NetComposites news archive: October 2012

Dutch Thermoplastic Components (DTC)will beexhibiting a range of high performance continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) parts at UK Composites Engineering Show at the NEC Birmingham, 9 -10 November 2011.   

HRH Queen Beatrix has opened the newly renovated Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Michael Effing launches his own company, AMAC, "Advanced Materials Advisory & Consultancy," based in Aachen, Germany.

The internal reorganisation at Hexagon Composites has been completed as per 30 September, 2012, whereby the product area for CNG Passenger Cars has been spun off from Ragasco and merged with Raufoss Fuel Systems.

Carbon composites manufacturer Quickstep has secured its largest aerospace production order to date, covering the manufacture and delivery of composite carbon fibre wing flaps for 24 Lockheed Martin C-130J ‘Hercules’ aircraft.

Future jobs, high technology, and the value of education relative to preserving production jobs in Denmark were the topics pinpointed when Danish Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education Morten Østergaard (RV) visited the aerospace, security, and space group Terma at Lystrup on 24 September, 2012.

MC Gill’s Director of Research and Development, Matt Lowry, was invited to be a speaker at the Composites World's 2012 High-Performance Composites for Aircraft Interiors Conference, September 25-26, 2012, in Seattle, Washington, US.

Umeco will be exhibiting on stand 8B/C44 at Composites Europe 2012 in the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre from 9 - 11 October 2012, showcasing a number of items on its stand including UBC’s Coren urban bike, a staggered sandwich panel, and a selection of automotive components amongst others.

Formax will be exhibiting on stand 8B/E23 at Composites Europe 2012 in the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre from 9 – 11 October 2012, showcasing its range of Carbon Multiaxial, or ‘non crimp’, fabrics.

Spheretex will introduce its brand new product sphere.tex tape at the Composites Europe Show in Dusseldorf, Germany, on the 9 – 11 October, 2012.

Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber, Chairman of the Management Board of ALTANA, and Frank Bannert, District Administrator of the Saalekreis region, visited BYK Kometra in Schkopau for the opening ceremony of the new production building.

Teijin Limited has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), a global benchmark for socially responsible investing, for the fourth consecutive year effective September 24.

RTP Company has introduced new thermally conductive compounds targeted at replacing metal components in automotive heating and cooling systems.

Two recently launched yachts made the most of Hi-Panel construction solution from SP-High Modulus.

Wednesday 19th September saw the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science, welcome Atlas Composites Managing Director, Shaun Moloney, and a select group of guests to the official launch of Nottingham Universities new £3.5 million Institute for Advanced Manufacturing.

Low carbon vehicle engineering takes centre stage at the inaugural ‘Automotive Engineering’ show 2012, within the Advanced Engineering UK group of events.

Gurit has been heavily involved in the realisation of a wind-activated kinetic sculpture which was designed by two of Australia’s pre-eminent public artists, Jennifer Turpin and Michaelie Crawford.

Composites are the trend in lightweight construction and well on their way to go into mass production, as will be demonstrated at Composites Europe 2012 in Düsseldorf from 9 - 11 October.

Amber Composites’ material has been specified for the primary structure of a major automotive build.

Hexcel will showcase its latest technologies for the Industrial markets at Composites Europe 2012 in Messe Dusseldorf, Germany, this week from its stand number 8a C52.

SP-High Modulus will be exhibiting at the International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) in Louisville, Kentucky, US.

GKN Aerospace’s extended aero-engine aftermarket operation is a focus for the company on booth 11250 at MRO Europe, 9 – 11 October in Amsterdam, alongside its established MRO activities across transparencies, composites and ice protection.

A Lehigh engineer and computer scientist have completed a carbon fibre wing designed for an unmanned aircraft that may never land, powered by the wind and the sun.

Gerber Technology has launched a wide model version of its industry-leading GERBERcutter GTxL, designed to cut materials as wide as 2.2 meters (86 inches).

Nidaplast make it possible to combine traditional heavy materials like concrete and natural stone with polypropylene honeycomb panels, a process making it feasible to work with a thin skin of raw material.

Providing boat builders and marine construction engineers with a bright white, UV-resistant two-part adhesive specifically formulated for marine applications, global adhesives supplier SCIGRIP is showcasing its SG100 Series methacrylate adhesives in Booth #1520 at the 2012 International Boat builders’ Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) in Louisville, Kentucky, US.

Ticona is presenting its singular matrix materials, described as having remarkable innovation potential at this weeks Composites Europe in Dusseldorf, Germany, from their stand 8b G02.

Creative Composites has officially opened a new state-of-the-art quality laboratory at its manufacturing facility in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Delaware is developing a novel structural health monitoring system that could avert disasters such as the collapse of the the I-35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis attributed to a design deficiency that resulted in a gusset plate failing during on-going construction work, which killed 13 people and injured 145.

The technology scouting services arm of Del Stark Technology Solutions has published two new technology scouting and briefing reports on the subsets of Flexible Graphene Composites and Silicene, Graphyne, Graphdiyne and Graphane, both now available through the NetComposites Store.

