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MARCH 2020

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COLUMNS
4 From the Editor
6 Past, Present and Future
In part 2 of a two-part column, IACMI chief
technology officer Uday Vaidya reflects on
the organization's role in improving
composites' recycling and reusability.
8 Perspectives & Provocations
Columnist Dale Brosius addresses recent
accomplishments, forecasts and recycling
challenges affecting the wind energy
industry — and composites use within it.
10 Gardner Business Index
The Composites Index for January 2020
was 54.3, the first expansionary reading
since June 2019.
» DEPARTMENTS
12 Trends
34 Applications
35 Calendar
36 New Products
42 Marketplace
43 Ad Index
43 Showcase
48 Post Cure
» ON THE COVER
Composite access covers offer numerous
advantages including lighter weight, cor-
rosion resistance and anti-skid patterns to
provide a safe walking surface. U.K.-based
Fibrelite has recognized a gradual shift
from metal and concrete to composite
access and manhole covers over the past
decade or so. See p. 28.
Source / Fibrelite
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Media Inc. 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MARCH 2020 / Vol: 6 No
–: 03
FEATURES
24 Automation options
arise for labor-intensive
composites
Typically labor-intensive fabrication processes
have more automation options as new
technology works in concert with operators to
12 improve efficiency.
By Michael LeGault
28 Building bridges with
composites
The role of advanced materials in infrastructure
continues to grow as materials and repairs for
bridges, manhole covers and rebar gradually
shift to include composites.
By Scott Francis
24
28
FOCUS ON DESIGN
44 Corrosion-resistant
composite piping over
the long haul
Three decades of lessons learned using
corrosion-resistant glass fiber-reinforced
composites in piping at SABIC’s
Netherlands chlorine production plant.
By Amanda Jacob
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 Conference and Exhibition: May 4-7, 2020
Washington State Convention Center

sampeamerica.org

Opening Keynote Speaker

Tuesday, May 5 | 8:00 am - 9:30 am

Amanda Simpson, Airbus

Vice President for Research and Technology
Four Decades in Aerospace: Has the Evolution of the Past
Prepared us for the Revolution of the Future?

Featured Speakers
Will present innovations in:
Tuesday, May 5 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Wednesday, May 6 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Materials for Extreme Environments at DARPA DSO How New Collar Jobs Can Bring Back
Dr. William Carter, DARPA the Middle Class
Program Manager Sarah Boisvert, Fab Lab Hub
Founder

Wednesday, May 6 | 8:00 am - 9:00 am Wednesday, May 6 | 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Composites Certification — Lessons Learned and
Applications to Other Advanced Materials and
Processes
Cynthia Ashforth, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Senior Technical Specialist
Wednesday, May 6 | 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Carbon Fiber Composites
Dr. Merlin Theodore, Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL)
Director, Carbon Fiber Facility
Organic Matrix Composites in Aerospace
Engine Applications
Dr. Hillary Huttenhower, Pratt & Whitney
Associate Director, Materials & Processes
Engineering
Dr. Xiaomei Fang, Pratt & Whitney
Associate Director, Systems Engineering
Wednesday, May 6 | 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Composites Tanks and Structures for Space
Launch — Recent Developments in Europe
Dr. Matthew Jevons, MT Aerospace
Senior Systems Engineer

