Composites

Just when we thought we knew pretty much everything there was to know about carbon, researchers have discovered a brand new phase of solid carbon, called Q-carbon. And they've shown they can use it to create cheap diamonds at room temperature and regular air pressure.

Phases are distinct forms of the same material, and currently there are two known solid phases of carbon: graphite and diamond. But this research reveals a whole new, super rare, phase.

"We've now created a third solid phase of carbon," said lead researcher Jay Narayan from North Carolina State University. "The only place it may be found in the natural world would be possibly in the core of some planets."

In addition to being a novel phase of matter, Q-carbon also has some pretty weird characteristics that the scientists are getting excited about – for example, it's harder than diamond and glows when exposed to even low levels of energy.

It's also ferromagnetic, which neither diamond or graphite are. "We didn't even think that was possible," adds Narayan. "Q-carbon's strength and low work-function – its willingness to release electrons – make it very promising for developing new electronic display technologies."

But for now what's most interesting about Q-carbon is that it can greatly reduce the cost and effort required to make diamond structures, which are used throughout the medical and technology industries. Right now, it usually takes incredible amounts of heat and pressure to produce synthetic diamonds, but the new technique works at room temperature and at ambient pressure.

So how does it work? It all comes down to how Q-carbon is made – the scientists start with a substrate like glass or a plastic polymer, and then coat it with amorphous carbon (a type of carbon that doesn't have a well-defined crystalline structure).

When that carbon is hit with a short laser pulse, the temperature skyrockets to around 3,727 degrees Celsius, before rapidly cooling down and forming a thin film of Q-carbon. But by mixing up the substrate and the duration of the laser pulse, the researchers can change how quickly the material cools down, which means they can create diamond structures with then Q-carbon.

"We can create diamond nanoneedles or microneedles, nanodots, or large-area diamond films, with applications for drug delivery, industrial processes and for creating high-temperature switches and power electronics," said Narayan.

Nanoneedles and microneedles are tiny needles that can be used in high-precision medical techniques. Nanodots are tiny structures that create super-small magnetic or electrical fields, and can be used to store huge amounts of information and energy, as well as create light emitting devices.

"These diamond objects have a single-crystalline structure, making them stronger than polycrystalline materials," added Narayan. "And it is all done at room temperature and at ambient atmosphere – we're basically using a laser like the ones used for laser eye surgery. So, not only does this allow us to develop new applications, but the process itself is relatively inexpensive."

The ability to quickly, cheaply, and easily make diamonds will be huge for a whole range of industries – not only because of the financial savings, but also because this new technique requires such little equipment.

But the big question is, if Q-carbon is harder than diamond, why don't we just replace diamonds with the new phase? The short answer is because the phase of material is simply too new to be useful just yet.

"We can make Q-carbon films, and we're learning its properties, but we are still in the early stages of understanding how to manipulate it," said Narayan. "We know a lot about diamond, so we can make diamond nanodots. We don't yet know how to make Q-carbon nanodots or microneedles. That's something we're working on."

The discovery will be published across two papers in the Journal of Applied Physics and APL Materials. North Carolina State University now has a patent pending on Q-carbon and the diamond creation technique. We can't wait to find out more.

The TeXtreme® Technology is becoming established as the best choice for making ultra-lightweight carbon fiber products. Novel TeXtreme® materials are being used in a wide-ranging number of sports, and by several major brands in the sporting goods market.

Carbon fiber has long been associated with lightweight and its development has steady evolved, but not all carbon fiber materials are the same. The TeXtreme® Technology is based on using thin flat tapes instead of round yarns, a patented process that provides unique possibilities for weight savings and performance improvements compared to other carbon fiber materials.

The use of TeXtreme® carbon fiber materials, combined with the expertise of the TeXtreme® team, has resulted in victories for athletes using products reinforced by TeXtreme® in competitions such as Formula 1, the America's Cup, the Tour de France, the Kona Ironman, the Daytona 500, the Stanley Cup, etc.

"We are very happy that our materials and knowledge of how to design and choose the right carbon fiber reinforcements gives such outstanding results. The work done by our customers and the success seen by athletes using their products shows we are on the right path. In addition, our technical story has helped brands explain why their product is technically superior," says Andreas Martsman, VP - Marketing & Sales of Oxeon AB, makers of TeXtreme®.

Current licensed TeXtreme® users include: Bauer Hockey, Prince Tennis, Cobra Puma Golf, Bell Helmets, Felt Bicycles, North Kiteboarding, Stiga Table Tennis, Fanatic Windsurfing, Jones Snowboards, Berria Bike, PRO Shimano, and many more.

TeXtreme®'s signature square pattern makes it stand out from the crowd. Connecting it with the outstanding references and current users, the TeXtreme® Technology yields high-quality, high-performance, lightweight carbon fiber results.

In general, TeXtreme® can reduce weight by 20-30% compared to conventional carbon fiber materials, with maintained or increased levels of stiffness and/or strength.

