A strong future for carbon, glass, synthetic and natural fibre textiles in composites

May 2014 | 23 pages | ID: A69D3DAD57EEN
Textiles Intelligence Ltd

Abstracts

Exciting developments in the composites industry are spurring major new investments in textile technologies. Over the past ten years, investments have been driven by the aerospace industry with a focus on reducing the weight of aircraft. Now, the emphasis is on reducing the weight of passenger cars and other vehicles. Parts for vehicles are being made from composites reinforced with fibres and fabrics made from various materials, including carbon, glass and polyester, as well as natural fibres. The dynamism of the industry was evident at the March 2014 edition of the JEC Europe composites show, which was held in Paris, France. This report contains insight and analysis of developments in a wide range of companies and other organisations involved in the sector, including 3A Composites, 3B, AGY, Arkema, BMW, Bcomp, Chomarat, DSM Composite Resins, Eco Technilin, ELG Carbon Fibre, Formax, Hexcel, Jaguar, Johns Manville, Ju Teng International, Lamera, Lantor, Lingrove Composites, Magna International, Owens Corning, Polyplastic, Porsche, RocTool, Roding, Siemens Wind Power, Silberform, Sigmatex, Technical Fibre Products (TFP), Technical University of Denmark, Toray, Trevira, Zodiac Aerospace and Zoltek.

Contents

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

INVESTMENTS IN THE COMPOSITES INDUSTRY IN EUROPE AND THE USA

Chomarat: new plant for making C-Ply multi-axial carbon reinforcements
Formax: new facility for making carbon multi-axial fabrics optimised for high volume automotive applications
RocTool and Ju Teng International: new composites manufacturing system
Sigmatex: new multi-axial knitting equipment for enhancing nonwoven fabric production for composites
Technical Fibre Products (TFP): new equipment for adding value to Optiveil and Optimat
nonwovens for composites and Tecnofire passive fire protection and thermal insulation materials
Toray: new plants for producing Torayca carbon fibre fabrics

CARBON FIBRES AND FABRICS FOR COMPOSITES

Automotive Composites Circle
Hexcel: Hexply Prepregs
Magna International and Zoltek: painted automotive body panels made from carbon fibre composites
Recycling carbon fibres and carbon fibre composites
ELG Carbon Fibre

GLASS FIBRES AND FABRICS FOR COMPOSITES

3B, DSM COMPOSITE RESINS, SIEMENS WIND POWER AND THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK: A NEW COMBINATION OF GLASS REINFORCEMENT AND RESIN FOR USE IN MAKING COMPOSITES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ROTOR BLADES FOR WIND TURBINES

AGY: S-2

Chomarat: Rovicore FR
Johns Manville: Evalith, ThermoFlow 636 and E-glass
Owens Corning: Ultrablade
Owens Corning: Sustaina
Owens Corning and Polyplastic: PerforMax

SYNTHETIC FIBRES AND FABRICS FOR COMPOSITES

Trevira: filament yarns and staple fibres for use in composite materials
Lantor: Coremat and Soric flexible nonwovens for heating and de-icing applications

NATURAL FIBRES AND FABRICS FOR COMPOSITES

3A COMPOSITES AND BCOMP: BALSA-FLAX SKI CORE BCORE D200

Bcomp, Blackbird Guitars and Lingrove Composites: Clara Concert-level Ukulele made from
Ekoa Prepreg containing ampliTex flax and cashew nutshell-based Bioresin
Bcomp and Gerster TechTex: skate board deck made from ampliTex light fabrics
Bcomp: powerRibs
Zodiac Aerospace: composites made from twinflax flax reinforcement and Arkema’s Rilsan

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