Pultruded window: Glass/polyurethane prototype wins award
Deceuninck Group NV (Hooglede-Gits, Belgium), is at the forefront of composite window frame design and innovation, as evidenced by its recent award for a large, prototype window designed to open like a door.
Inoutic's (Bogen, Germany) composite window frame design acumen was in evidence when this large, prototype window, designed to open like a door, copped an award at Fensterbau 2014, a European trade show for windows, doors and façades. Source: Deceuninck North America
The window’s frame was pultruded by Deceuninck North America (Monroe, Ohio), using the company’s trademarked Rovex technology. Rovex combines fiberglass rovings with a specially formulated two-component polyurethane resin from Bayer MaterialScience LLC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Source: Deceuninck North America
Inoutic (Bogen, Germany), a member of the Deceuninck Group NV (Hooglede-Gits, Belgium), is at the forefront of composite window frame design and innovation, as evidenced by its recent award for a large, prototype window designed to open like a door, during Fensterbau 2014, a European trade show for windows, doors and façades. The “Innovation Award for Architecture + Windows, Doors and Façades” was presented to Inoutic by the European architecture journals AIT and xia intelligente architecktur. The window’s frame was pultruded by Deceuninck North America (Monroe, Ohio), using the company’s trademarked Rovex technology. Rovex combines fiberglass rovings with a specially formulated two-component polyurethane resin from Bayer MaterialScience LLC (Pittsburgh, Pa.), based on Baydur PUL (pultrusion grade). The Baydur PUL 2500- and 3500-grade resin formulations include proprietary bio-based materials and are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Bayer’s material and injection-die pultrusion know-how combined with Deceuninck’s expertise in design and tooling for highly complex profile shapes were credited for the balcony door’s success.
The result? Judges praised the “mechanical performance and process advantages” of the profile and were impressed with the slim line (the profile depth is a mere 59 mm/2.2 inches) and design freedom with regard to color and feel. Like other pultruded fiberglass windows and doors, they offer greater dimensional stability, impact resistance, strength and color fastness than the conventional vinyl and wood windows that still dominate the residential construction market. In addition, the low thermal conductivity of fiberglass enables window designs with U values (the measure of thermal transmittance) two to three times more favorable than those of aluminum windows. They won’t corrode or conduct electricity, and they offer superior structural, thermal and environmental performance compared to conventional materials, according to Deceuninck.
More specifically, the Rovex PU window profiles reportedly outperform pultruded glass/polyester and glass/vinyl ester products. And the thermal properties of glass/polyurethane composite are expected to translate into significant energy savings for customers and continue to meet thermal performance requirements as they increase. Such an increase is expected, for example, in the U.S., when the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Version 6.0 Residential Windows, Doors, and Skylights Specification becomes effective in two phases, beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
Related Content
-
Materials & Processes: Composites fibers and resins
Compared to legacy materials like steel, aluminum, iron and titanium, composites are still coming of age, and only just now are being better understood by design and manufacturing engineers. However, composites’ physical properties — combined with unbeatable light weight — make them undeniably attractive.
-
RUAG rebrands as Beyond Gravity, boosts CFRP satellite dispenser capacity
NEW smart factory in Linköping will double production and use sensors, data analytics for real-time quality control — CW talks with Holger Wentscher, Beyond Gravity’s head of launcher programs.
-
MFFD thermoplastic floor beams — OOA consolidation for next-gen TPC aerostructures
GKN Fokker and Mikrosam develop AFP for the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator’s floor beams and OOA consolidation of 6-meter spars for TPC rudders, elevators and tails.