Besides being successfully used in sporting goods products, TeXtreme® is commonly used in various industrial and advanced aerospace applications.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151124/290816 )

Video explaining TeXtreme® Technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuaEeu3G53Y

FRP is too expensive

In the past, the initial material cost of FRP has been higher than the price of similar metal products. In order to cut costs, companies have chosen to stick with the traditional materials. This logic is flawed, however.

FRP saves people a significant amount of money over the life of the application. While the initial material cost can be more, various areas of cost savings make FRP the more economical choice.

FRP products have a low installation cost. The light weight of FRP products eliminates the need for heavy lifting machinery thus saving you money. Also, fiberglass reinforced plastic can be fabricated on site. A circular saw can cut FRP grating to size rather than having to have the exact measurements predetermined. Plus, the on-site fabrication aspect allows you to make changes in your design during installation if desired.

The costs savings continue to grow through the life of the product. Unlike traditionally used products such as wood and metal, fiberglass reinforced plastic products require very little to no maintenance. With metal, for instance, the maintenance cost can add up due to the high risk of rust and corrosion. In order to limit the rusting of a product, metal must be painted with a special paint to prevent water from touching the surface. Over time, this paint will chip, flake and peel, so the material will have to be carefully sanded down and repainted. This adds a significant amount of expenses. You will have to pay for labor, materials and the downtime in production of your facility when performing maintenance on metal and/or structures. Using FRP will eliminate the need for maintenance, thus saving you thousands!

In addition,over the past 50 years, the price of steel and other metal products has increased at a much higher rate than FRP products. Now, it is not uncommon to see the inital material cost of FRP to be even lower than steel!

FRP has a high strength to weight ratio and, as seen in the video above, is very impact resistant.

Durability over time

Some people worry about how long fiberglass reinforced plastic products will hold up compared to metal and wood products. While this can be a cause of concern for some people, it is actually the main advantage of FRP products. FRP applications tend to last a VERY long time. Some of Fibergrate’s applications are still in use over forty years later. Corrosion limits the lifespan on metal and wood applications – potentially creating a dangerous environment if unnoticed. The corrosion resistant properties of FRP allow it to outlast applications made from wood and/or metal.

The durability of fiberglass reinforced plastic makes the product structurally superior to structures made with traditional materials. Also, FRP will make your plant safer because the safety features, such as slip resistance, will last throughout the lifespan of the application.

While change may sometimes be scary, changing from metal and/or wood should not be. As you can see, FRP is a very safe and reliable material that will save you money and allow your facility to run more efficiently.

At this year’s Composites UK Industry Awards annual dinner, held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on 4th November 2015, the ‘Innovation in Design’ award was won by Far-UK Ltd for its super lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) AxontexTM 3D beam car chassis design, developed by Axon Automotive Ltd (part of Far-UK).

Award winning Hyundai Intrado concept crossover vehicle chassis manufactured from Axon Automotive’s AxontexTM technology carbon fibre composite system.
This innovative composite technology is used for the new Hyundai Intrado hydrogen powered crossover concept car. The super lightweight CFRP chassis prototypes were produced in the UK for Hyundai by Axon Automotive at its factory in Northamptonshire. The award, sponsored by the National Composites Centre (NCC), was presented by Chief Executive Professor Peter Chivers to Axon Automotive’s Managing Director, Chris Taylor, who commented: “We are extremely grateful to the NCC as sponsors, and to the Composites UK Trade Association for creating this prestigious event.

I was delighted to receive this design innovation award on behalf of Far–UK and the Axon Automotive team and to celebrate our success at the UK Composites Awards dinner with our advanced materials partner, Scott Bader.”    

Two advanced composites materials from Scott Bader – Crestapol® 1250LV high performance acrylic thermoset resin and Crestabond® M1-20 primer-less methacrylate structural adhesive – are used to manufacture and bond together the component sections of the Axontex super-lightweight CFRP car chassis system of the Intrado, designed by Axon Automotive in collaboration with Hyundai.

The Intrado’s chassis is made up entirely of moulded parts fabricated using Axon Automotive’s internationally patented Axontex structural beam composite technology. Crestapol® 1250LV is the specified infusion resin, that is vacuum assisted resin transfer moulded (VARTM) around Axon’s proprietary 3D beam design, which combines woven carbon fibre braided tubing around low density polyethylene (LDPE) preforms that foam and expand during infusion. Using this design and process, which can be fully automated, Axontex can be used to form both straight and curved components to create complex shaped assembled structures.

All of the chassis and frame CFRP components are robotically bonded together by Axon using Crestabond® M1-20 primer-less structural adhesive, with no mechanical fixings needed. The result is an automotive chassis with the strength and stiffness of a similar steel structure, but with over 60% saving in the overall chassis weight.  

According to Kevin Lindsey, Far-UK’s Technical Director, and one of the original Axon Automotive team which developed this technology with Scott Bader, an Axontex CFRP part is as strong as steel and 60% lighter, enabling this versatile composite 3D beam system to be used for a wide range of structural applications to provide enhanced vehicle performance and fuel cost savings of up to 20%, while meeting crash safety standards.

