetime because carbon fiber materials have a high fatigue resistance, according to Brandon Ennis, a wind energy researcher at Sandia Labs and the principal investigator for the project.

However, costs are an issue in using carbon fiber, and turbine manufacturers have to build blades able to withstand compressive and fatigue loads for up to 30 years.
According to Ennis, a new lower-cost carbon fiber developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) could meet the performance needs of the wind industry and also bring cost benefits. This material starts with a widely available precursor from the textile industry containing thick bundles of acrylic fibers. The manufacturing process, which heats the fibers to convert them to carbon, is followed by an intermediate step that pulls the carbon fiber into planks. The plank-making pultrusion process creates carbon fiber with high performance and reliability needed for blade manufacturing and also allows for high production capacity, according to Sandia. The research team suggest that the material performed better than current commercial materials ‘in terms of cost-specific properties of most interest to the wind industry’.

In tests, the mechanical properties of the carbon fiber were compared to commercially available carbon fiber and standard glass fiber composites. Ennis then combined these measurements with cost modeling results from ORNL and used the data in a blade design analysis to assess the system impact of using the novel carbon fiber, instead of standard carbon fiber or glass fiber, as the main structural support in a wind blade.

#composites

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Mikrosam and Composite Automation complete NIAR ATLAS installation

Mikrosam has completed the installation of its latest custom-made prepreg tape slitting and tow-rewinding machine at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University.

NIAR selected Composite Automation and Mikrosam to deliver a single-step slitting unit to facilitate its need to perform research on variety of composite prepregs in the Advanced Technologies Laboratory for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS). ATLAS is a multi-disciplinary manufacturing environment aimed at preparing engineers for the Factory of the Future and aiding industry with advanced material research with automated manufacturing technologies.

“With the addition of Mikrosam slitter to our portfolio of automated manufacturing equipment, we are able to support the demand from multiple automated fibre placement machines at NIAR – conducting research in a timely manner and supporting our industry partners’ slit-tape material needs,” said Dr Waruna Seneviratne, ATLAS director. “The integrated in-process inspection system and the machine-learning algorithm for detecting defects allows us to perform quality control on the fly.”
The prepreg slitting equipment from Mikrosam is a single-step process for slitting of unidirectional thermoset and thermoplastic prepreg tapes and rewinding them on multiple station traverse winders. The equipment is dedicated to slit prepreg tape from maximum width of 24.5” (600mm) down to 0.25” – 0.5” (6.35mm – 12.7mm) and then rewind on a spool that can be used for automated fibre placement (AFP). It can also be used for slitting down to 3” – 6” (75mm – 150mm) wide tapes on a spool that can be directly used on automated tape laying (ATL) processes.

#composites #Mikrosam

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Sicomin launches fire retardant bio-epoxy laminating resin

Sicomin has launched its new SR FireGreen 37 FR hand laminating resin. This latest addition to the GreenPoxy range of bio-epoxies combines exceptional fire performance with a more sustainable formulation, featuring 25% plant-based carbon content.

SR FireGreen 37 is an intumescent epoxy resin system optimised for hand laminating processes and is available with a range of hardeners to adjust cure times in manufacturing. FireGreen 37 features a halogen free chemistry resulting in very low smoke opacity and toxicity in a fire scenario.

Sicomin’s new resin system is suitable for small to very large components, with target applications in the transport, architecture and civil engineering sectors. ASTM E84 Class A classifications have already been achieved with additional fire testing, including EN 13-501 and EN 45-545, currently underway.

“We are thrilled to bring our new FireGreen 37 to the market, combining our strengths in fire performance and bio-based epoxies in a single more sustainable product,” commented Philippe Marcovich, president, Sicomin. “There are now nine products in the GreenPoxy range of bio-based epoxies providing solutions for Infusion, RTM, Casting, Laminating, Gelcoating and Foaming epoxy processes. We really do have all the bases covered.”

#composites #resin

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New composites application for furniture and interiors

Renolit with EconCore have been exploring the various issues of lightweighting, modular design, easily formable and rigidity for the automotive and other markets.
Renolit was also seeking to improve properties of, chemical, thermal, water-resistance and rot-resistance.
It was quickly concluded that the EconCore honeycomb technology was the solution, while EconCore could see that Renolit would be able to innovate and find new uses for the product, and so EconCore granted Renolit a license for the continuous production of honeycomb panels.
Renolit’s R&D team got to work exploring the issues and saw that EconCore’s honeycomb would produce a very high level of rigidity offering weight savings at the same time. Both companies quickly saw the potential for other applications, such as furniture, using various thermoplastic materials.
Using a composite skin and PP honeycomb core, the required material properties can be achieved. Renolit deployed the honeycomb in its Gorcell range of products. Though starting in the automotive sector, it is now also used in a wide range of applications, for example flight cases, outdoor kitchens, truck superstructures, and bakery panels.
More recently Renolit is selling through a subsidiary for the first time into the B2C market with products for gardens, balconies and terraces, such as tissue boxes, plant & high beets and fences. The honeycomb is enabling a systems solution for the area around the house and garden so that garden furniture, storage options and privacy screen fit together beautifully in design.
Having developed the technology over a number of years to meet the desired specification of the market, EconCore’s honeycomb has enabled Renolit Gorcell to overcome several technical challenges, such as panel planarity, reduced golf ball effect, and smooth, scratch free surfaces.

