COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 Blog

With new themes, new special forums and a 15-percent increase in exhibitor numbers, the COMPOSITES EUROPE 2009 specialist fair is gaining momentum. At its fourth edition to be held from 27 to 29 October in Stuttgart, more than 300 exhibitors will present technologies and products covering the entire value creation chain of fibre-reinforced plastics. The spotlight will be on innovative solutions for important application industries such as vehicle construction, aircraft construction and aerospace as well as the building and construction sector.

Key players of the industry such as AOC Resins, Exel Composites and Huntsman will once again be present in Stuttgart. In Krauss-Maffei, RAMPF Tooling, Henkel, DSM Composites Resins, Carbon Composites e.V., Zoltek and Cam Elyaf, however, COMPOSITES EUROPE could also win major new exhibitors this year. The organisers succeeded in bringing almost the entire sector of automated cutting to Stuttgart with Gerber Technology, Lectra, Expert Systemtechnik, Topcut-Bullmer and Zünd Systemtechnik AG.

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Despite the increase in production capacities, the demand for carbon fibres continues to be far greater than the supply. This is evident from the annual market survey by the AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. The worldwide capacity in 2007 is estimated to have been 55,000 tons. The applications are multifarious and consist primarily of the sports sector, wind energy, the oil industry, the automobile and transport sector as well as civil engineering. By 2010, an annual increase in the demand for CRP is predicted to be between 14 and 16 per cent. This is due to the development of new applications over and above the previous use. Current new developments can be found, e.g. with hydrogen tanks, although the main application continues to be aviation. Experts think that even though fibre production will experience a double-digit increase as expected, there will continue to be bottlenecks at least in the medium-term. Read Full Post

The experts of the AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. forecast an annual double-digit percentage growth rate for natural fibre reinforced plastics as well as for wood-plastic composites (WPC).  The reasons for this are the aspects of energy saving during production and the associated reduction in carbon dioxide.

The most important applications are the automobile, construction, furniture as well as industrial and consumer goods. Even so, the use of natural fibre reinforced plastics is stagnating in the automobile sector in the German market which currently accounts for 30,000 tons annually.

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From a three metre high windmill to a racing car, from a resin infusion to an intelligent surface:  With its special Product Demonstration Area, COMPOSITES EUROPE will again create a special visitor attraction in the autumn in Stuttgart when it will open its doors for the fourth time.

Together with the exhibitors, it will once again demonstrate the potential and the innovative character of composite materials from 27 to 29 October.

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