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Composites shelter US Air Force
APPLICATIONS Composites shelter US Air Force THE US Air Force has selected WebCore Technologies to develop rapid assembly, energy efficient composite shelters under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme. WebCore, based in Miamisburg, Ohio, has teamed up with Gichner Shelter Systems, a manufacturer of shelters and related products for military and commercial applications, for Phase I of the project. WebCore’s TYCOR® G fibre reinforced composite cores, incorporating three-dimensional
The expandable shelters are being built in standard size and fixed site versions to meet the US Department of Defense (DoD) transportability requirements. WebCore Technologies; www.webcoreonline.com
In brief Non-polluting electric buses featuring composite bodywork are being introduced in the city of Seoul in Korea. The buses were developed by Korean company Hanuk Fiber Co Ltd (HFG) in cooperation with Hyundai Heavy Industries. Carbon/ epoxy prepreg has been used for body parts and most of interior parts are made from glass reinforced EPOVIA® flame retardant vinyl ester resin from Cray Valley in combination with ARMORCOTE®/ POLYCOR® weathering resistant gel-coat. The use of composites in the bus construction reduces the vehicle weight by 25% compared to conventional buses and extends the distance the bus can travel before the battery needs recharging.
Blackstone Tek (BST) of South Africa is using carbon fibre prepregs from Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG) to manufacture a range of motorcycle wheels. BST selected ACG’s medium temperature moulding prepregs for its autoclave processed carbon composite motorcycle wheels. The BST wheels are reported to result in a typical weight saving of 47% over their conventional aluminium counterparts, with no decrease in strength.
REINFORCEDplastics
Tanks for Saudi plant
fibre architecture, and cost effective automated manufacturing processes, are used to produce lightweight, high strength, robust sandwich structures suitable for this application. WebCore expects to complete the project in December.
Vattenfall has inaugurated what is currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The 100 turbine, 300 MW Thanet Offshore Wind Farm is located off the south east coast of England. Hexagon Composites subsidiary Ragasco AS has signed a multi-year contract with Daimler AG for the supply of composite natural gas cylinders. The contract covers the delivery of fuel tanks for natural gas to the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz B-class. Ragasco is already supplying highpressure composite containers to the current Mercedes-Benz B-Class, a car that can run on both petrol and gas. Ragasco claims its composite containers weigh only 30-35% of traditional compressed natural gas (CNG) containers made of steel. Boeing has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products a US$17 million contract for the production of composite components for the C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. General Dynamics has been working with Boeing on a variety of C-17 composite technologies for over 20 years, providing components such as winglets, edge flaps and radomes. Production management will be performed at the General Dynamics facility in Marion, Virginia. Work will begin in December 2011, with first deliveries in February 2012.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
The tank sections were assembled at a riverside site.
US MANUFACTURER of corrosion resistant equipment RL Industries has fabricated three large composite storage tanks for a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia. The tanks must store a 32% solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl) or a 20% solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). All three tanks are 20 ft (6.1 m) in diameter; one tank is 47.7 ft (14.5 m) high and the other two are 41.3 ft (12.6 m). The tanks were engineered for 8 inches (+20 mbarg) positive pressure and 1.2 inches of water (10 mbarg) negative pressure. The design temperature is 194°F (90° C). To resist the highly acidic nature of the chemicals being stored, the tanks were manufactured using Vipel® F010 bisphenol A epoxy vinyl ester resin from AOC, headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee, USA. To produce the tanks, RL Industries, of Fairfield, Ohio, first filament wound cylindrical sections using Vipel resin and glass fibre roving. Winding was accomplished over a corrosion barrier formed with chopped strand mat and two layers of carbon veil in the Vipel resin matrix. Nozzles and attachments for ladders and rails were integrated into the wound sections. The top and bottom end closures were moulded from Vipel
resin, glass fibre reinforcements and a structural sandwich core using a vacuum infusion process. For enhanced load-bearing, RL Industries designed the bottom end closure with an integral, high-strength knuckle radius. The top and bottom end closures were integrated into the cylindrical shell during winding. After manufacture, the tank sections were assembled at a site 20 miles away. The cylindrical sections were sequentially assembled using laminating techniques that are similar to the way chimney liner ‘can’ sections are joined. After all tanks passed hydrotesting protocols, they were loaded on a barge for transport down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to a Gulf of Mexico port. The equipment was then shipped to Saudi Arabia. Compared to on-site fabrication in Saudi Arabia, RL Industries’ dedicated manufacturing facilities eliminated the potential for ambient contamination and provided better control of process parameters. The company’s manufacturing is also certified to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards for corrosion-resistant structures. RL Industries; www.rl-industries.com AOC; www.corrosionresins.com
www.reinforcedplastics.com
The expandable shelters are being built in standard size and fixed site versions to meet the US Department of Defense (DoD) transportability requirements. WebCore Technologies; www.webcoreonline.com
In brief Non-polluting electric buses featuring composite bodywork are being introduced in the city of Seoul in Korea. The buses were developed by Korean company Hanuk Fiber Co Ltd (HFG) in cooperation with Hyundai Heavy Industries. Carbon/ epoxy prepreg has been used for body parts and most of interior parts are made from glass reinforced EPOVIA® flame retardant vinyl ester resin from Cray Valley in combination with ARMORCOTE®/ POLYCOR® weathering resistant gel-coat. The use of composites in the bus construction reduces the vehicle weight by 25% compared to conventional buses and extends the distance the bus can travel before the battery needs recharging.