Awards Breakfast Speaker

Thursday, May 7 | 8:00 am - 9:15 am
Democratizing Advanced Manufacturing
Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Chief Manufacturing Officer
 FROM THE EDITOR
» Now that the first two decades of the 21st century are behind
us, there is a natural tendency to look back at the last 20 years and
take stock of things — personally, professionally, culturally, etc.
The result has been a long stream of “best of” and “worst of” lists
that attempt to put what’s happened to us in perspective.
We can do the same
with composites manu-
What do the last 20 facturing and look back on
years in composites what has been, arguably,
M&P tell us about the the most consequential 
next 20 years? years of growth the industry
has ever seen. In all this looking
backward, however, I keep asking
myself: What do the last  years in composites M&P tell us about
the next  years? The short answer is that I don’t know. But I do
have a few things that should be watched.
The first is cost. If you have been in this industry for any length
of time, you know that composites tend to be — on a unit basis
— more expensive than legacy materials. And for many years,
this was a huge hurdle. It was just plain difficult to get potential
customers to look past the up-front cost of replacing a metallic
part with a composite one. Then, a few years ago, we started
hearing about composites “buying their way onto” programs.
Thus began a more concerted effort to evaluate how composites
might prove more cost-effective over the life of a part or structure.
This is made possible because composites are more durable than
legacy materials. And, when weight-saving is involved, cascading
benefits include fuel and energy conservation. For many years,
a value-add of composites has been the maintenance advantage
they convey. As the Boeing  and the Airbus A enter their
second decade of service, and as airlines assess the performance
of these composites-intensive aircraft, I think we are going to
discover that the ease of maintenance of composite structures is,
in fact, a major benefit.
The second is automation/data. I throw these two together
because they go hand-in-hand. One of the consequences of
composites becoming a part of the standard materials pallette
for manufacturers is that expectations are raised. The indus-
try’s dependence on hand layup and spreadsheets just won’t cut
it in the next  years. Every major end market that consumes
4 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld
composite materials is going to do so at volumes heretofore unseen.
Single-aisle replacements for the  and the A will be built
at rates of - per month. Everyday car and truck models are
produced at rates of , per year. The wind industry, already
the largest consumer of composite materials, is poised to grow
substantially in the next  years. And if the oil and gas industry
wakes up tomorrow and decides that composite pipes are the
future, there might not be enough carbon fiber in the world to do
the job. The only way to keep up is with automation that meets the
volume, quality and consistency requirements of the customer.
And, very soon, you will not be able to deliver a composite part or
structure to a customer without data that documents conformance
to design, material, processing, finishing and quality specifications.
In short, if you are a composites fabricator and have not hired a
chief data officer, start looking.
The third, and final, is design engineering. Composites are
great because the variety of resin, fiber and process types avail-
able engender engineered solutions for almost any application.
Composites are a challenge because the variety of resin, fiber
and process types available engender engineered solutions for
almost any application. All of this complexity, it turns out, is diffi-
cult to model in a software environment. Over the last  years,
this has created design uncertainty — the lingering feeling that
the composite part you designed might or might not perform as
expected. This has led to the % Rule: Design your composite part
to the spec, and then add % (resin, fiber, etc.) just in case. That
uncertainty will go away in the next  years; design software is well
on its way to more than matching composites’ complexity.
Am I wrong? Time will tell, or you can tell me. Let me know what
you think the next  years has in store. Email me at
jeff@compositesworld.com.
JEFF SLOAN — Editor-In- Chief
COMPOSITES ONE, IACMI, AND
THE CLOSED MOLD ALLIANCE
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

MARCH
National Wind Technology Center
Boulder, CO
31-APR 1 Focus: Advanced Composites / Wind Energy and Repair

JUNE
Davis Technical College - Freeport West Campus (D5)
Salt Lake City, UT
Focus: Advanced Composites / Aerospace
23-24

AUGUST
Gulf State Community College
Panama City, FL
4-5 Focus: Advanced Composites / Aerospace

OCTOBER
Dayton Composites Center
Dayton, OH
Focus: Advanced Composites / Emerging Markets
27-28

