Owens Corning launches new products at JEC

Owens Corning launches new products at JEC

Reinforced Plastics  Volume 59, Number 3  May/June 2015 The new composites qualification service can configure a GRANTA MI:Composites software pack...

208KB Sizes 0 Downloads 201 Views

Reinforced Plastics  Volume 59, Number 3  May/June 2015

The new composites qualification service can configure a GRANTA MI:Composites software package for a user organization’s specific needs. For example, Granta

experts will quickly set up data import tools so that they automatically process data from a specific test machine. All of the data generated during qualification,

TECHNOLOGY

and its inter-relationships, are captured, enabling full traceability, and future re-use. Granta Design; www.grantadesign.com

DolphiTech says that its DolphiCam Ultrasound NDT Camera System has received new functionality for drilled hole inspections on carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates. ‘We have made important breakthroughs on the DolphiCam system in the inspection of drilled hole flaking and delamination,’ said Eskil Skoglund, head of development at DolphiTech. ‘The improvements include

Simulated 2  4 mm (0.08  0.16 inch) flaking on hole exit. Image: DolphiTech.

functionality for better detectability as well as technical solutions for easy use and interpretation of results. We are now comfortably able to detect flaking and delamination along the drilled hole as small as 2 mm (0.08 inch), and only 1–2 plies from the laminate front and back walls.’ The new functions will be made available as a software upgrade to existing customers. DolphiTech; www.dolphitech.com

SGL develops new TowPregs SGL Group has launched a range of preimpregnated TowPregs, fiber bundles from carbon or glass fibers suitable for challenging winding and lay-up processes. The SIGRAPREG TowPregs have good mechanical properties and permit much more uniform lay-up, the company says. TowPregs can also improve health and safety and environmental protection.

SIGRAPREG TowPreg made from carbon fibers for challenging winding and lay-up processes.

SGL Group has also developed continuous carbon fiber tow for fiber-reinforced thermoplastics and SIGRAPREG prepreg with a newly developed transparent resin system, suitable for visible components in the automotive and other sectors. The use of this prepreg in combination with the SIGRATEX design fabric produces components with improved high surface quality and appearance. SGL Group; www.sglgroup.com

Cytec introduces new fabric tooling prepreg Cytec Industries Inc has launched BMI and epoxy versions of DForm Fabric Tooling Prepreg. DForm deformable composite system combines short fiber conformability with the handling and laminate characteristics of a conventional long fiber composite. Its

deformation characteristics are achieved through selective fiber slitting of a fabric prepreg, and it does not require detailed laminating. This prepreg system flows under pressure, replicating precise details, retaining thickness and fiber orientation and producing a good surface finish.

DForm Fabric Tooling Prepreg is available as formatted multi-ply tiles of standard fabric tooling prepreg to which Cytec disruptive DForm technology has been applied. Cytec Industries Inc; www.cytec.com

Owens Corning launches new products at JEC Owens Corning has launched a number of new glass fiber materials at JEC. These include the PulStrand 4100 roving, which has improved processing qualities, strength, and fatigue resistance in a multicompatible product for polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, and polyurethane resin systems. This material has the potential to provide faster line speeds while reducing downtime,

scrap, and labor, and improves the modulus and durability of the pultruded profiles for a variety of high-performance markets. The sizing chemistry of the PulStrand 4100 product ensures improved resin-toglass adhesion and faster wet-out by more than 50% when compared to existing products. Further tests have also shown a reduction of fuzz formation of up to 92%, less

part bowing, and deformation and improved humidity resistance. In addition, the sizing also allows for increased glass content (higher modulus) and helps to improve the flexural, shear, and compressive strength of composite products. The PulStrand 4100 product covers a wide tex range (600–9600) and can be

119

TECHNOLOGY

Camera system suitable for FRP laminates

TECHNOLOGY

customized to specific application requirements allowing for the production of profiles for the consumer, recreation, corrosion, electrical, transportation, and construction markets.