The combination of the superior mechanical properties of Crestapol 1250LV resin with the Axontex technology’s internal web configuration produces moulded CFRP chassis parts which are extremely light, yet provides the very high stiffness and strength properties needed; an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 900-1000 MPa (to BS 2282 Part 4) combined with a heat deflection temperature (HDT) of over 130oC have been consistently recorded during extensive testing of the Axontex composite system.  

To find out more about Axon Automotive Ltd., its Axontex technology and Far UK Ltd. visit   www.far-uk.com  and   www.axonautomotive.com  .

For more information about the complete range of Scott Bader Advanced Composites materials for manufacturing FRP parts go to www.scottbader.com .

Carbon textile composites are becoming an increasingly important materials application within the automotive industry as regulations concerning emission controls especially within the more developed markets are tightened, forcing an increasing focus on vehicles to become more light weight. Carbon textile composites have a high strength-to-weight capability in comparison with more traditional materials used. The successful application of carbon based textile composites is also changing the aerospace industry with more fatigue-tolerance applied in the designs which is resulting in larger passenger windows and lower cabin altitudes in cruise than the more conventional jetliners. As a direct result of the successful use of textile composites there has been a paradigm shift in aircraft design by Boeing and Airbus with these materials now being considered for primary structures. For instance, glass textile composites are being applied in fuselage skins, floor panels and fire walls enabling manufacturers to reduce aircraft weight by 20% to 25%.

Terma Aerostructures is one company successfully applying textile composite components in aerostructures and components. General Dynamics F-16 fighter was Terma's first platform for the application of composites and since this success the company has applied composite components for the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopter, winglets for Gulfstream aircraft, wing structures for Airbus and warhead farings for the RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile built by Raytheon. Terma A/S now represents a key partner and major supplier for the multinational acquisition effort for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The aerospace sector is controlled by a relatively small volume of companies in the supply chain and this has resulted in the industry and material advancements becoming increasingly interdependent. Textile composites still represent a relatively new material within the aerospace sector although the technology has been successfully applied within aircraft for over thirty years.

The automotive sector is also embracing the use of textile composites and in particular carbon composite materials as manufacturers strive to make significant reductions in fuel consumption. The automotive industry is becoming increasingly close to adopting carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRPs) on a mass scale as they aim to reduce the overall weight of their vehicles. CFRPs are approximately 50% lighter than steel and as a result of this, manufacturers will be able to dramatically lower fuel consumption. One of the key determinants in slowing the materials application in vehicles has been price with the manufacturing cycle time required for moulding car frame composites remaining relatively long. However, significant research and development investment in reducing these cycle times and the successful partnerships established within the industry has improved the efficiencies in manufacturer of CFRPs. Some of the most important alliances within the automotive industry include BMW and SGL Group, General Motors and Toho Tenax, Daimler and Toray Industries, Jaguar Land Rover and Cytec and Ford, DowAksa and IACMI.

One of the leading pioneers in the successful application of CFRPs has been BMW, having applied this material in their vehicles since 2003. In 2009, BMW and SGL Group formed a joint venture called SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF) to help drive innovative applications of carbon fibres in the automotive sector. In May 2011, Teijin successfully established mass production technologies for making CFRPs and reducing the cycle time required for moulding car frame composites to less than one minute. These advancements have resulted significantly reducing the cost of applying carbon composites within the automotive sector. Daimler has also been working with Toray to optimise the manufacturing of CFRPs and ultimately reduce the cycle time for creating moulds.

In 2014, the automotive industry was estimated to use 58,000 tonnes of CFRPs within vehicles although this figure is forecast to increase significantly over the next few years. Recent research just published estimates that the global textile composites market is forecast to be worth US$4770 million by the end of 2015, reaching revenues of US$6597 million by the end of 2020. One of the other key applications of textile composites technology is within the printed circuit board industry. The PCB market sector is estimated to be worth approximately US$60 billion, globally with glass textile composites predominately used in this industry.

For more information on the textile composites market, see the latest research: Textile Composites Market

Researchers from NortheasternUniversity have developed a new 3D-printing technology that can help create customized biomedical devices that are stronger and lighter than current models.

The technology employs magnetic fields to shape composite materials (mixes of plastics and ceramics) into patient-specific products.

One specific application the team had in mind when developing the technology was patient-specific catheters for premature newborns. The current catheters only come in standard sizes and shapes, which means they cannot accommodate the needs of all premature babies.

"With neonatal care, each baby is a different size, each baby has a different set of problems," says Randall Erb, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and lead researcher on the project. "If you can print a catheter whose geometry is specific to the individual patient, you can insert it up to a certain critical spot, you can avoid puncturing veins and you can expedite delivery of the contents."


Northeastern University assistant professor Randall Erb (left) and Joshua Martin. Image Credit: Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University
Using composite materials for 3-D printing is not new, but the team’s technology enables them to control how the ceramic fibers are arranged—in essence controlling the mechanical properties of the material itself.