For More Information visit compositesone.com or

email rachel.menges@compositesone.com.
 COMPOSITES: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Enabling a circular economy approach
to advanced composites innovation,
manufacturing and use, Part 2
»Over the past five years of its existence, the Institute for
Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI — The
Composites Institute; Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.) has established a
vast network of partners whose expertise and shared resources
have improved the United States’ energy and economy security
through the development and commercialization of lower-cost,
energy-efficient composites manufacturing technologies. IACMI
continues to use its
member-developed
IACMI is initiating projects technology roadmap
to catalyze collabora-
that support composite
tive, pre-competitive
recycling, reduction,
activities to make signifi-
repurposing and reuse. cant progress toward its
third overarching tech-
nical goal: reducing waste
and pollution of fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs)
throughout their entire product lifecycle.
Through technical projects and guiding priorities, the Insti-
tute is helping to address key challenges in circular economy
adoption through technology and process developments. In last
month’s column, we highlighted the industry-led projects that
are enabling IACMI to make significant progress toward reducing
the impact of landfill contributors in various markets through
reducing the embodied energy of FRPCs. This month’s column
focuses on another key aspect that increases lifecycle advantages
in composite applications: improving composites’ recyclability
and reusability.
Improving the recyclability of carbon fiber-reinforced
plastics (CFRP) is essential for economic benefits and builds on
converging trends that are driving interest in improved FRPC recy-
clability. These trends include:
• The European Union’s end-of-life (EOL) vehicle directive
requirement that 85% (by weight) of materials used in
passenger vehicles be reusable or recyclable.
• The high performance but high manufacturing cost of
carbon fiber creates an increased market demand for
recycled fiber products, particularly in the automotive
market.
• The newest generation of consumers is highly focused
on environmental awareness.
The recovery of materials with high embodied energy, such
as carbon fiber, presents a particularly compelling pathway to
save energy and cost while reducing impact to the environment,
since recycling avoids energy consumption associated with the
6 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld
production of new materials. IACMI estimates that recovering
carbon fiber takes less than % of the energy used to make the
original fiber.
The composites industry has sought to achieve reliable
processes for recycling both process scrap and end-of-life
composites, which are often perceived as inferior to competing
materials in terms of cradle-to-cradle sustainability because they
are difficult to recycle or reuse. Up to % of materials used to
produce FRPCs becomes scrap or landfill waste. And, as reported
by CompositesWorld, informal statistics indicate that only approxi-
mately % of composites-related companies are active recyclers.
To improve the recyclability and reusability of FRPCs into
useful products, IACMI has focused on a strategy with the
following objectives:
• Demonstrate fiber-matrix separation technologies to
recycle and recover waste from CFRP production scrap
and end-of-life components.
• Deploy new processes and material forms to produce
structural composites with predicted, controlled fiber
orientation.
• Foster connections among scientists, recyclers, end
users, regulators and policymakers to improve the
composite recycling infrastructures.
The following industry-led projects demonstrate how IACMI
and its partners are working collaboratively to achieve that
strategy:
Evaluating lifecycle, environmental impacts
The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA)
(Arlington, Va., U.S.) and project partners Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.), Continental Struc-
tural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.), CHZ Technologies
(Austintown, Ohio, U.S.) and A. Schulman (now LyondellBas-
sell, Houston, Texas, U.S.) are developing a scalable low-heat
pyrolysis method to recover all liquids, tars and oils from end-of-
life composite materials and convert them into clean synthetic
gases while recovering valuable glass and carbon fiber materials.
The project, which included a lifecycle assessment of five EOL
processes, demonstrates the energy and fiber recovery advantages
of controlled pyrolysis and its dual benefit of improving the sustain-
ability of composite materials while reducing the amount of scrap
and EOL composites sent to landfill. The capacity to efficiently
process multi-source scrap makes it economically viable to recover
even low-value materials (glass fiber) when that includes higher
value material (carbon fiber).