Process flexibility

TECHNOLOGY

Owens Corning has also developed the OC Paneluxe multi-end roving for continuous lamination of translucent and general purpose applications. This product allows for design and process flexibility, as well as mechanical and transparency performance. Formulated for use with polyester and vinyl-ester resins in a wide range of applications, the OC Paneluxe product reportedly allows for more homogeneous glass fiber mats and better fiber repartition. This

Reinforced Plastics  Volume 59, Number 3  May/June 2015

multi-functional product reduces the number of glass changeovers. The roving provides great translucency and clarity with greater than 80% light transmittance and up to 25% increased clarity versus typical competitive products. OC Paneluxe roving can be used in a variety of applications requiring flat and corrugated translucent and opaque panels such as roofing and skylights for industrial and commercial buildings, greenhouses, cold storage warehouses, and wall panels in commercial kitchens and hospitals. The product can also be used for panel components in building (garage doors, awnings, patio covers, fences, and windbreaks) and in transportation (trucks/trailers, railcars and recreational vehicles).

Weight reduction Owens Corning has also introduced HydroStrand 258 glass fiber chopped strands for polyamide (PA) resins. The product provides improved dry-as-molded properties in a wide range of PA formulations, as well as a better performance in glycol resistant PA 6,6 formulations. It enables designers to reduce vehicle weight to improve fuel economy without sacrificing performance. Typical applications in automotive include oil and fluid pump housings, oil pans and powertrain parts. The product delivers up to 22% increase in impact strength when used in impact modified grades. It increases the potential to integrate automotive functions and be flexible in designing efficient parts. Owens Corning; www.owenscorning.com

Tool board ‘new approach’ to composite tooling Specialist tooling company Compotool Ltd has developed a tooling board product which it says represents a radical new approach to composite tooling. ‘By focusing specifically on tooling technology we have dedicated all our resources to solving some of the perennial issues with composite tooling,’ said MD Paul Hackett. The Compotool system includes the tooling board, adhesive and surface sealer and is therefore suitable as a more accuracy pattern system or for rapid prototyping and short run direct tooling. CT850 is a high performance tooling board with a

coefficient of thermal expansion equal to carbon and has temperature capability of up to 8508C. It has very low thermal conductivity so all the heat applied from the autoclave goes into the laminated part rather than the tooling board, giving an improved surface finish, reducing autoclave time and also allowing faster ramp rates. Wear on cutting tools is equal to that of machining wood or MDF.

One process The board is a poor conductor of heat, unlike epoxy tooling blocks, and therefore

can be cycled through the thermal curing process very quickly. It retains its dimensions through rapid cure and cooling. With its extreme temperature capability of 8508C, either medium or high temperature pre-pregs can be used enabling a full cure at high temperature to be achieved in the tool in one process, thus avoiding the need for a subsequent post cure. The CT850 can be used as a drilling or machining jig after cure as the mould or part will still fit. Compotool Ltd; www.compotool.com

SGL and BASF develop cost-effective composite SGL Group and BASF have developed a new composite, based on a reactive polyamide system and compatible carbon fibers, following joint material research. The companies focused on improving the cost-effectiveness of manufacturing thermoplastic carbon-fiber composites in injection procedures such as thermoplastic resin transfer molding (TRTM) and reaction injection molding. As part of this collaborative project, SGL Group developed a new sizing formulation for the carbon fibers, while special processes for manufacturing carbon fiber based textiles such as fabrics and braidings were

120

also developed. To produce non-crimpfabrics (NCF), special threads were used to enable processing in the reactive polyamide system.

Successful collaboration BASF’s role was to process SGL Group’s newly developed carbon fibers using TRTM and to characterize them both chemically and mechanically. The BASF research team is continuing to work on the development of caprolactam-based thermoplastic reactive systems. This collaboration between SGL Group and BASF was launched in October 2012.

‘In close collaboration with plant manufacturers as well as tiers and automotive OEMs, we are working on the development of robust polyamide 6 carbon fiber compos¨ nsch, head of ite systems,’ said Josef R. Wu structural materials and systems research at BASF. ‘The mechanical characteristic values arising from the interaction of the fiber and matrix are crucial input parameters for our simulation tool, Ultrasim. We are currently working intensively on enhancing our simulation expertise for reactive systems so that we can provide our customers with expert support for part design and optimization.’ BASF; www.basf.com