According to the team, that control is critical if you are creating devices with complex architectures such as customized miniature biomedical devices. Within a single patient-specific device, the corners, the curves and the holes must all be reinforced by ceramic fibers arranged in just the right configuration to make the device durable.

"We are following nature's lead," says Martin, "by taking really simple building blocks, but organizing them in a fashion that results in really impressive mechanical properties."

The 3-D printing method uses magnets to align each minuscule fiber in the direction that conforms precisely to the item being printed.

First, the researchers "magnetize" the ceramic fibers by dusting them very lightly with iron oxide. Then, they apply ultra-low magnetic fields to individual sections of the composite material with the ceramic fibers immersed in liquid plastic, to align the fibers according to the exacting specifications dictated by the product they are printing.

"Magnetic fields are very easy to apply," says Erb. "They're safe and they penetrate not only our bodies—think of CT scans—but many other materials."

Lastly, the team used a process called "stereolithography" to build the product, layer by layer, using a computer-controlled laser beam that hardens the plastic. Each six-by-six inch layer takes about a minute to complete.

"I believe our research is opening a new frontier in materials-science research," says Martin. "For a long time, researchers have been trying to design better materials, but there's always been a gap between theory and experiment. With this technology, we're finally scratching the surface where we can theoretically determine that a particular fiber architecture leads to improved mechanical properties and we can also produce those complicated architectures."

CAMX, the second year, was an interesting event, marked by a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of innovation and many new products, more than I expected. The exhibit hall was busy, and having a third day of exhibits was an improvement over last year. Here’s an example of a healthy show floor: I ran into Shelly Barlow, operations manager for TCB Composite (West Haven, UT, US), whom we’ve written about in the past (http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/multi-material-rudder-trailing-edge-parts-replaced-in-single-stage-process). Barlow related that her company has outgrown their current space and is expanding, thanks to new contracts related to the A10 aircraft program. Because they’re doubling their equipment and capabilities, Barlow was walking the floor actually looking for equipment to buy. In addition to purchasing the Eastman Eagle S125 static cutting table on display (see photo), Barlow says she also got quotes on ovens, dust collection systems, a filament winder, and more, but says “I wish there were vendors for freezers, clean rooms and paint booths.” That’s the customer you want to see coming to the booth.

I was also struck by the presence of recently-formed companies who had never exhibited before. A standout was startup Carbon Flight (Sacramento, CA, US) who has a unique way to create hollow carbon fiber parts using a wax strand overwrapped with dry carbon fabric in a helical manner. After part cure, the wax is heated and removed, leaving engineered cavities with strong walls. Another new company, who found the CW booth and didn't exhibit, is Neuvokas (Ahmeek, MI, US), producing non-corroding basalt fiber-reinforced rebar reportedly on cost parity with steel rebar, which could represent a huge breakthrough.

And the technical papers and sessions offered a lot to chew on as well. Case in point: one of Tuesday morning’s first sessions included “The era of in-space manufacturing has begun,” Andrew Rush’ presentation in the Market Applications (Aerospace and Defense track) chaired by John Russell of the Air Force Research Laboratory. The former intellectual property lawyer, now president of startup firm Made in Space founded in 2010, described his firm’s philosophy: “People should be able to live and work better in space, since we may be colonizing new planets someday.” How would these explorers produce products or tools for themselves? By 3D printing, of course.

“A 3D printer is a meta-tool,” says Rush. “It’s capable of making other tools.” His argument is that if additive manufacturing (AM) could be a part of a launch mission, less “stuff” would have to be carried aloft during launch. And, he showed NASA statistics that 82% of part failures or breakdowns on the International Space Station (ISS) could have been repaired, had such capability been available. The company developed its own, robust, AM printer, since off-the-shelf 3D printers could not stand up to the rigors of microgravity.The unit was actually flown on a resupply rocket to the ISS in November 2014, and worked flawlessly, printing 21 objects with ABS plastic, among them a fully functional torque wrench needed by an astronaut. The machine and the parts returned to Earth, and those parts are currently being extensively tested to see what differences in properties, if any, might be present.

The company has improved and updated its AM machine, which can now print with three heads using three different materials. Looking further down the road, Rush says his group is literally thinking outside of the box, with concepts like units that could be launched into space and actually print satellites in the space environment — making structural parts such as beams or trusses with cached materials and components (possibly sent into space by other missions). A couple of issues that must be addressed is the lack of convective heat transfer to pull heat away from the parts as they’re made, because no atmosphere is present. And power draw is tricky, since all power must come from a solar array. A key point is that today, everyone, whether friend or foe, knows about payloads going into space. With this technology, payloads would be built as needed, on orbit. Concludes Rush, “We have two paradigm shifts happening: AM in microgravity, and in-space assembly and deployment.” The print file for the torque wrench is open and available online, and visit www.madeinspace.us for pictures and videos.