#composites #honeycomb

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Resin shortages continue to affect composites supply chain

Power outages caused by mid-February’s U.S. winter storms led to immediate shortages from Gulf Coast petrochemical companies. Fabricators continue to report shortages.

A supply shortage of epoxy, polyester and vinyl ester resins, caused by U.S. winter storms and a variety of factors, continue to make headlines and affect the composites industry.

As reported by Gardner Intelligence chief economist Michael Guckes in his latest Composites Fabricating Index column, supply chain difficulties continue to restrict production, “which, in the face of strong demand, has caused a meteoric rise in backlog activity.”

In response to this data and other industry reports, CW, with Gardner Intelligence, recently surveyed 144 composites fabricators to learn more about what the industry is experiencing.

Of the respondents, 69% reported experiencing or hearing of supply shortages over the past few months; 66% reported experiencing issues with lead times; 50% reported workforce or labor shortages; 21% reported wage rate escalation.
Winter storm impacts lead to continued resin shortages.

From those surveyed, 62% of respondents reported that resins were a little or a lot more difficult than usual to acquire over the past three months. Polyester and vinyl ester ranked as the types most difficult to acquire, followed by epoxy.
Global supply chain shortages for many products have been impacting industries since the start of the pandemic in 2020, caused by pandemic-related and economic issues in transportation, rising demand and labor shortages.

#composites #ResinShortages

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Composites pinned «A video report on the last exhibition "Composite-Expo 2021" has been posted on the official YouTube channel of the event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-x9ff4Yyxw»
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Econcore’s new honeycomb cores made with SABIC resin

EconCore has developed new honeycomb cores for laminated sandwich panels made with SABIC’s NORYL GTX resin, a polyphenylene ether (PPE) blend, and EconCore’s proprietary technology.

The new honeycomb core presents higher heat performance, better dimensional stability and lower water absorption compared to honeycomb structures made with traditional thermoplastics. These properties enable the new core material to be used in demanding applications such as certain automotive, e-mobility and photovoltaic components. Furthermore, combining this new honeycomb core with thermoplastic composite skins to produce an all-thermoplastic sandwich panel can facilitate recycling. These desirable performance attributes and enhanced sustainability can open new market and application opportunities for EconCore honeycombs made with NORYL GTX resin.

“We turned to SABIC for expert assistance in enhancing our honeycomb cores with high-performance thermoplastics to expand our product’s use in a range of applications and overcome the limitations of incumbent materials,” said Tomasz Czarnecki, chief operations officer, EconCore. “Our many years of collaboration with SABIC and the company’s broad materials portfolio gave us high confidence in the success of this initiative. We have been very impressed with NORYL GTX resin’s ease of use in conversion and appreciated the fact that it works well in our existing equipment. We believe its well-balanced properties will allow honeycomb cores to be used more widely in transportation, clean energy and e-mobility applications.”

Thermoplastic honeycomb structures deliver a high performance-to-weight ratio and efficient energy absorption under impact. The rigidity of honeycomb sandwich panels is known to exceed that of monolithic materials, including solid composites. Also, sandwich structures are an effective means of reducing mass in a wide range of weight-sensitive applications. Combined with an effective, in-line integrated sandwich panel production technology, this weight reduction has positive implications for overall production cost savings and environmental responsibility.

In addition to reducing raw material use, the honeycombs support recyclability. Combining the PPE-based core structures with thermoplastic composites skins, such as those based on nylon, can result in a recyclable and sustainable solution.

Furthermore, sandwich panels made exclusively with thermoplastics can be efficiently processed into finished parts with complex geometries using compression molding processes, which can help reduce cycle times.

According to EconCore, its new honeycomb structures deliver higher heat performance, greater dimensional stability and lower water absorption than alternative materials such as nylon. Due to this high performance, the cores may also demonstrate good compatibility with thermoset composite skins. Because the honeycomb exhibits high load-bearing capacity even at temperatures up to 180°C, it may be a good candidate for lamination with thermoset prepregs in processing environments where high curing temperatures are typically applied. The honeycomb can also potentially be used for applications where sandwich panels must deliver high performance at elevated temperatures.

#composites #honeycomb

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Teijin produces new thermoplastic PPS-Tape

Teijin Carbon Europe has introduced a new carbon fibre thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape (TPUD) based on PPS.

The new Tenax TPUD with PPS matrix allows entry in new cost-sensitive markets while offering the typical TPUD advantages like high resistance to chemicals and solvents, low flammability, storage or shipping at room temperature and recyclability.

