CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/919214
TRENDS BIZ BRIEF Victrex Plc (Thornton Cleveleys, UK) reports that its new US$13 million (£10 million) Polymer Innovation Center is now fully operational and will house Victrex's R&D; efforts focused on its trademarked VICTREX polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer and other differentiated grades within its polyaryletherketone (PAEK) fam- ily of high-performance thermoplastics. Co- located at the company's UK headquarters, the Center will extend Victrex's capabilities in innovation, assist customers in the de- velopment of technological advances using VICTREX PAEK solutions, and function as an enabler for rapid prototyping of new parts with novel PAEK materials. The company sees 10-20% of its medium-term sales coming from PAEK sales and expects the Center's R&D; capability to support its work to formulate customer-specific solutions. Target markets will include the automotive, aerospace, electronics and energy indus- tries, and the Center will be the stage for design and development of materials and selected semi-finished/finished implant- able products for the medical industry. JANUARY 2018 20 CompositesWorld Engineering Services Complex Shapes 5 Axis NC Milling Large Facilities High-Precision Equipment SHIP BUILDING WIND ENERGY www.janicki.com 360.856.5143 TRANSPORTATION AEROSPACE Pre-eminent as autocomposites pioneers, SGL Group (Wiesbaden, Germany) and partner BMW AG (Munich, Germany) have industrialized production of carbon fiber- reinforced parts, controlling the supply chain from manufac- ture of fiber to production of textiles and parts. BMW has done so, thus far, through its joint venture with BENTELER Automotive (Paderborn, Germany). But BMW recently announced production of its own carbon and glass fiber- reinforced organosheets and long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) materials for overmolding and has acquired BENTELER's share of the BENTELER-SGL joint venture, bringing its part manufacturing capacity and expertise into the broader SGL supply chain. "The complete takeover of BENTELER-SGL enables us to expand our serial production capabilities for components made from fiber-reinforced composites. In future, we will be able to offer our customers one-stop-shop solutions along all steps of the value chain, from carbon fibers to materi- als and components," explains Jürgen Köhler, CEO of SGL Group. He adds that this serial production expertise will now be made available in other industries. AUTOMOTIVE SGL: One stop for solutions from thermoplastic compounds to CFRP parts The company's newly launched thermoplastic materi- als toolbox will include long fiber thermoplastics (LFTs), unidirectional (UD) tapes, polyamide-based organosheets and new developments regarding carbon fiber sized for polypropylene composites, plus thermoplastic profiles and carbon/glass hybrids for automotive and other high-volume applications. It is offering both polyamide- and polypropyl- ene-based materials, and sees a strong market trend toward combining glass fiber with carbon fiber, using the former to reduce cost and increase impact resistance while the latter Source | SGL Group