On Tuesday afternoon, Owens Corning (Toledo, OH, US) hosted an informal panel discussion at its booth, titled “Sustainability in the Composites Industry.” The panelists were senior executives from four prominent composites companies, all customers of Owens Corning, and the moderator was Owens Corning’s vice president and chief sustainability officer Frank O’Brien-Bernini. With many of Owens Corning’s top executives in attendance, including group president of composites solutions business Arnaud Genis, the panelists gave their views on sustainability as a business practice.

The executives on the panel included Sam Goten of Impact Guard (Leetsdale, PA, US), David Oakley of pultrusion firm Strongwell Corp. (Bristol, VA, US), Andy Flad of Composites One (Arlington Heights, IL, US) and Mike Siwajek, director of research and development at Continental Structural Plastics (Auburn Hills, , MI, US). Goten noted that European and Chinese fuel efficiency standards are higher than the US, and we’re having to catch up; Flad added that he feels his firm is “an advanced scout” for customers, in terms of learning about new regulations as well as sustainable practices and programs: “We’re seeing more carbon fiber recycling programs, and we’re also working with customers on converting products over to thermoplastics, which are more easily recycled.” Oakley pointed out the Strongwell is already heavily invested in sustainable practices, and that they see how important they are to many of their customers. Goten added that recycling of his firm’s thermoplastic sheet and panel products is occurring already, and that they’re starting to go “full circle” in reusing scrap and waste in their production.

When asked by O’Brien-Bernini about success in positioning composites against traditional materials based on sustainability and life cycle advantages, Flad answered that young engineers are using more composites, and they recognize the benefits. Siwajek added that there is a lot of room to do more in this area, and that the benefits need to be pointed out better to customers. With regard to the issue of recycling of thermoset composites, Flad said “There’s a social imperative today to recycle. There will be more money and research brought to this problem, but it’s not happening yet.” Siwajek agreed that young students are keen on recycling and waste reduction, and that “Young people think differently about this. We need to do more research and development in this area, because it’s the right thing to do. Many of our customers are demanding it – we have to make it work.” Goten added that by making parts that last longer, that’s green in itself, but “Collecting the waste and recycling it is still a hurdle.”

Composite One’s Flad believes that issues such as water shortages offer huge potential for composites, for reverse osmosis plants and alternative energy devices (e.g., wave energy generators). Strongwell’s Oakley pointed out that much of his company’s scrap is sold, not landfilled, which is a benefit, but sustainable practices “provide a reason for customers to want to buy our products.” All panelists agreed that scrap reduction and better, green practices at their facilities are necessary as a foundation for sustainability.

Owens Corning continued a sustainability theme in the technical sessions. Wednesday’s featured session in the Green and Sustainability track, titled “LCA for Composites and its Impact on Sustainability,” was presented by Dhruv Raina, senior manager product and supply chain sustainability at Owens Corning. Raina explained sustainability, through examples of customer products such as the new composite pallet produced by RM2 (Luxembourg and Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada). A life cycle analysis (LCA) conducted on the pallet, assuming 100,000 pallet trips and comparing composite to traditional wooden pallets, shows that the RM2 pallet is clearly a more sustainable choice with greater environmental benefits, when its entire useful life is examined, with a 50% lower impact based on energy demand and global warming potential. “People tend to believe ‘environmental folklore’ and most would think the wood is recyclable and therefore better,” says Raina. “How will it be used? What is the chain of impacts over the product’s life? All products have impacts, so we need to pick the product with the least impact.”

Raina presented some initiatives that OC is involved with, including a push toward more glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebar, with a collaborative industry group called Infravation (https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/resources/infravation.cfm). “Often, a concrete producer has to landfill millions of pounds of cement with too-high chloride content, which will cause steel rebar to rust. GFRP rebar is not affected by the chloride, and doesn’t require fresh water in the concrete mix either. Huge monetary savings could be realized with a composites approach,” he explains. He also cited a recent LCA done with Continental Structural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, MI, US) comparing that company’s TCA Ultra Lite sheet molding compound (SMC) to aluminum and steel. The study showed SMC’s energy consumption is virtually the same as aluminum, and the composite uses less energy during production. SMC has the lowest global warming potential (GWP) of the three materials, which provides a sustainable storyline to support conversion to composites.

A key point in the presentation is that metals producers are not standing still, and are also introducing more sustainable practices. Alcoa just announced its “Micromill” concept, which would locate aluminum production adjacent to customer facilities (like Ford). A new produces reduces the time between melt to coil from 20 days to just 20 minutes, and will substantially reduce aluminum’s carbon dioxide footprint. The bottom line? New younger consumers are creating market forces that will drive more companies to sustainable practices, concludes Raina. “Better recyclability, collaboration with partners and more product transparency in regards to impacts will ultimately help your company sell more product.”