Magnolia Plastics has officially changed the company name to Magnolia Advanced Materials, effective immediately.

DTC Dutch Thermoplastic Components, Kok & Van Engelen, NLR National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands, TenCate Advanced Composites and VIRO have decided to collaborate in the European Thermoplastic Automotive Composites consortium (eTAC).

BASF and the SGL Group plan to jointly develop a composite material based on a reactive polyamide system and suitable carbon fibres, serving the cost-effective production of thermoplastic carbon fibre-reinforced composites.

A number of networking events, prestigious personalities, visionary conference speakers, exhibitors, delegates, academics and visitors will converge next month at JEC Americas held in Boston, US, on the 7 – 9 November.

Edra Equipamentos has developed a sustainable technology for the moulding of composite parts, named RTM-G (Resin Transfer Moulding – Glass) the process combines the injection of resin into the mould with the use of post-consumer waste from tempered glass, which acts as reinforcement material in place of traditional fiberglass or glass mat.

Compocity, the composites city built by the Latin American Composite Materials Association (ALMACO), will be the largest attraction of Feiplar, an event that gathers major companies in this sector every two years at Expo Center Norte in São Paulo, Brazil, on 6 – 8 November 2012.

Amber Composites has taken delivery of a Blackman & White 2300 conveyorised CNC cutting table.

One of the first production composite cars, the 1965 Corvette Stingray, will make its debut appearance with pioneering, rapid-engineering company Formaplex at the Advanced Engineering Show, NEC, Birmingham, on the 7 – 8 November 2012 at Formaplex’s stand 743.

Netherlands based Kubus Sport is utilising TeXtreme Spread Tow carbon fabrics in the new high-end range of field hockey sticks for their premium brand Brabo Hockey.

Composites Europe has opened in Messe Dusseldorf, Germany, and will run until Thursday 11th October.

NetComposites is organising a new technical conference to take place at the NEC Birmingham the day before the Composites Engineering Show, the showcase exhibition for the UK composites industry, on 6th November 2012.

At the 2012 World Human Powered Speed Challenge in Nevada, the Human Power Team from the Netherlands was named as winner achieving a top speed of 128 km/h.

Ticona is involved in a study exploring how a specially adapted manufacturing method may combine various semi-finished products of glass fibre reinforced unidirectional tapes with a D-LFT composite material.

DSM is introducing a new resin based on bio raw materials and manufactured in line with GMP.

Angstron Materialswill demonstrate the capability of its nano graphene platelets for commercial applications of graphene-based material at the 3rd Korea Graphene Industry Workshop on November 6, 2012, at Johnson Hall, Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, South Korea.

Wabash and Carver are jointly exhibiting at JEC Americas 2012 at stand J35 at the Boston Exhibition and Convention Center, Boston, US, from November 7-9, 2012.

Altair has received an AVK Innovation Award in the area of processes and methods for its innovative design and optimisation process for composite materials and laminate structures.

ASP Plastics highlighted Spartechs's 3D-thermoformable Royalex sheet at Composites Europe in Dusseldorf, Germany, last week.

3A Composites and Airex were awarded 2nd place in the 2012 AVK Innovation Award for the new AIREX T92 SealX technology.

At the AVK Composites Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany, the BluCure Cobalt-free Technology has received public recognition as a truly sustainable curing technology in the category “Innovative Product”.

A training centre acquired by Olivetti Corporation in the late 1960’s in Haslemere, Surrey, and refurbished using fibreglass panels manufactured from Scott Bader’s Crystic resin and gelcoat is showing, 43 years on, that the Lloyds approved marine grade Crystic 65PA gelcoat, also suitable for exterior building applications, is still in very good shape and has proved its long term outdoor performance capabilities.

Teknor Apex has appointed Prochem to distribute its engineering thermoplastic (ETP) compounds in Switzerland.

Dymax Corporation has launched a new website, http://www.led.dymax.com, which outlines the benefits of LED light-curing technology.

On 27 September the seven partners involved in an EU funded research programme held their kick-off meeting in Paris, led by NEN, the Netherlands Standardization Institute, the project executes pre-standardisation research for bio-based products.

At Composites Engineering 2012, at the NEC in Birmingham on the 7 – 8 November, Huntsman Advanced Materials will showcase its latest developments in epoxy resins, composites tooling and speciality chemical building blocks, focusing on the added value its systems offer in enabling significant growth momentum in the global composites market from its stand number 665.

Dow Polyurethanes has launched KIO composite manhole covers bringing new opportunities to the market with innovative technology that is designed to offer significant advantages over traditional cast iron alternatives.

Composites Europe 2012 demonstrated how successfully and efficiently the composites sector is working with this year's trade fair, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, for the first time, from 9 to 11 October, focused on the topics of automation and mass production.

Chomarat has obtained the certification EN 9100: 2009, "Quality Management standard for the aerospace industry."

NetComposites will be presenting an “Ask the Expert” initial advice and signposting service on behalf of the Composites Engineering Show from their stand, number 1143, at the show on the 7th and 8th November 2012 in Birmingham, UK.

