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.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO — 29 June 2010. Fiberforge announces today that Fraunhofer ICT and Fiberforge have started a strategic collaboration on R&D projects for various industries such as, automotive and aerospace. As part of this collaboration, Fraunhofer ICT will be installing a RELAY® Station 2000 at its state-of-the-art thermoplastics research center. This will be the first RELAY Station installation in Europe offering clients the ability to develop and demonstrate the production of thermoplastic advanced composite structures upward of 2 m x 2 m (80 in. x 80 in.) in size on a full-scale production work cell.
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.
Sustainability and questions it raises regarding the effects materials, products and processes have on the environment is a major current topic and one that influences all aspects of business. The automotive and electronic industries have already implemented current regulations on recycling and CO2 emissions. Demands on the use of sustainable materials and products in the building industry amongst others are now gaining pace too.
The effects that composites have on the environment are also Read Full Post
When the new Airbus A350 XWB (XWB stands for eXtra Wide Body) takes off on its maiden flight in two years time, this will also represent a milestone for the composites industry. 50% of the fuselage of the wide-bodied aircraft, which is being developed as a competitor to the Boeing 787, is made of composite materials. Last summer, Airbus purchased Read Full Post
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 27th to 29th 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.
Very light, very sturdy and very expensive. The characteristics of carbon fibres can be briefly described in this way. Consequently, their applications were primarily restricted in the past to aircraft and aerospace as well as to sports equipment. In addition, the so-called monocoque and other components of Formula 1 racing cars are produced using a carbon fibre reinforced plastic. Very large CRP components are employed in the wings and hull of aircraft.
After carbonization of the basic organic raw materials into carbon, the fibres are tensioned and thus achieve higher strengths and rigidities. Further processing takes place as rovings. This involves several thousand fibres which are combined into a strand and are then used as reinforcing fibres in woven fabrics. As low filaments (short fibres) they can be added to polymers. Suitably reinforced plastic components can be produced by means of processing equipment such as extruders or injection moulding machines.
To produce carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CRP), several layers of carbon fibres are embedded in a plastic matrix of epoxy resin, thermoplastics or ceramics. Analogue to glass-fibre reinforced plastics (GRP), press or autoclave processes for prepregs or fibre wrappings are used for production. CRP manual laminates are only employed for small scale runs or for individual production.
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