This year’s CAMX award nominees, sponsored by Ashland, were selected based on ability to grow composites’ market share. Although it didn’t win the award, “Next Generation Affordable Composites for Transportation Applications” by Structural Composites Inc. (Melbourne, FL, US), is already impacting the transportation market, with a breakthrough that brings composites close to cost parity with traditional designs. Structural Composites, through a broad collaborative effort that includes market insertion intermediary Composite Application Group (CAG, Oak Ridge, TN, US) and several material suppliers, has translated its innovative and cost-effective design work for the US Navy combatant craft into refrigerated truck trailers, which are now in production at Wabash National Corp. (Lafayette, IN, US). BASF was part of the collaboration, as was PPG and Interplastic.

Wabash went public on Monday, Oct. 26 with the announcement of their new composite refrigerated trailer line, one of which was on display in the CAMX awards area; the company also displayed the concept at the International Foodservice Distributors Assn. (IFDA) Distribution Solutions Conference in Phoenix the same week. But the technology behind the new product is fascinating. Structural Composites’ Scott Lewit, Wabash National’s structural engineering manager Andrzej Wylezinski, and Jeff Austad, national sales manager at Magnum Venus Products (MVP, Kent, WA, US) gave a paper Tuesday morning with some details.

Key to the technology is what Lewit calls CoCure Strain Tunable Resin. Low-cost, commodity polyester resin and gel coat can be mixed with polyurethane, with the polyurethane ranging from 15 to 20% by volume, to achieve higher elongation, toughness and better long-term performance. The resin mix can be varied spatially, across the part, or through the thickness of the part, to achieve customized results, says Lewit: “There’s no need to use the same resin throughout the entire part. You can tune the resin to fit the application, by adding just a bit of the more expensive PU resin to a lower-cost commodity material. This gets resin price under control.” To make this mixing possible, MVP is developing application machines with dual metering capability: polyester and catalyst on one side, and two-part polyurethane on the other, that come together at the spray head, says Austad. The mixture can be changed on the fly on the shop floor.

Panels for the roof, walls and floor of the trailers are composite sandwich designs, with Structural Composites’ Prisma preform frames between the skins; the interior space between skins is foam-filled for maximum insulation. Wylezinski adds that a big rig trailer environment is “highly stressed” and that the new design allows for much lighter weight, up to 25%, enabling higher payloads, while maintaining durability. It also provides 25% better thermal efficiency, and a much more durable product that can stand up to loading and unloading, and the road environment. “We liked that we could adjust not only the reinforcements, but also the resin properties as well,” he says. Wabash has opened a facility at its Lafayette plant to produce the new composite panels, and has plans to ramp up from the current limited production phase to full production within 18 months.

There were lots of new products on display, and those will be written and presented in an upcoming issue of CW magazine. One example from thermoplastic specialist Impact Composites (Erlanger, KY, US) was a new molded woven carbon/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) solid billet, intended to be machined to net shape for complex, three-dimensional parts. Sean Reymond, the company’s chief technology officer, says the billet, called VTL (Very Thick Laminate), is a good alternative to replace titanium or aluminum parts, in orthopedic medical applications such as external fixation devices for broken bones or orthopedic tools (VTL is the large block on the table in the photo foreground). VTL can be produced to suit customer needs, in a variety of thicknesses and sizes. “Because it’s a thermoplastic resin, there’s no worry about exotherm during molding,” says Reymond. Reymond gave a technical paper on his technology during the show, and more information about Impact Composites can be found at www.impactcomposites.com.

Finally, one of the things that stuck with me from the Dallas trip was meeting Eddie Deen. CW held an event at a place called Eddie Deen’s Ranch, an event venue with great food and entertainment, and I was sipping a spicy margarita and talking to Andre Cocquyt when Deen walked up and introduced himself. At that point, I didn’t realize that Deen is a world-renowned barbeque caterer in the Dallas area, owns several restaurants, and maintains infrastructure that enables him to cater really big events, like gubernatorial state dinners in Texas and U.S. presidential events at which tens of thousands of people are served in as little as half an hour (here’s a link to an interview with Deen conducted by TexasMonthly magazine: http://www.tmbbq.com/interview-eddie-deen-of-eddie-deens-and-co/). But what he talked about was his work with disadvantaged youth and the homeless, and his theory that the brain can be changed, away from self-destructive behavior to positive, clear thinking. “I use the analogy of a horse. Do you want to be a trail horse, afraid of stepping off a trail and not able to lead, or a cutting horse, who is thinking and in control of the situation?” he told me. Many of the people working that night at the Ranch venue, from food servers to bar staff, were there as part of Deen’s youth programs at local high schools and homeless outreach, and were learning positive life skills through the catering experience. It was an eye-opening lesson on how small and medium businesses can really have an impact on their local communities, through training young people to take part in their economic growth.

GESIPA explains that its CFRP blind rivet nut now makes it possible to easily incorporate functional elements into fibre-plastic composites without material damage. This is achieved through a special geometry of the blind rivet nut. The deforming process is highly controlled so that damage to the component by setting forces is prevented. The closing head assumes a large diameter shape ensuring safe spread of the clamping force.