Converting reclaimed CF/CFRP
GreenTex Solutions (Charleston, S.C., U.S.), Wabash National
(Lafayette, Ind., U.S.), ORNL and the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville (UTK) have developed a patent-pending approach to
recycle high-performance fibers of any type of composite waste,
in any form. The method uses crushed/chopped fibers and cured
composites to make panels for use in shipping containers, marine,
infrastructure and construction applications including flooring,
wall panels, countertops and more.
Demonstrating rCF to fabricate SMC
ORNL, UTK, AOC (Collierville, Tenn., U.S.), INEOS Compos-
ites (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.), ELG Carbon Fibre (Coseley, U.K.),
Huntsman (The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.), IDI Composites (Nobles-
ville, Ind., U.S.), Michelman (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), Montefibre
(Miranda de Ebro, Spain), Vartega (Golden, Colo., U.S.) and
Volkswagen (Wolfsburg, Germany) are developing equipment
and processes for compounding and molding carbon fiber sheet
molding compound (CF-SMC) reinforced with rCF and/or textile
carbon fibers. ORNL’s method is estimated to reduce cost by 50%
and embodied energy by more than 60% compared to currently
available CF-SMC.
Recycled materials, in automotive components
Vartega, Ford Motor Co., (Detroit, Mich., U.S.) Michelman,
Colorado School of Mines (Golden), Plasan Carbon Composites
(Wixom, Mich., U.S.), BASF, the University of Dayton Research
Institute (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.), ORNL and UTK have demonstrated
a closed loop project using Vartega’s chemistry-based recycling
process to create low-cost recycled carbon fiber from uncured auto-
motive carbon fiber prepreg manufacturing scrap. This collabora-
tion structure supports the path to a circular economy construct by
connecting project partners throughout the supply chain to design,
from the onset, materials that are created for multiple uses. The
recycled material is suitable for high throughput processes such
as injection molding, extrusion and additive manufacturing. The
project’s goal is to repurpose the discontinuous form of recycled
material for automotive applications. Vartega reports that its recy-
cling process uses 95% less energy at half the cost of virgin carbon
fiber3. The National Science Foundation SBIR Program, which
provides support to small businesses to develop technologies with
strong potential for commercial success and broad societal impact,
awarded a grant to Vartega in 2019 to develop CFRP powder
materials for use in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing
processes4.
CompositesWorld.com
IACMI topical spotlight
By initiating projects that support composite recycling, reduc-
tion, repurposing and reuse, IACMI is enabling its members to
develop manufacturing standards and best practices that support
industry’s bottom line and also benefit the U.S. national security
and economic prosperity.
Join us
Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manu-
facturing Office, IACMI has created an ecosystem of innovation
that meets commercial needs, serves national security and drives
national economic growth through its network of more than 150
members, which include academic institutions as well as federal,
state and local governments. Its efforts are driven by the major
industry participation of its membership and are made possible
by the network of world-renowned talent that participates in the
community. IACMI’s industry-led projects improve the flexibility
of composites manufacturing processes, which in turn increases
material diversity and allows optimization with improved energy
efficiency, recyclability, material resource efficiency and lifecycle
characteristics, including EOL disassembly and reuse.
Organizations of any size can join IACMI and, once a part of
the consortium, can benefit from participating in projects such
as those described above, networking with other members and
engaging in workforce development opportunities to meet organi-
zational needs. Learn more at iacmi.org.
REFERENCES
1
Hilding, Tina. “Researchers use recycled carbon fiber to improve permeable pavement.” WSU
Insider, Washington State University, March 2018.
2
Black, Sara. “Composites recycling: Gaining traction.” CompositesWorld, April 2017.
3
IACMI and Innovate UK. “Closing the Loop on Automotive Carbon Fiber Prepreg Manufacturing
Scrap.” June 2019.
4
“Vartega Awarded Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation.” Vartega.com,
April 2019.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Uday Vaidya serves as director of the University of Tennessee’s
Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF),
IACMI’s chief technology officer, and is the University of
Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory governor’s chair in
advanced composites manufacturing. Vaidya is an expert in
manufacturing and product development of fiber-reinforced
polymer composites. Vaidya serves as the editor-in-chief for Elsevier’s
Composites B: Engineering journal. He engages a broad range of undergraduate
and graduate students in experiential learning with composites technologies.
7
 PERSPECTIVES & PROVOCATIONS
Wind energy: Gale force growth ahead
» Last month, I reviewed some of the big introductions that
led to growth in composites during the last decade, with some
thoughts about prospects for growth over the next 10 years. In
summary, the future of aerospace appears strong, with current
industry R&D focused on high-rate production methods for
single-aisle passenger aircraft, high-volume unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAV) and the emerging urban air mobility (UAM)
market. By contrast, the future for automotive composites is
much less clear, clouded by the rise of electrification and shared
mobility, plus the continuing need to crack the somewhat
nebulous thresholds for component or system costs and produc-
tion volumes to earn positions on mass-market vehicles.
I also mentioned the
dynamic growth of the
Wind energy is wind energy industry, which
deserves its own column, given
already the largest
its rising importance — and
consumer by mass
share — of the overall composites
of carbon fiber. market. Statistics from the Global
Wind Energy Council (GWEC) show
worldwide wind electricity genera-
tion capacity has tripled, from roughly  gigawatts in , to
more than  gigawatts by the end of . The main reason?
Increased cost competitiveness with other power generation tech-
nologies like coal, natural gas and even solar, the last of which is
also plummeting in cost.
Dr. Julia Attwood, head of advanced materials at Bloomberg
NEF, which studies energy markets, made a presentation covering
wind energy at IACMI’s winter member meeting in January .
Attwood’s research shows onshore wind today is the lowest cost
source of electrical power in the U.S., using the Levelized Cost of
Energy (LCOE) metric. LCOE includes initial capital costs, ongoing
fuel costs (which is zero for wind), and operation and mainte-
nance costs over the expected lifetime of the equipment. Wind
turbines are typically engineered for a lifetime of  to  years.
Bloomberg’s data show wind power at half the cost of coal-based
electricity and between  and % less than natural gas and
photovoltaic solar.
Much of the improvement in economics is due to the growing
average turbine rotor diameter, which has increased from 
meters in  to almost  meters in , per Bloomberg.
Correspondingly, blade lengths have grown from just more than
 meters to between  and  meters for onshore blades, and
now to  meters for General Electric’s new Haliade-X MW
offshore turbine.
In wind economics, power produced is proportional to the
square of the rotor diameter, and, since blades are D struc-
tures, the rule of thumb is that blade weight is proportional to the
cube of the length. However, blades are continually becoming
8 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld
lighter on a weight-per-meter basis, thanks to improved materials,
processing technologies, standards and certification protocols
that have improved safety factors. Carbon fiber spar caps are also
becoming more common in longer blades; Attwood notes that
wind energy is already the largest consumer (by mass) of global
carbon fiber at more than , metric tonnes. With wind energy
forecast to triple again by  and grow fivefold by , this
consumption is expected to lead carbon fiber capacity expansions.
Based on the above, it would seem there are few hurdles that
could impede the growth of wind power. However, there are
issues to be addressed to assure seamless expansion. The current
lengths of onshore blades are limited to what can be transported
from central factories across highways, beneath overpasses and
around corners, nominally in the - to -meter range (or roughly
-meter rotor diameter). If a way can be found to set up tempo-
rary factories in wind farm locations, or find ways to split blades
for transport, this limitation could be overcome. Offshore blades
are typically built at ocean port locations, thus are not similarly
constrained.
A second “headwind” is the conundrum of what to do with
blades that have reached the end of their useful life and become
scrap. This problem is not unique to wind — the Boeing 
and Airbus A aircraft will face this problem eventually, as
will composite-intensive automobiles. Some forecasts are that
more than  million tons of blades will need to be disposed of
or recycled by . While thermoplastic matrix technology can
partially address this, the mix of materials in a blade structure
poses a recycling challenge. The industry is actively exploring
multiple technologies to address this looming problem, including
molding crushed blades into construction panels, and using
controlled pyrolysis to convert the polymers in blades into
natural gas, recovering the fibers for use as mats or fillers in other
composites.
Assuming the industry overcomes these obstacles, as they have
previous ones, there is every reason to believe fair “winds” will
prevail for a long time to come.
Dale Brosius is the chief commercialization officer for the
Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation
(IACMI), a DOE-sponsored public-private partnership targeting
high-volume applications of composites in energy-related
industries including vehicles and wind. He is also head of his
own consulting company, which serves clients in the global composites industry.
His career has included positions at US-based firms Dow Chemical Co. (Midland,
MI), Fiberite (Tempe, AZ) and successor Cytec Industries Inc. (Woodland Park,
NJ), and Bankstown Airport, NSW, Australia-based Quickstep Holdings. He served
as chair of the Society of Plastics Engineers Composites and Thermoset Divisions.
Brosius has a BS in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA.
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 GARDNER BUSINESS INDEX: COMPOSITES FABRICATING