Blackstone Tek (BST) of South Africa is using carbon fibre prepregs from Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG) to manufacture a range of motorcycle wheels. BST selected ACG’s medium temperature moulding prepregs for its autoclave processed carbon composite motorcycle wheels. The BST wheels are reported to result in a typical weight saving of 47% over their conventional aluminium counterparts, with no decrease in strength.
REINFORCEDplastics
Tanks for Saudi plant
fibre architecture, and cost effective automated manufacturing processes, are used to produce lightweight, high strength, robust sandwich structures suitable for this application. WebCore expects to complete the project in December.
Vattenfall has inaugurated what is currently the world’s largest offshore wind farm. The 100 turbine, 300 MW Thanet Offshore Wind Farm is located off the south east coast of England. Hexagon Composites subsidiary Ragasco AS has signed a multi-year contract with Daimler AG for the supply of composite natural gas cylinders. The contract covers the delivery of fuel tanks for natural gas to the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz B-class. Ragasco is already supplying highpressure composite containers to the current Mercedes-Benz B-Class, a car that can run on both petrol and gas. Ragasco claims its composite containers weigh only 30-35% of traditional compressed natural gas (CNG) containers made of steel. Boeing has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products a US$17 million contract for the production of composite components for the C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. General Dynamics has been working with Boeing on a variety of C-17 composite technologies for over 20 years, providing components such as winglets, edge flaps and radomes. Production management will be performed at the General Dynamics facility in Marion, Virginia. Work will begin in December 2011, with first deliveries in February 2012.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010
The tank sections were assembled at a riverside site.
US MANUFACTURER of corrosion resistant equipment RL Industries has fabricated three large composite storage tanks for a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia. The tanks must store a 32% solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl) or a 20% solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). All three tanks are 20 ft (6.1 m) in diameter; one tank is 47.7 ft (14.5 m) high and the other two are 41.3 ft (12.6 m). The tanks were engineered for 8 inches (+20 mbarg) positive pressure and 1.2 inches of water (10 mbarg) negative pressure. The design temperature is 194°F (90° C). To resist the highly acidic nature of the chemicals being stored, the tanks were manufactured using Vipel® F010 bisphenol A epoxy vinyl ester resin from AOC, headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee, USA. To produce the tanks, RL Industries, of Fairfield, Ohio, first filament wound cylindrical sections using Vipel resin and glass fibre roving. Winding was accomplished over a corrosion barrier formed with chopped strand mat and two layers of carbon veil in the Vipel resin matrix. Nozzles and attachments for ladders and rails were integrated into the wound sections. The top and bottom end closures were moulded from Vipel
resin, glass fibre reinforcements and a structural sandwich core using a vacuum infusion process. For enhanced load-bearing, RL Industries designed the bottom end closure with an integral, high-strength knuckle radius. The top and bottom end closures were integrated into the cylindrical shell during winding. After manufacture, the tank sections were assembled at a site 20 miles away. The cylindrical sections were sequentially assembled using laminating techniques that are similar to the way chimney liner ‘can’ sections are joined. After all tanks passed hydrotesting protocols, they were loaded on a barge for transport down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to a Gulf of Mexico port. The equipment was then shipped to Saudi Arabia. Compared to on-site fabrication in Saudi Arabia, RL Industries’ dedicated manufacturing facilities eliminated the potential for ambient contamination and provided better control of process parameters. The company’s manufacturing is also certified to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standards for corrosion-resistant structures. RL Industries; www.rl-industries.com AOC; www.corrosionresins.com
www.reinforcedplastics.com