On October 24th - 25th, the Automotive Committee of the Latin American Composite Materials Association (ALMACO) will promote several lectures addressed to professionals from the automakers Agrale, Marcopolo and Neobus, Brazil.

Lavesan, based in Brentonico, Italy, bought all the equipment and production machines of Leda Industries’ plant in Nonantola, Italy, after it ceased its production in November last year.

The Composites Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) recently named Creig Bowland, Research Associate for PPG Industries’ Fiber Glass Business, as “Composites Person of the Year.”

3A Composites were awarded the CCE JEC 2012 Innovation Award for the new AIREX T92 SealX technology.

Scott & Fyfe has launched its new line of carbon fabrics for the composite industry under the new Polycarb brand.

The inaugural JEC Americas Composites Show and Conferences on November 7th – 9th, 2012 will host JEC’s Innovation Awards Program and highlight the nine most cutting-edge advances to emerge from the world-wide composite industry this year.

With the previously forecast expansion in the use of composites materials beginning to have a real impact on the industrial landscape, the Composites Leadership Forum has been formed to deliver the next stage of the UK Composite Strategy; its inaugural meeting was held on 10 October.

Technyl polyamide from Rhodia Engineering Plastics has been chosen by Röchling Automotive for the manufacturing of turbocharger air ducts which have to resist temperatures of up to 210°C.

The Lotus F1 team has adopted Anaglyph's Laminate Tools package as its primary tool in the Stress based ply definition of its chassis laminate.

The results of a project promoted by the DBU (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt), entitled “Development of industrial scale natural fibre pellet production using natural fibres to reinforce bioplastics in injection moulding and extrusion techniques” has generated interest within the industry.

Molded Fiber Glass Construction Products (MFG CP) has manufactured 2,000 waffle forms for Canada’s Kitchner public library.

The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Composites will be exhibiting at the upcoming Composites Engineering Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, from the 7th – 8th November 2012 from stand 1144.

Caterham Composites was asked by Alex Thomson Racing to bring its expertise to a number of areas of Alex’s IMOCA Open 60.

The seaside town of Dawlish, on the south coast of Devon, hosted a landmark event in the history of UK railway infrastructure during the weekend of 13th - 14th October 2012 when a replacement footbridge was installed.

Composites Evolution will be showcasing the latest application of Biotex flax fibre, a snowboard designed and developed by Magine Snowboards, in the NetComposites Product Display Area at the Composites Engineering Show, 7th – 8th November 2012, on stand 346 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK.

NetComposites will be hosting a Product Display Area at the Composites Engineering Show from stand number 346 at the show on the 7th - 8th November 2012 in Birmingham, UK.

Mohamed Baqar, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, US, is the winner of the Thermoset Resin Formulators Association (TRFA) 3rd Annual Excellence in Thermoset Polymer Research Award.

Cytec will be exhibiting on stand 640 at the Composites Engineering Show 2012, which takes place in the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, UK on the 7 - 8 November, 2012.

Organised by the Latin American Composite Materials Association (ALMACO), the Top of Mind awards feature the independent research work and verification of Destaque Business Research; over four weeks, Destaque registered 2.210 votes, divided into 21 categories.

The Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) concluded its annual SAMPE Tech Conference and Exhibition 22 - 25 October, 2012, at the Charleston Convention Center in Charleston, South Carolina, US, drawing 1,456 delegates, making it the largest technical event geared toward advanced materials and processes (M&P).

Over 300 participants visited the International AVK Conference on 8 - 9 October 2012, invited by the AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe (German Federation of Reinforced Plastics), at the CCD Congress Centre in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Huntsman Advanced Materials will showcase its latest developments in epoxy resins, composites tooling and speciality chemical building blocks, focusing on the added value its systems offer in enabling significant growth momentum in the global composites market during Composites Engineering 2012, 7 – 8 November, at the NEC, Birmingham, UK.

Huber Engineered Materials is increasing the price of its industrial calcium carbonate products, not including its food and USP calcium carbonate grades, effective December 1, 2012, or as current contracts allow.

Chomarat has won a JEC Innovation Award in the carbon category for its C-PLY Bi-Angle and will be awarded during the 1st JEC Americas show on November 7 – 9, 2012.

AGY has introduced new sizing systems designed to give the full range of AGY rovings and yarns compatibility with a wide range of thermoplastic resins from engineering materials including polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), and polyamide 6 and 6.6 (PA6 and PA 6.6) and high performance materials including polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketoneketone (PEKK), polyamide 11 and 12 (PA11 and PA12), and polyetherimide (PEI).

Gurit has agreed a new supply contract in Automotive from a prestigious new customer with its first supply contract into Italy.

TenCate Advanced Composites and BASF have entered into a strategic alliance to cooperate on the development, production and commercialisation of thermoplastic composite materials suitable for high-volume vehicle production.

PRF Composite Materials has purchased a new factory, extending their premises and processing capabilities, which will be handed over in late November 2012 and is expected to be operational by January 2013.

Composiflex has successfully manufactured parabolic dish antennas that operate at Ka band and is launching production processes to produce Ka and other band antenna products.