Composites Index expands for first

time since June
January 2020 — 54.3
» The Composites Index reported expanding business conditions for the first time since June
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
2019, registering 54.3 in January. Index readings above 50 indicate expanding activity while values
below 50 indicate contracting activity. The further away a reading is from 50, the greater the change Michael Guckes is the
Chief Economist/Director
in activity. Gardner Intelligence’s review of the latest data found that the Index was supported by of Analytics for Gardner
expanding activity in production, new orders and backlogs. The Index was restrained by supplier Intelligence, a division of
deliveries, employment and exports. All components excluding exports reported expanding activity Gardner Business Media
(Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.). He has performed
during the month. economic analysis, modeling and forecasting
Production and new orders data reported expanding activity at rates not seen since the first half work for nearly 20 years in a wide range of
of . The -point change in total new orders activity came despite a quickening contraction in industries. Guckes received his BA in political
science and economics from Kenyon College
export activity. The combination of these measures implies that domestic demand expanded even and his MBA from Ohio State University.
faster than illustrated by total new orders. January’s surge in business activity resulted in backlog mguckes@gardnerweb.com
activity expanding at levels not experienced since the fourth quarter of  and a resumption of
expanding supplier deliveries after a three-month withdraw.
Fabricators serving the electronics and custom processing end markets reported strong activity,
while automotive fabricators reported a rebound in activity for the first time since October. By
company size, larger fabricators reported the best business conditions among all size categories,
while firms of less than  employees reported their ninth month of contracting conditions.

GBI: Composites Fabricating A strong start to 2020

Fabricators reported a strong shift in
activity levels during January after posting
lackluster results in the second half of 2019.
Business activity was reported as broadly
expanding across all measures except for
exports.

GBI: Composites Fabricating — New Orders and Exports Production and backlogs
(3-month moving average) diverged during second
half of 2019
Total new orders activity surged in January
despite a quickening contraction in export
activity. This suggests that domestic
demand for fabricated composites
expanded at levels not witnessed in nearly
a year.
New Orders
Exports

PRESENTED BY

Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence.

Visit the blog at gardnerintelligence.com or e-mail mguckes@gardnerweb.com

10 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 JOIN US IN CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF ADVANCING
THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY WITH COMPOSITES!

