CompositesWorld
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AUGUST 2015 58 CompositesWorld Product Showcase » INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS Automated composites manufacturing with cure tracking » PUBLICATION: FIBER REINFORCEMNTS Glass fiber sizings assessed in new book GlassFibreSizing.com (Glasgow, UK) ofers Glass Fibre Sizing: A Review of Size Formulation Patents, a new book by James L. Thomason that ofers an analysis of glass fber sizings, based on a review of patents on the technology. Thomason notes that the intense level of industrial secrecy around size formulations makes it difcult for processors to assess and understand sizings. This book contains analysis of more than 500 examples of patented size formulations, many of which are "probably still used in commercial glass fber production," Thomason notes. The book features an introduction and eight chapters: "Sizes and Sizing in Glass Fibre Production," "Size Formulations in Patents," "Size Patents Of Owens Corning," "Size Patents of Vetrotex," "Size Patents of PPG Fiber Glass," "Size Patents from Other Companies," and "Glass Fibre Product Identifcation." Thomason reportedly has 25 years of experience at Shell Chemicals and Owens Corning, leading global product development programs involving extensive fundamental research and development of glass fber sizings and composites. He is currently a professor of Advanced Materials and Composites at the University of Strathclyde, In Glasgow, where he leads the University's Advanced Composites Group. The book is available for purchase for £189 (~US$297) at the Web site: www.glassfbresizing.com Combined Composite Technologies (CCT), a business unit of Hexion Inc. (Columbus, OH, US), has introduced a programmable logic-controlled (PLC), automated resin curing and molding system. The new, self- contained Optibox tool system uses closely tracked data on resin flling and curing to optimize resin-processing cycles for greater productivity and better-quality laminates in composites manufacturing. CCT notes that in a typical composite manufacturing process, once a resin infusion tool is closed, there is no way to monitor what is actually happening inside. Processing steps are arbitrarily timed, according to the resin manufacturer's suggestions despite that fact that, in actual practice, the optimal timing of these steps can vary. The Optibox tool enables composites manufacturers to track and adjust each step's timing and heating automatically and precisely, and then trigger the next step as soon as the material is ready. This technology reportedly improves efciency through faster cure cycles and helps reduce product faws in preforms, prepreg molding and resin infusion processes, including vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). The Optibox tool device is a portable, self-heating, single- or double-sided mold tool with an LCD readout. Interchangeable upper tool confgurations enable fexible, rigid, heated and multi-cavity functionality. When loaded with fber reinforcement, the Optibox tool enables cycle time optimization by tracking resin flling and curing through a variety of sensors, and logging the data for quality assurance. Variables monitored include resin fow, temperature profle over as many as 20 zones, extent of mold-flling, gelation, vacuum level, and degree of cure. Multi-zone heat controls respond to sensor feedback, promoting optimized curing to achieve desired part tolerances and fnish. The fully programmable cure cycles combined with integrated pre-set or selectable vacuum settings aford the user complete process control. CCT says the Optibox tool is designed for small to mid-size composites enterprises because it allows for efcient use of time, space, energy, expense and manpower. Technical educators reportedly have expressed interest in using the device in demonstrations, so students will understand, in detail, how composite processing works. www.hexion.com » THERMOPLASTIC RESIN SYSTEMS Foam, prepreg and semi-fnished materials Solvay (Brussels, Belgium) has launched Tegralite, a family of high- performance, semi-fnished thermoplastic-based materials designed for use in aircraft interiors applications. Tegralite grew out of Solvay's work with its alliance partners Aonix (Ottowa, ON, CA), JSP (Madison Heights, MI, US) and 3A Composites (Sins, Switzerland). The Tegralite line includes foams, composites and sandwich materials manufac- tured from Solvay's portfolio of polymers. One of the frst products in the Tegralite line is Tegracore PPSU, a foam used in the cabin of the Airbus A350 XWB and the Solar Impulse 2. Also available are ther- moplastic sandwich materials made of Tegracore and sulfone-based prepregs manufactured by Aonix. Solvay says Tegracore PPSU is a super-tough structural foam that meets all fame, smoke and toxicity (FST) requirements in the cabin and also resists aerospace liquids, such as Skydrol. Other benefts of Tegralite, says Solvay, include reduced labor costs for primary and secondary part-production operations, and the completely thermoplastic nature of the materials further opens the avenue to onboard repair (e.g., welding) in contrast to incumbent thermosets. The Tegralite product portfolio also will include prepregs. www.corematerials.3acomposites.com | www.aonixcorp.com www.solvayspecialtypolymers.com NEW PRODUCTS