Composite Products Worth Seeing

Father’s Day is coming up, and there’s no doubt that countless members of the composites industry will enjoy the extra attention. Yet, there are some who will celebrate furthermore because of their new products.

The new AP-PLY fiber architecture has improved damage tolerance for use with a fiber placement machine

The National Aerospace Laboratory NLR and Delft University of Technology are incorporating more fiber in their diet by jointly developing the new AP-PLY fiber architecture with improved damage tolerance for use with a fiber placement machine. AP-PLY combines the mechanical properties of unidirectional laminates with the higher resistance to impact damage of woven fabrics in an automated composites manufacturing process. Instead of fiber placing parallel fiber bands next to each other, room is left between bands. A second series of interspaced fiber bands is placed at an angle with respect to the first series, and the remaining gaps are subsequently filled up. Adjacent plies are thus more interconnected and delamination damage is contained in a smaller area. According to the groups, preliminary test results show significant improvement in compression after impact strength and smaller delaminations. The consortium also says this process could lead to 10 percent weight reduction in composite structures in aircraft and other transport applications.

KaZaK Composites, Inc. hopes to give steel the shaft by designing a composite power transmission shaft to reduce the overall weight of a shaft without compromising the performance of the component. With existing shafts constructed of steel and weighing between 90 and 290 pounds depending on the configuration, the company says the Navy is looking for a solution that will allow for increased payload on its existing armored combat vehicles (ACVs), the LCAC landing craft and future ACVs such as the SSC. KaZaK says the composite design will not corrode like steel, reducing maintenance costs by removing the need to repaint and replace the shafting. Additionally, the shaft reinforcement and matrix materials are designed to attenuate vibration loads, reducing vibrational stress on the power train which is meant to increase the operational life of some power train equipment, further reducing maintenance costs.

Battenfeld-Cincinnati introduced its fiberexK7 extruder for wood plastic composites.

Battenfeld-Cincinnati might be knocking on wood as they introduce their fiberexK7 extruder for wood plastic composites (WPC). The company said the conical counter-rotating machine is suitable for newcomers to WPC extrusion and offers outputs from 90 to 275 kg/h, making it possible to extrude a wide variety of profiles. The compact machine is suitable for processing pre-blended compounds as well as agglomerates based on PVC, PE or PP and has closed-loop screw core tempering, a fully insulated processing unit, AC drive and an easy-to-operate vacuum unit with a twin filter as standard.

Serious Materials has launched a new line of extreme-energy-saving window products for the commercial building market…no, seriously! Its Heavy Commercial SeriousWindows Series are the first heavy commercial rated windows to deliver thermal performance of up to R-value 7.0 (U-value 0.14), over two times the thermal insulation of commonly specified aluminum thermally broken commercial windows (U-value 0.35). Incorporating SeriousGlass super-insulating glass units with fiberglass frames, the company says the windows are meant to offer architects, builders, and building owners more energy efficient commercial window systems for substantial energy cost savings. The company believes fiberglass-framed commercial windows offer super-insulating and structural performance, lower embodied energy, and new design choices compared to traditional aluminum, vinyl, or wood framing materials.