Due to its special form, the blind rivet nut can be used in a large clamping range, and can be used for various applications within a production process. This saves handling costs and keeps the storage costs low. The material used fits well with the CFRP and keeps away any possible corrosion. GESIPA points out that even after 1,008 hours in the standard salt spray test, the results showed zero or very little red rust could be detected.

The CFRP blind rivet nut can be further modified, together with the thread size and length, depending on customer requirements. Other setting head geometries, seals or closed variations to name only a few, can be modified as well.

A world first for the ARCOCE plug, a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) exhaust cone designed by Safran, which completed its first flight on board an Air France A320 aircraft in early summer. More resistant and lighter than conventional metal alloys, CMCs play a part in reducing the weight of aircraft, and mitigating their environmental footprint. Yann Richard, "CMC Exhaust" Program Manager at Herakles (Safran), talks us through the development and applications of this technology.
Developed and Manufactured by Herakles (Safran), the Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) exhaust cone, also referred to as the ARCOCE plug (whose name is derived from the French initials for ceramic composite afterbody), represents a huge achievement and historic milestone in this civil aviation technology. Intended for the manufacture of nozzles, especially for Ariane launchers, as well as Rafale fighter jets and M51 missiles, the application of CMC exhaust cones in the civil sector required additional developments. The lifespan of a commercial aircraft is twenty times that of a military aircraft, so the materials used in the engines must have much greater resilience.

 

What stage is the program at?

Following the first round of tests conducted in 2012 on an A320, the CMC exhaust cone demonstrator was certified on April 22, 2015 by the EASA* to be used on board commercial flights. This certification confirms the ability of Safran to manufacture CMCs adapted to the requirements of civil aviation. The project is also receiving funding from the French government ("Fonds Unique Interministériel" and Future Investment Program") and the Aquitaine Regional Council.

 

What does the installation of the ARCOCE plug on a commercially operated aircraft represent?

Installed on an Air France A320 powered by two CFM56-5B engines, the ARCOCE plug successfully completed its first commercial flight between Paris and Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2015. The tests are set to take place for a period of twenty months, which equates to around 5,000 flight hours. In October, the important milestone of logging 1,000 flight hours was achieved. This means we will be able to see how the part behaves in real-life conditions and harness this data for the work conducted on CMCs.


Safran
What is the outlook for Safran in the CMC field?

With its subsidiary Herakles, which has spent the last twenty or so years developing and marketing CMCs for aerospace, military and industrial applications, Safran boasts world-class expertise in CMCs. CMCs are light, capable of withstanding very high temperatures and extreme environments. These materials are based on carbon or ceramic fibers and matrices, which makes them both strong and light and boosts engine performance significantly. Safran aims to finalize the development of this technology to incorporate it into future developments for which the target parts are turbines, combustion chambers and exhausts. The work on the ARCOCE plug and the success of its testing as part of a commercial implementation (with over 1,000 flight hours logged by end-September 2015) enable Safran to improve its expertise in the area of CMCs, and thus to better prepare for future developments in aeronautics.

The mass adoption of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRPs) in vehicle production is edging closer as car makers search for ways of reducing fuel consumption, according to a new report in the latest issue of Technical Textile Markets from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.
CFRPs have a number of properties in their favour. They have high strength and durability and – most significantly as far as the automotive industry is concerned – they are 50% lighter than steel.

Consequently, using body parts made from CFRPs in place of steel body parts could result in significant weight reduction and dramatically lower fuel consumption. And the need for such reductions is becoming more urgent as a result of legislation in Europe and the USA relating to fuel efficiency.
A key stumbling block to the wider adoption of CFRPs by the automotive industry has been price. But capacity increases are being planned and, assuming that prices can be reduced as these increased capacities become available, the potential of CFRPs as replacements for steel vehicle body parts alone is considerable. Another stumbling block has been the cycle time required for moulding car frame composites, but much research and development work has been done in reducing the cycle time and this has also helped to reduce costs.
More and more alliances have been formed in recent years between automotive companies and carbon fibre suppliers – including those between BMW and SGL Group, General Motors and Toho Tenax, Daimler and Toray Industries, Jaguar Land Rover and Cytec, and Ford, DowAksa and IACMI.
BMW has, without doubt, been the pioneer in the transfer of CFRPs to vehicles for the mass market. BMW began volume production of CFRP components for a few limited applications as early as 2003, and has been increasing its output ever since. In 2009 BMW and SGL Group formed a joint venture, called SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (ACF), in order to combine their core competencies and industrialise the use of carbon fibres in the automotive sector.
However, Teijin reported in May 2011 that it had succeeded in establishing new mass production technologies for making CFRPs and in reducing the cycle time required for moulding car frame composites to less than one minute. In doing so, it overcame one of the biggest challenges in the industry, and its success represented a significant move forward in the use of CFRPs for the mass production of vehicles.
In another alliance, Daimler has been working with Toray on optimising the processes used in the manufacture of CFRPs in order to reduce cycle times and hence reduce costs significantly.
These alliances are poised to increase the adoption of carbon fibre in the next generation of consumer vehicles sharply. Furthermore, the potential market for CFRPs in these applications is huge. Even if only 100 kg of these materials were employed in each car, global demand for CFRPs for the automotive industry could amount to 10 million tons a year. In fact, if usage did reach 10 million tons, this would represent an increase of 17,141% on the estimated 58,000 tons of CFRPs which were used in vehicles in 2014.

