A grand and busy exhibition and a wide range of new developments herald the future of the industry. #infrastructure #outofautoclave #regulation
JEC Europe is the world's largest annual composites trade show, and this year is bigger than ever. If exhibition activities and crowds are any signs of the healthy development of the composites industry, then the Great Recession may go down in history. Source: HPC/Photo: Jeff Sloan
Samples of compressed natural gas (CNG) pressure vessels like this can be found at various booths at the exhibition. Mass production vehicles do not seem to be a direct target for CNG-fueled engines, but HPC has been told that fleet vehicles are an obvious possibility. Source: HPC/Photo: Jeff Sloan
Rhodia (Lyon, France) teamed up with the French-based Finot Group to launch a light 4.3-meter/14.1-foot sailboat called Albatros. The impact-resistant and recyclable hull is assembled from three thermoformed composite parts. Source: Rhodia
Century Design Inc. (CDI, San Diego, Calif.) has developed a small production prepreg machine for small and medium manufacturers. Source: CDI
At JEC, Owens Corning Composites (Toledo, Ohio) announced its new FoodContact fiberglass solution for reinforced plastics in consumer appliances and food preparation equipment. Source: Owens Corning
Owens Corning Composites (Toledo, Ohio) also demonstrated its ShieldStrand S glass fabric, which has been approved for military use by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (Adelphi, MD) and complies with MIL-DTL- 64154B (glass fiber reinforced phenolic resin laminate) is used for armored vehicles, as shown in the picture, source: Owens Corning
3A Composites (Sins, Switzerland) launched Banova, an engineered balsa wood available in a variety of configurations. Source: 3A Composites
3A Composites (Sins, Switzerland) Banova can be composed of multi-material sheets and panels, flat balsa texture or end texture, or balsa fibers in multiple layers at any angle to meet specific mechanical loads. Source: 3A Composites
The 2012 JEC Composites Exhibition (now known as JEC Europe) was held in Paris, France from March 27th to 29th. The data released by JEC Group shows that this event attracted more exhibitors and visitors than in previous years, proving that the health of the composite material industry is improving.
If JEC 2011 is known for emphasizing composite materials in automotive applications, then JEC 2012 is also known for its lack of a single overriding theme or dominant trend. However, this is not to say that this annual event is not good. In fact, it is very good-busy, positive and positive.
However, there are some indications that some trends may be provided in the future. For example, there are some discussions about the demand for compressed natural gas (CNG) pressure vessels triggered by historically low natural gas prices (see figure below), and some discussions have been sparked by announcements of carbon fiber capacity expansion. It is also worth noting that many exhibits focus on high-speed manufacturing strategies, especially automotive applications. For example, Tepex thermoplastic sheet from Bond-Laminates (Brillon, Germany) is used in a variety of automotive applications, including the Audi A8 front-end carrier. Bond-Laminates is deeply involved in partnerships to develop rapid hybrid molding methods that can meet the automotive industry's every minute part expectations. Similarly, Jacob Plastics GmbH (Williamsdorf, Germany) showed a video of two hybrid molding methods for automotive parts such as seats.
The innovative Fraunhofer ICT (Pfinztal, Germany) research team demonstrated an automated thermoplastic tape placement process combined with injection molding. Many supplier companies provide materials for fast-cycle automotive manufacturing, including EPIKOTE epoxy resin from Momentive Performance Material (Columbus, Ohio) and Araldite from Huntsman Advanced Materials (Woodlands, Texas) for high-speed RTM.
Magna Exteriors and Interiors (Grabill, Ind.) and Zoltek Companies Inc. (St. Louis, MO) announced a global partnership to develop low-cost carbon fiber sheet molding compounds (SMC) for the automotive and commercial truck markets.
Umeco (Heanor, Derbyshire, UK) revealed at the show that it is developing an automated manufacturing system for mass production of automotive structures and components, using new "fast curing" prepregs. But after the show ended, heavy news came when Cytec Industries (Piedmont, South Carolina), headquartered in the United States at the time, announced in mid-April that it would acquire Umeco, including its Advanced Composites Group subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and the United States. (See "Cytec Industries' Acquisition of Umeco" under "Editor's Recommendation" in the upper right corner.)
Other highlights of the show include rebranding work. Technical Fiber Products Inc. (Kendall, UK and Schenectady, NY) announced that it will now operate under the name TFP. On the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary, the new TFP aims to consolidate its reputation in the development and production of non-woven fabric veils and cushions, and cooperate with customers to develop customized solutions to meet a series of technical challenges.
Following the acquisition of the two companies at the end of 2011, Axson Group (Sergi, France) announced that André Genton will serve as the company's chief operating officer. Genton will oversee Axson's ambitious expansion plans, which include new global factories.
S-glass expert AGY (Aiken, South Carolina) revealed that it has signed a long-term agreement with CTG/Taishan Fiberglass (Shandong Province, China) to produce AGY’s trademark S-1 HM high-performance glass roving under a license. Used for wind turbine applications in China. AGY President Drew Walker and CTG/Taishan Fiberglass Chairman and President Shiyao Tang reported that this type of glass should be in production in the third quarter of this year.
Green technologies, including natural fiber materials in many exhibits, and greater environmental responsibility are also at the forefront. For example, DSM Composite Resins (Schaffhausen, Switzerland and Zwolle, Netherlands) and its partner Akzo Nobel (Amersfoort, Netherlands) held a joint press conference to launch the new BluCure brand, which is a cobalt-free resin curing The general term for technology, including pre-accelerated resin and cobalt-free accelerator. DSM is using cobalt-free technology to produce new resins, and the new "BluCure" seal will differentiate products made by manufacturers using new materials.
Owens Corning Composites (Toledo, Ohio) claims that environmental sustainability is a core value, and describes new factories and new sustainable products launched in Russia and Mexico, including formaldehyde-free bonding for carpet glass mats Chemicals; energy-saving production improvements; and new food-grade reinforcing materials for consumer products-the industry’s first.
Momentive announced the establishment of its Transportation Research and Application Center (TRAC) in Duisburg, Germany. TRAC researchers will develop and test customized lightweight structural composite solutions for customers in the automotive, aerospace, and mass transportation markets. The laboratory will be equipped with the most advanced metering/injection devices and Cannon SpA (Borromeo, Italy) presses, which are specifically designed to quickly produce small batch epoxy composite test parts and customer conditions that meet various processes.
Rhodia (Lyon, France) highlighted two partnerships that focus on using the company's Evolite polyamide (PA) composite products. The first partnership with Faurecia focused on the Lightweight Hybrid Composite Structure (LYCOS) project in Europe, which is dedicated to the development of lightweight structures for automotive applications. Faurecia is using Evolite to design and develop a stamped and overmolded cushion structure to replace metal. Another collaboration is to cooperate with the French-based Finot Group to develop a light 4.3m/14.1ft sailboat called Albatros. The hull is made of Evolite and consists of three thermoformed parts. These three parts are glued together to form a light, strong structure, good impact resistance and recyclable hull. Finot is seeking to reduce the weight of the project by 40%, and the project should be completed sometime in summer.
Participants of CW's Carbon Fiber 2012 conference believe that it will be launched in 2016 at the earliest.
There are many ways to make composite parts. Therefore, choosing a method for a particular part will depend on the material, part design, and end use or application. This is a selection guide.
The automated process shortens the cycle time and cost of CFRP parts, and it is possible to achieve 65% of the fiber volume through dynamic fluid compression molding variants.
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