Functional and safety components of thermoplastic composites are being used more and more. It is therefore very important to have an understanding of the material behaviour and to develop adapted design methods.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF presented a four-meter-high exhibit at the COMPOSITES EUROPE – which is equipped with sensor technology SHM-wing mock-up of a light aircraft.
Fiber composites offer special advantages because of their lightweight potential in the aviation sector. The lightweight advantages may be more complex because of the damage behavior in comparison with metallic materials therefore they are not always fully exploit. In the airline for example, the impact is from foreign bodies in composite structures is a particular risk factor, limits the applications and often leads to large safety factors that require a certain amount of oversizing. Sensors which recognize, for example in the wing not externally visible structural damage at an early stage can reduce the inspection effort. The operational safety of the structure is ensured by the design and inspections at regular intervals manually. Through automated monitoring with additional structure integrated sensors can be saved in future costs and weight.
One of the most established uses for composites is in the building industry. It has made use of fibre-reinforced structures for over 30 years now. The reason is that these fibre composite materials are suitable for use in countless building and construction applications. Pipes, sleepers, boards, blocks, linings, mats, cladding, posts, foundations, tanks, housings, containers, doors, coatings, shafts, adhesives, coverings, banks, bricks, boxes, walls, basins, frames, steps, gutters – the possibilities are virtually endless.
The Bodensee Racing Team, or in short BRT, is sponsored amongst others by Harke Chemicals this year. It is one of the teams that takes part in this year’s Formula Student, a competition where students from all over the world compete against each other in self-constructed racing cars. “The contact to the Bodensee Racing Team was established during a booth conversation at the Composites Europe 2009 in Stuttgart, on which we presented epoxy resin systems. After the students from Konstanz had introduced us to the project we immediately decided to sponsor the team with our epoxy resins”, says Dirk Forler, Managing
Director of Harke Chemicals GmbH.
11 March this year saw the launch of the new international “Composites” Masters course, being held in English, at the Private University of Applied Sciences in Göttingen. This means that now, for the first time in Europe, there is a course of studies aimed at resolving the international shortage of graduates in fibre-reinforced plastics. 21 engineers from Spain, France, the United Kingdom, India and Germany will now become experts in carbon composites during the three-semester course.
Die COMPOSITES EUROPE bleibt auf Wachstumskurs. Das unterstreicht die diesjährige Veranstaltung, die erneut deutliche Zuwächsen verbuchte. Mit 15 Prozent mehr Ausstellern und einem Plus von gut 48 Prozent bei der Zahl der Fachbesucher setzte die COMPOSITES EUROPE ihren Erfolgskurs gegenüber der Vorveranstaltung in Stuttgart ungebremst fort. Insgesamt 313 Aussteller aus 24 Nationen und 6.120 Fachbesucher kamen zur vierten Auflage der europäischen Fachmesse für Verbundwerkstoffe, die vom 27. bis 29. Oktober in Stuttgart stattfand.
„Die COMPOSITES EUROPE erwies sich erneut als europaweiter Impulsgeber für die Composites-Industrie“, so Hans-Joachim Erbel, Geschäftsführer des Veranstalters, der Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH, zum Abschluss der dreitägigen Messe. „In einer konjunkturell schwierigen Situation gehen von der COMPOSITES EUROPE, die ja auch als Innovationsbarometer verstanden werden kann, wichtige Impulse zur Belebung der Branche aus. Viele der präsentierten Innovationen sind serienreif oder stehen kurz vor der Markteinführung und werden dementsprechend in naher Zukunft neue Kunden finden“, so Volker Fritz, Präsident des europäischen Branchenverbandes EuCIA, dem Partner der Messe.
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