It has been announced today that three UK-based automotive OEMs - Bentley Motors Limited, Emerald Automotive LLC and Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd – are working closely with the Lightweighting Excellence Programme (LX) in order to achieve vehicle weight reduction.
The LX consortium is seeking to enhance capability within the UK automotive supply chain to manufacture composite components in medium to high volumes, at affordable costs, by connecting the key functions of material supply, design and manufacturing.

The LX Programme is a strategic co-operation led by Sigmatex and supported by Axillium Research, in partnership with Caparo Advanced Composites, Cranfield University, Engenuity, Expert Tooling & Automation, Granta Design, Group Rhodes, LMAT, Surface Generation and Tilsatec.

Bentley Motors, Emerald Automotive and Nissan are working closely with the LX partners on the provision of three technical use cases with realistic commercial potential.

This announcement coincides with the Lightweighting Excellence Programme being officially launched at Advanced Engineering UK 2015, having received an Unconditional Offer Letter (UCOL) confirming funds of £3.8M from the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) programme via Finance Birmingham.

AMSCI was set up by the UK Government to help existing UK supply chains grow and achieve world-class standards while encouraging major new suppliers to set up manufacturing in the UK.

A total project value of £7.15M of joint funding from AMSCI and industry will support the creation of 238 new jobs and safeguard 144 existing jobs between 2015 and 2021.

OEMs are now working on weight reduction to ensure compliance with stricter emissions standards. However, as the amount of technology demanded in today’s passenger vehicles increases, so does the overall weight. Composite materials allow OEMs to counteract this effect through lightweighting and part consolidation, while maintaining structural integrity.

Many UK-based automotive OEMs have expressed interest to source a higher percentage of their composite components from within the UK. The LX Programme addresses these desires by consolidating all elements of the supply chain to produce demonstrator components to showcase UK capability.

By the conclusion of the LX Programme in 2017, the consortium will have established the design capability and processes required to produce structural, semi-structural and Class A surface finished components in significant volumes.

The three OEMs are working together with Sigmatex and ten partners on the following ‘Use Cases’:

Bentley Motors – Door Inner Structure
Bentley has offered as a use-case the challenge of replacing a structural Door-Inner sub-assembly, currently made of numerous metallic parts, with a simplified carbon composite assembly. The Door-Inner assembly anchors the door’s anti-intrusion beams and mountings for numerous components such as electric window motors, window frame guides and exterior skin connection. Using composite materials, the LX consortium aims to produce a lightweight concept that reduces the number of parts used, while retaining strength, stiffness and crash integrity. This weight reduction could ultimately enable increased functionality that is sometimes prohibitive due to the weight of the existing metallic structures.

Emerald Automotive – Exterior Body Panels
Emerald Automotive is developing a lightweight commercial vehicle that could utilise thermoplastic exterior body panels in the future. They are expected to achieve a high quality Class A surface finish that is lightweight, durable and dent resistant.

The project outcome will see the LX consortium members working together in a robust supply chain to create a UK-based production facility that uses automated technology and thermoplastic composite moulding know-how to ensure an uninterrupted supply of Class A body panels to help Emerald Automotive meet demand for what will become a popular global vehicle. When the LX consortium has proven rate, process, quality and price, component production numbers are anticipated to be in low to medium volumes.

Nissan – Structural Component
Nissan believes that significant lightening of the weight of a passenger vehicle by replacing an existing metallic body structure with lightweight carbon composite is a future requirement. One of the most difficult candidate parts for manufacturing in carbon composites could be a structural floor component which Nissan is offering the LX programme for development.

The first run of prototypes will be produced in early 2016 as proof of concept, showing high volume manufacturing methodology and processes ready for future full-scale production.

The key challenges for the LX partners to overcome are producing a floor that is significantly lighter than the existing metallic part, at a price that is comparable with the existing metallic component it replaces, while maintaining consistent high quality, structural performance and just-in-time delivery to the production line.

About Sigmatex
Sigmatex develops and manufactures carbon fibre textiles for composite material applications. From global locations, Sigmatex supplies woven carbon fibre textiles including 3D, spread tow, innegra, recycled, unidirectional, multiaxial, and 2D woven solutions across a broad spread of industries, ranging from the world’s top supercar manufacturers to high performance leisure brands and most of the world’s major aerospace companies.

In all cases, Sigmatex helps its customers to achieve improved product performance through lightweight strength. Sigmatex was established in 1986 and has specialised in helping customers create cutting-edge carbon fibre textiles since then.