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Solutions. Educational papers or presentations on related topics will also be considered. Paper abstracts are due April 17th, 2020 and final papers or
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the conference’s Best Paper Awards, which are presented during the event’s opening ceremony. A template for papers can be downloaded from the
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 TRENDS
This month’s composites industry trends include insights into next-gen growth
for the carbon fiber market, a recap of IACMI’s winter members meeting and
developments in porous carbon fiber for gas separation applications.

CARBON FIBER

Carbon fiber suppliers gear up for next-gen growth

CompositesWorld’s annual Carbon Fiber
conference was held in Knoxville, Tenn., U.S., CARBON FIBER SUPPLY, NAMEPLATE, METRIC TONNES
in late 2019 and included a pre-conference
seminar focused on carbon fiber supply Manufacturer Headquarters 2019
and demand, presented by Tony Roberts, a
longtime composites industry veteran and Toray Tokyo, Japan 57,000
proprietor of AJR Consultancy.
Roberts spoke to a packed conference Hexcel Stamford, Conn., U.S. 16,000
room of attendees eager for a snapshot
of the state of carbon fiber manufactur- Mitsubishi Chemical Carbon Fiber & Sacramento, Calif., U.S. 16,000
ing. This eagerness stems from the fact Composites
that carbon fiber manufacturers tend to
hold carbon fiber capacity information very Teijin Tokyo, Japan 14,000
closely, thus it’s difficult to develop hard-
and-fast figures. Roberts acknowledged SGL Carbon Wiesbaden, Germany 13,000
as much in his presentation, and provided
capacity estimates from other analysts to Formosa Plastics Taipei City, Taiwan 9,000
give his report context. That said, what
follows is a summary of Roberts’ own data. Solvay Composite Materials Alpharetta, Ga., U.S. 4,400
The accompanying tables summarize the
supply and demand picture. On the supply DowAksa Marietta, Ga., U.S. 3,000
side, there was 161,200 metric tonnes of
global carbon fiber nameplate capacity Hyosung Seoul, South Korea 2,000
in 2019. Toray (Tokyo, Japan) dominates
the carbon fiber supply chain with 57,000
Various China 21,800
metric tonnes of annual capacity, which
nearly equals the capacity of the next four
Various Rest of World 5,000
largest suppliers combined.
In 2020, Roberts said to expect capacity
TOTAL 161,200
expansion for Hyosung (Seoul, South
Korea), which is adding 2,000 metric
tonnes in Korea; Teijin (Tokyo, Japan),
which is adding 2,200 metric tonnes in CARBON FIBER DEMAND, METRIC TONNES
the U.S.; and Toray, which is adding 2,000-
3,000 metric tonnes in the U.S. and Mexico. End market 2017 2020 (est.) 2025 (est.)
By the end of 2020, Roberts says, expect
global nameplate carbon fiber capacity to Aerospace 18,000 24,500 30,000
be 172,000 metric tonnes.
Carbon fiber manufacturing in China is Industrial 68,000 85,000 142,350
slowly maturing, with the largest suppli-
ers there each with capacity of less than Sports/Leisure 12,000 13,800 19,000
10,000 metric tonnes. The five larg-
est are Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber TOTAL 98,000 123,300 191,350
(Lianyungang City, China), Hengshen

12 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Carbon fiber industry insights

