JEC Composites 2007 Product Showcase
This year’s Parisian exhibition provides key evidence of the composites industry’s unprecedented breadth and technical sophistication.
By Staff | June 2007
Composites industry professionals who converged on the Paris Expo to attend the JEC COMPOSITES Show had access to more than 1,000 exhibitors — the largest number ever at a composites trade event.
The annual JEC COMPOSITES Show underscored the health of the composites industry and its global expansion: More than 1,000 exhibitors — the largest number ever at a composites trade event — and thousands of composites industry professionals converged on the Paris Expo in Porte de Versailles, Paris, France (April 3-5) for three days of networking, education and composites industry commerce. Organizers called it the most international JEC show on record, reporting that 65 percent of visitors and 70 percent of exhibitors came from outside France.
CT staffers were on hand and found a wealth of new materials and other technical developments on the expanded 40,000m² (430,556 ft²) JEC show floor. Among the headliners at this year’s exhibition were groundbreaking composites applications, particularly in the fields of high-performance motorsports and infrastructure. The show-floor buzz also included announcements of acquisitions, development and/or marketing partnerships and myriad new materials, processing equipment and services, of which the following is a representative sampling.
Advanced Composites Group Ltd. (ACG, Heanor, Derbyshire, U.K.) announced that it will collaborate with GrafTech International Ltd. (Parma, Ohio) to sell GrafTech’s carbon foam block in combination with ACG tooling prepregs on the tool surface. Under another agreement, ACG has launched ACG TB720, a standard-grade epoxy tooling board developed with Huntsman Advanced Materials (The Woodlands, Texas). Also announced: the company’s MTM46 prepreg resin system has been qualified by Columbia Aircraft Mfg. Corp. (Bend, Ore.) for fabrication of Columbia general aviation aircraft.
Aerospace parts manufacturer EADS Composites Atlantic (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada) highlighted its capabilities, including its environmental simulation laboratory that conducts material testing. The company is a licensee of a new composite molding technology developed by Carbone Forgé (Lentilly, France) and is producing aircraft wheels with comolded metallic inserts. (See entry for Carbon Forgé, below.)
AGY (Aiken, S.C.) released findings from a study it commissioned through the Knowledge Centre – Wind Turbine Materials and Constructions (The Netherlands) that indicated the company’s ZenTron roving can reduce mass by 25 percent, compared to standard E-glass, in vacuum-infused unidirectional spar caps and trailing edge components used on 62.5m/205 ft wind turbine blades (an 11 percent total blade mass reduction). The company also spotlighted new armor applications for its S-2 Glass reinforcements: Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) suits, with a more comfortable and flexible overlapping plate design that allows the wearer greater freedom of movement, and a new CAVCAT vehicle platform that meets higher threat levels, including armor-piercing projectiles.
Axel Plastics Research Laboratories’ (Woodside, N.Y.) premiered a new mold sealer developed for a boatbuilder experiencing difficulty demolding decks made with a new low-VOC resin and fabricated in deep-draw, low-draft-angle molds. To forestall damage, the builder had mandated that molds be completely reprepped between each part. Axel’s semipermanent XTEND XTR reportedly solved the problem, permitting three demolding’s before touchup on seasoned tools.
Airtech Europe (Differdange, Luxembourg) directed attention to its custom-engineered, shaped vacuum bags, designed using CATIA V5 software, and its Vac Valve 425 self-cutting vacuum valves. The company conducted live demonstrations of the resin infusion process and the use of prepregs at its stand, and offered a wide range of new and improved consumable products, including Release All 45 nonsilicone, semipermanent release and Release Ply P45 plain-weave polyester release.
Alcan Composites (Sins, Switzerland) showed its AIREX and BALTEK products, including new AIREX C52 industrial processing foam, which replaces KAPEX C51. With a perforated polyester fleece top layer, the new foam reduces resin consumption during processing while still providing the same adhesion properties with composite skins. In keeping with its two-brand strategy — AIREX and BALTEK balsa cores — the trade name KAPEX has been phased out, says the company.
Aptiform (Chesterfield, U.K.), launched at JEC its new line of self-reinforced polyethylene terephthalate (PET) materials — a PET resin reinforced with PET fibers — joining the self-reinforced polypropylene the company already provides. Aptiform emphasizes that PET is easily painted and bonded and offers weight savings compared to glass-reinforced plastics. Also, because the fiber and the resin are the same material, recycling is easier.