Due to its flame retardant properties and low smoke emission, it can be used in interior applications of aircraft or rail vehicles, among others. The maximum continuous operating temperature is up to 220°C. Very low water absorption, excellent creep resistance even at elevated temperatures and high dimensional stability round off the property portfolio of this new TPUD. It is therefore also suitable for demanding applications in the aerospace, oil & gas, sporting goods or industrial sectors, while remaining cost-effective.

These properties make the product perfect for highly automated processing routes such as ATL or AFP in combination with overmoulding for complex geometries. Production start for the Tenax TPUD with PPS matrix is the first quarter in 2021.

For almost 10 years, unidirectional tapes (TPUD) have been manufactured from carbon fibres and thermoplastics in Heinsberg, Germany. The semi-finished products have so far been offered with PEEK or PAEK – and PPS is now added to the list of available matrixes. PPS allows a lower process temperature compared to PEEK or PAEK. For the industrial market in particular, increasing the production rate to make processes more cost-efficient is a milestone.

In order to meet the demand of a wide range of application areas, Teijin’s carbon fibre business offers various types of Tenax TPUD. These differ not only in the matrix, but also in the Tenax carbon fibres used with varying tensile strengths and moduli. This makes it possible to find the optimum product even for high technical requirements. Depending on the Tenax TPUD type, they are available in a variety of fibre basis weights between 100 and 190 g/m² on roll lengths up to 2000 metres and in widths up to 24″.

Typical applications include aerospace, medical, automotive and oil and gas. They are suitable for a wide range of processing applications. Rapid processing cycle times of a few minutes can be realised without any problems.

#composites #TeijinCarbonEurope #PPS

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KraussMaffei: Lightweight construction solutions for the building and automotive industries at JEC Connect

KraussMaffei has welcomed visitors with a comprehensive information package on lightweight technologies at JEC Connect, which this year has been organized as an online event on 1-2 June 2021. The focus was on innovations in all aspects of pultrusion and FiberForm technology. Particular attention was laid on sustainable processes and efficient CO2-avoiding system solutions.

KraussMaffei’s Global Application Owner RPM & Automotive Philipp Strasser said that both composite processes - pultrusion and FiberForm technology - provide answers to the current demands for sustainable products and processes. In pultrusion technology, the KraussMaffei subsidiary Pultrex, with its comprehensive offer of process solutions and production aggregates, is a world market leader with over 300 machines installed. In addition, innovations for greater production output and optimized workplace protection, which have been developed at the KraussMaffei parent company, will be available to customers.

In the current sustainability debate, FiberForm is gaining increased attention in the composites sector for the production of structural components. "Here KraussMaffei scores with its comprehensive, long-term competence and with system solutions that combine injection molding machinery, preheating of organo sheets, and the automation, control and documentation of the complete process," said Michael Fuchs, Global Application Owner Surface & Lightweight. Also the CO2 footprint of overall solutions is becoming increasingly important. Fuchs said: "We minimize the CO2 footprint, for example by means of energy-saving KraussMaffei technologies such as the targeted preheating of performs. Equally important are optimally coordinated process components as the basis for sustainably manufactured products."

#FiberForm #composites

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Lockheed Martin, General Motors team up to further lunar exploration with autonomous moon rover design

The composite lunar rover concept will be well-equipped to travel farther distances for extended exploration and research capabilities.

With only 5% of the moon’s surface explored, Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, M.D., U.S.) and General Motors (GM, Detroit, Mich., U.S.) have teamed up to design the next generation of lunar rovers, capable of transporting astronauts across farther distances on the lunar surface. Unlike the Apollo days when the rovers only traveled four miles from the landing site, both companies note that NASA’s Artemis astronauts will go farther and explore more of the moon’s surface than ever before to conduct critical scientific research — to do this, they’re going to need some serious wheels.

Not only will these vehicles be well-equipped to go the distance, partners say, they will also be driver optional. Autonomous, self-driving systems would enable the vehicle to operate with or without humans onboard, and pave the way for future human missions, commercial payload services and enhanced scientific utility. Further, while vehicle design is still in its early stages, Lockheed Martin says, it’s reasonable to assume that the rovers will incorporate composite materials in some of its structures.

“These next-generation rover concepts will dramatically extend the exploration range of astronauts as they perform high-priority science investigation on the moon that will ultimately impact humanity’s understanding of our place in the solar system,” says Rick Ambrose, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space.

A Lockheed Martin-GM rover would be able to preposition itself autonomously near a landing site prior to the astronauts’ arrival, and astronauts would have the ability to task the rover from the Human Landing System (HLS) or the orbiting lunar Gateway to conduct science operations without a driver. This enables NASA to fit more science into a smaller amount of time, and will enable the world to uncover the critical information that the other 95% of the lunar surface may hold.

#space #composites #lockheedmartin

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