AGY (Aiken, S.C.), a producer of fiberglass yarns and high-strength fiberglass reinforcements for composites, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Owens Corning’s (Toledo, Ohio) North American continuous filament mat (CFM) business. Under the agreement, AGY will take over Owens Corning’s Huntingdon, Pa., CFM facility and its marbles furnace in Anderson, S.C., which supplies the Huntingdon facility with the glass fiber marbles used in the production of CFM.

Glass CFM is used as a reinforcement in the production of composite components such as electrically nonconductive laminate, marine parts and accessories and other products. CFM not only increases a products’ mechanical performance, such as stiffness and strength, but also enhances its chemical resistance.

AGY also has increased total production capacity for its S-2 Glass fiber reinforcements by 50 percent with the opening of a new manufacturing facility. AGY says it expects to ship a record amount of S-2 Glass reinforcements in 2008, breaking previous records set in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The company points to increased demand to upgrade armor on military vehicles as the main driver.

“Given the overwhelming success of S-2 Glass in composite armor for military vehicle programs such as the Humvee and mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, we have expanded our production capacity to meet the threat to personnel and equipment from enemy improvised explosive devices and explosively formed projectiles,” says Drew Walker, AGY VP of sales and marketing.