Arkema (Paris La Defense, France) showcased its acrylic block copolymers, dubbed Nanostrength, which are used in formulation of epoxy resins and adhesives. The company states that the copolymers provide excellent toughening without compromising the epoxy formulation’s thermal performance or solvent resistance.
Asamer Basaltic Fibers GmbH (Ohlsdorf, Austria) introduced for the first time anywhere its ASA.TEC brand of basalt fibers. The company is part of the larger Asamer Group, which owns and operates more than 20 quarries located throughout Europe from which basalt rock can be sourced. This, says the manufacturer, allows it to customize chemical compositions in the fiber to meet specific application goals. Asamer also says it sources the fibers in cooperation with the Ukrainian firm TZI.
Ashland Performance Materials, Composite Polymers (Dublin, Ohio) introduced to Europe its POLARIS line of resins for cast marble, solid surface and engineered stone applications. Polaris, already available in the U.S., is said to offer low water absorption, low color and high filler loading capacity. Used in solid surface applications, products produced with POLARIS resins meet the ANSI Z124.6 standard.
Axel Plastic Research Laboratories’ (Woodside, N.Y.) wide range of new products included XTEND XTR, a solvent-based, wipe-on/wipe-off sealer designed to produce a high-gloss, streak-free surface with high optimum chemical resistance and maximum mold protection, suitable for use with low-VOC resins. Also new: MoldWiz WB-2700 release for filament winding processes, a silicone-free emulsion of fatty acids, polyolefins, and surfactants in a water vehicle; INT-DCP220 internal mold release, designed to resolve poor release and maintain molds in clean condition longer, eliminating processing difficulties associated with molding DCPD (dicyclopentadiene) resin; and XTEND 19CMS, for closed molding and difficult release situations in which excessive styrene and monomer residue buildup forces production to stop for cleaning.
Axson Technologies (Paris, France) debuted Lab 975, an epoxy tooling block for modeling designed to provide a smooth surface finish that is compatible with all epoxy paints. Also on offer: Epolam 2090, an infusion system that features an epoxy resin with GC1 190 gel coat, designed for the production of large, high-temperature-resistant molds in marine, aerospace and energy applications; Epolam 2500/2501, an Airbus-certified resin for the rapid repair of interior composite fittings (e.g., air ducts or sandwich panel skins); and Adekit A180, a stiff epoxy adhesive with temperature resistance up to 150°C/302°F, designed primarily for the structural bonding of engine components, including carbon fiber parts to metal parts.
Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany) displayed a host of parts and components at its stand made with the company’s BayPreg polyurethanes. Products included a marine dashboard, a hardhat, a loudspeaker and a snow scooter. The company also has announced that it is combining its global polyurethane business under the umbrella brand of BaySystems. Peter Vanacker will head the BaySystems unit.
A molding method touted by Carbone Forgé (Lentilly, France) uses a proprietary tooling technology that permits strategic fiber orientation and comolding of steel inserts. On display was this 10-inch/254-mm diameter aircraft wheel with comolded steel rims and other metallic hardware, made by licensee EADS Composites Atlantic (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada).
BITEAM AB (Stockholm, Sweden), a manufacturer of 3-D weaving technology, announced its participation in an EU-funded project called MOJO (modular joints for composite aircraft components). The program will develop a modular system for aircraft construction, using advanced composite materials profiles. The goal is to reduce aircraft weight by 15 percent. The company’s 3-D weaving technology will be used to make profiled carbon performs. Project partners include EADS Military Air Systems, Eurocopter and Dassault Aviation as well as the Germany Aerospace Assn.
BYK-Chemie (Wesel, Germany and Wallingford, Conn.) introduced BYK-C 8000, a polymeric coupling agent formulated to improve mechanical strength in filled resins. Because filled parts tend to crack at the filler/resin interface, this new agent forms chemical bonds between the resin and filler particle, enhancing flexural, tensile and compressive strength.
Among the most interesting processes highlighted at the show was one that allows for the insertion of metal components in a carbon fiber part, developed by Carbone Forgé (Lentilly, France). The molding method uses a proprietary tooling technology that employs a compression press and permits strategic fiber orientation. On display was an 10-inch/254-mm diameter aircraft wheel, with comolded steel rims and other metallic hardware that was made by EADS Composites Atlantic (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada), which licenses the Carbone Forgé process. The wheel features long-fiber carbon reinforcement provided by Toray Industries (Tokyo, Japan) with a thermoplastic PPS resin, although Carbone Forgé says any carbon fiber/resin combination can be used in the process.