(Danyang City, China), Jinggong Science &

Technology (Shaoxing City, China), Weihai AEROSPACE
Guangwei Composite Materials (Weihai
City, China) and Kangdexin Composite Airbus reveals blended wing
Material Group (Changping, China). Almost
all, said Roberts, have expansion plans,
aircraft demonstrator
but the most aggressive appears to be
Kangdexin, which is said to be working Airbus recently revealed a scale model demonstrator of its blended
toward an ultimate goal of almost 70,000 wing body aircraft design. Called MAVERIC (Model Aircraft for
metric tonnes capacity. Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls), the
The global demand for carbon fiber is 2-meters-long by 3.2-meters-wide demonstrator features what Airbus
complicated, mainly because it is offered says is a disruptive aircraft design with the potential to reduce fuel
in such variety — size (tow counts) and consumption by up to 20% compared to current single-aisle aircraft.
mechanical capability (strength, stiffness) The blended wing body configuration also opens up new possibilities for
— that making sense of the data requires
a closer look at the end markets that use
carbon fiber. That said, Roberts reported,
2019 saw total global carbon fiber demand
of 123,300 metric tonnes, with the bulk of
that, 85,000 metric tonnes, coming from
the industrial segment, which includes
wind energy, automotive, pressure vessels
and infrastructure. Aerospace, which
consumes the highest quality carbon fiber,
accounted for 24,500 metric tonnes; the
sports and leisure segment accounted for
13,800 metric tonnes.
Looking ahead, Roberts is particu-
larly bullish about increased carbon fiber
demand from wind energy (27,300 metric
tonnes in 2025), transportation (22,750
metric tonnes in 2025), infrastructure
(20,800 metric tonnes in 2025) and Source | Airbus
pressure vessels (19,500 metric tonnes in
2025). Roberts expects the aerospace end
market to demand 30,000 metric tonnes propulsion systems type and integration, and the cabin is designed for a
of carbon fiber by 2025, with 15,500 versatile new passenger experience.
metric tonnes of that going to commer- Launched in 2017, MAVERIC’s first flight was in June 2019. Since then,
cial aircraft. The balance goes to interiors, Airbus reports that the flight-test campaign has been ongoing and will
defense, business jets, general aviation, continue until the end of the second quarter of 2020.
engines, rotorcraft, unmanned aircraft and “Airbus is leveraging emerging technologies to pioneer the future
munitions. of flight. By testing disruptive aircraft configurations, Airbus is able
The upshot is that by 2025, it is esti- to evaluate their potential as viable future products,” says Jean-Brice
mated that the total carbon fiber demand Dumont, EVP Engineering Airbus. “Although there is no specific time
will be 191,350 metric tonnes. Roberts line for entry-into-service, this technological demonstrator could be
expects global nameplate carbon fiber instrumental in bringing about change in commercial aircraft architec-
demand, by 2025, will be about 201,000 tures for an environmentally sustainable future for the aviation industry.”
metric tonnes. Accounting for knock- Airbus says it is collaborating closely with an extended innovation
down — the difference between nameplate ecosystem to accelerate traditional research and development cycles,
and actual carbon fiber production — it is a system, the company says, enables it to quickly achieve proofs of
conceivable that the industry may see a concepts, driving forward maturity and increasing value.
carbon fiber shortfall in the next five years. Through AirbusUpNext, a research program, Airbus is currently work-
In any case, the carbon fiber supply ing several additional demonstrator projects in parallel with MAVERIC:
chain is showing serious signs of matura- E-FAN X, a hybrid-electric propulsion aircraft; fello’fly, a v-shaped
tion. The material, Roberts noted, is now “formation” flight aircraft; and ATTOL (Autonomous Taxi Take-Off &
available in almost every industrialized Landing).
nation in the world.

CompositesWorld.com 13
 TRENDS

IACMI Winter 2020 meeting emphasizes collaboration

The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing

Innovation (IACMI, Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.), held its winter
membership meeting in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. January 21-23
and provided an update on activities of the public-private
U.S. Department of Energy consortium, which works
to accelerate material and processing technologies for
composites manufacturing.
The meeting celebrated IACMI’s past successes and
looked ahead to the institute’s future, encouraging collabo-
ration between federal and state governments, research
institutes and private partners. A particular focus was on
Ohio, which is home to more than 20 IACMI members.
IACMI’s event kicked off with a tour of the University of
Dayton Research Institute’s (UDRI) Dayton Composites
Center (Kettering, Ohio, U.S.), which is located in the build-
ing that previously served as the National Composites
Center. UDRI, along with its industry partners, demon-
strated several of the center’s capabilities including tailored UDRI Dayton Composites Center’s capabilities include tailored fiber placement
fiber placement (TFP) using Tajima (Tokyo, Japan) and (TFP) equipment from Tajima (Tokyo, Japan) and ZSK Stickmaschinen GmbH (ZSK,
ZSK Stickmaschinen GmbH (ZSK, Krefeld, Germany) TFP Krefeld, Germany). CW photo | Scott Francis
equipment and a next-gen Rapidclave from Globe Machine
Manufacturing Co. (Tacoma, Wash., U.S.). Daniel Allman
director, composites business development for Globe
Machine, demonstrated operation of the Rapidclave with
snap cure prepregs on an automotive hood mold and
teased the forthcoming installment of a second aerospace-
centric machine.
The winter meeting’s opening keynote was delivered by
Julia Attwood, head of advanced materials at Bloomberg
NEF, who discussed the growing role of carbon fiber in
energy and transportation. Attwood anticipates carbon
fiber prices will halve by 2030 and production will double
by 2025, driven by an increase in demand driven by the
growing wind energy and electric vehicle (EV) markets.
Michael Guckes, chief economist for Gardner Business
Intelligence, delivered the second day keynote, offering
economic insights into the state of the composite indus-
try today. Guckes discussed the relative health of the
aerospace industry in spite of the difficulties surrounding
Boeing’s 737 MAX crisis and encouraged suppliers and
fabricators to think wholistically about their capabilities, UDRI Dayton Composites Center’s next-gen Rapidclave from Globe Machine
watching the markets for new opportunities in growth Manufacturing Co. CW photo | Scott Francis
sectors such as consumer electronics.
Additional sessions and workshops focused on circular
economy opportunities for composites and rapid, low-cost
manufacturing for aerospace structures. Andrea Helbach, Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon A. Husted offered a closing keynote,
structures manufacturing team lead at United States Air addressing the importance of technology to the state of
Force, spoke about an emphasis on low cost attritable Ohio, emphasizing a need for collaboration and workforce
aircraft technology (LCAAT). The initiative will focus on development — a theme that ran through much of the
utilizing low cost UAVs fabricated using different tooling event.
approaches; the goal is to break the cost-growth curve and Workforce development is a large focus for IACMI. The
field new systems faster. Soydan Ozcan of the Oak Ridge institute was recently awarded a $5 million grant over the
National Laboratory (ORNL), Chuck Ludwig of CHZ tech- course of the next three years to expand a composites
nologies, Mohamed Buguettaya of BASF and Jordan Harris training program begun by Davis Technical College (DTC;
of Vartega provided an overview of recycling efforts and Kaysville, Utah, U.S.) to four additional locations across
opportunities in the composites industry. the U.S.

