COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 Blog

Bender Consulting shows at COMPOSITES EUROPE 2009 additives which are developed for bio materials, as well as their applications like odorous substances, which are on the one hand anti bacterial and on the other hand dyeing. Materials should smell in several ways. They smell either pleasant for human beings or off odours for animals. Urns out of BC´s (=biodegradable bio materials) are unfortunately diged up by wild pigs at cemeteries. The question is therefor: What does the animal dislike and is harmless and biodegradable as well?

Bender Consulting is working on questions like what is the nature doing for protection for example against bacterials since many years. Which pericarp is protecting more, which less? Silver is the common anti bacterial material. But also redwood, logwood and yellowwood are used to dye leather since millenniums. Please find here an articel about the impact of flavanoids which are prepared by network partners to finish processing.

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Carbon fiber composite materials (CFRP’s) not only make cars and airplanes lightweight but also benefit the light weight constructions for valuable bicycle concepts. At the Composites Europe trade show in Stuttgart (October 27-29), Fraunhofer researchers will present a spring-loaded seat post made of CFRP’s (Hall 4, Booth D04).

The roadside features such as curbstone edges, potholes, streetcar tracks etc. frequently rattle the nerves of any bicyclist. But for years now, professional and recreational bikers alike have been using spring-loaded seat posts. They absorb the worst shocks, and make the ride more comfortable for the back. Still, for noticeably greater ride comfort, you have to dig deeper in your pockets.

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Aerospace, automotive and airplane construction count on lightweight construction. But to make sure that lightening the load does not come at the cost of safety, Fraunhofer researchers are working on new quality assurance systems for material testing. At the Composites Europe trade show (October 27 – 29) Hall 4, Booth D04, in Stuttgart, they will demonstrate a new kind of non-destructive diagnostic procedure.

Boats, airplanes and spacecrafts are getting lighter and lighter: Lightweight structures help save fuel and lower CO2 emissions. “To ensure that police and marine emergency services can rely on their lifeboats, even in high seas, the lightweight components undergo comprehensive quality assurance before being put to actual use,” affirms Joachim Montnacher, Head of Department for Testing Systems at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart. Together with Dr. Tina Wilhelm, Group Manager for Measurement and Testing Technology, and colleague Wolfgang Schmidt, the experts are hard at work on quality assurance systems for lightweight construction.

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Dieffenbacher one of the world’s market leaders in supplying complete manufacturing system for forming fibre-reinforced plastics will be presenting its products and services at the Composite Europe 2009 in Stuttgart from October  27^th to 29^th 2009. Highlights from the market leader are the cost effective innovative production solutions for the manufacturing of light weight car components and the clean energy industry parts such as solar panels.

Highlights from the market leader – the only manufacturer in this sector to supply all its products and services from a single source – include the new, energy-saving Compress Plus press generation, rapid advancements in the Dieffenbacher direct processes, LFT-D (long-fibre thermoplast, direct process) and D-SMC (direct strand molding compound) technology, and automated SMC processing with highly lucrative, innovative technologies for producing lightweight components for structures and semi-structural applications.

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Technical principles, trends and innovations – in an international lecture forum, the COMPOSITES EUROPE trade fair will again present specialist lectures on current topics relevant to the industry in 2009. The COMPOSITES Forum will focus on all areas of composite applications. Topics range from crash-safe materials in the automotive field to sandwich panels in aircraft construction, from growth potential in the construction of wind energy parks to production and machining processes for composites. The programme features a total of 26 lectures and presentations in English and German.

From damage simulation to serial production
New technologies for the serial production of carbon-reinforced plastics (CRP) will be demonstrated by the IKV - Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung of RWTH Aachen. The IKV scientists developed three new process chains enabling the production of materials with a fibre content exceeding 50 percent in less than ten minutes.

The mechanical behaviour of CRP sandwich panels in practical tests is explained by the speakers from Fraunhofer IWM for CRP foam core sandwich panels. In its lecture, the Fraunhofer Entwicklungszentrum für Röntgentechnik (EZRT) presents non-invasive test procedures, from 3D computer tomography to radioscopy to thermography and ultrasonic techniques.

Dassault Systemes Simulia provides information on possibilities for FEM analysis of lightweight fibre composite structures. The use of the finite element method allows predictions on processes of damage and failure in supercritical load conditions.

The combination of highly elastic composites and aesthetically pleasing design is demonstrated by Huntsman and D3 who cooperated closely in designing a sophisticated carbon fibre chair moulded in four parts. Products from Huntsman’s Araldite series were used in the project. The two companies show how complex parts can be produced simply and cost-effectively using simple tooling technology.

The COMPOSITES Forum is located in Hall 4 and designed as an open lecture area. Admission is free for all trade fair visitors.

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Technical principles, trends and innovations – in an international lecture forum, the COMPOSITES EUROPE trade fair will again present specialist lectures on current topics relevant to the industry in 2009. The COMPOSITES Forum will focus on all areas of composite applications.

Topics range from crash-safe materials in the automotive field to sandwich panels in aircraft construction, from growth potential in the construction of wind energy parks to production and machining processes for composites. The programme features a total of 26 lectures and presentations in English and German.

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On September 22nd and 23rd the Aachen Body Engineering Days take place at the Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge (IKA) of RWTH Aachen University. Well known speakers from research and industry will discuss about recent developments in car body engineering at the international conference. Among the speakers are: Prof. Dr. Rudolph C. Stauber (BMW AG), Dr. Matthias Rabe (Volkswagen AG) and Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn (Bentley Motors Ltd.).

Car bodies, vehicles and technology demonstrators are presented in an additional technical exhibition. Some of the highlights will be the Porsche Panamera, the BMW 5er GT, the new VW Polo, the Mercedes SLS AMG, ThyssenKrupps InCar and the SuperLightCar. Some plastic applications in modern car body engineering will also be presented.

From 27 to 29. October IKA will be represented at COMPOSITES EUROPE (Halle 4, Stand G28).