14 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Thermoplastic composites
NEWS

AUTOMOTIVE

Thermoplastic composites incorporated

into vehicle seatback concept
Automakers continue turning to composites solutions toCW-MAR 2020-CGTech-PRINT.pdf 1 2/11/2020 7:58:14 AM

lightweight electric vehicles. In a partnership announced in

January, Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany) and the Research and
Development Center of Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd.
(GAC R&D Center; Guangzhou, China) are developing a light-
Source | Covestro
weight composite seatback for the car manufacturer’s latest
electric concept car, the ENO.146.
The ENO.146 is designed to be a
highly aerodynamically efficient vehicle,
with a drag coefficient of only 0.146 and
a New European Driving Cycle (NEDC)
range of 1,000 kilometers. Efforts to
reduce vehicle weight and increase
sustainability have resulted in the
selection of Covestro’s Maezio carbon
fiber-reinforced thermoplastic compos-
ite (CFRTP) material for the backrests of
the concept car’s front seats. Compared
to typical metal constructions, the
CFRTP seat backrest results in esti-
mated weight savings of up to 50%.
“Fiber-reinforced composites are the
ideal material for lightweight auto-
motive construction, but Maezio can
further simplify molding and streamline
the manufacturing process,” says Lisa
Ketelsen, head of Covestro’sC
thermo-
plastic composites business.M

According to Covestro, fittings and

Y
other attachments add to the complex-
ity of production and assembly
CM
for seats
with metal backrests. Because
MY Maezio
is a thermoplastic material, parts and
CY
functions can be consolidated by injec-
tion molding processing.CMYFunctional
structures are incorporated K
into the
mold for shaping the backrest, reducing
the number of parts and materials.
The backrest also needed to meet
the aesthetic and sustainability goals of
the vehicle interior, which was designed
with green colors and incorporated
sustainable or recyclable materials. The
Maezio material is able to be cut and
shaped into the desired marble-like
pattern, fitting aesthetic requirements,
and can be reused at the end of its
service life, suiting sustainability goals.
“There is a growing need for mate-
rial solutions that are lightweight and
sustainable while opening up ways
to create new user experiences,” says
Zhang Fan, vice president of the GAC
R&D Center.

CompositesWorld.com 15
 TRENDS
CARBON FIBER
Porous carbon fiber: Permeable, adsorptive and conductive
In mid-November 2019, Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan)
announced it had developed the world’s first porous carbon
fiber with a continuous, nano- and/or micro-scale pore
structure, which it hopes to commercialize within the next
five years. Specifically, one potential application for the
product is use in gas separation technology, employed by
a variety of industries to separate carbon dioxide (CO2),
biogas, hydrogen and other gases.
Toray reports that conventional approaches for gas separa-
tion occur at large facilities that, themselves, use a lot of
energy and produce significant CO2 emissions. A new, more
environmentally sustainable approach to gas separation
employs nanoporous membranes for gas filtration that use
significantly less energy. However, despite showing promise,
Toray says that to date this method has lacked the efficiency
and durability needed for large-scale, long-term use.
According to the company, Toray’s new porous carbon
fiber product could help solve this problem — with potential
for use in hydrogen production for fuel cells — by enhanc-
ing the performance of current gas-separation membranes,
making membranes thinner, lighter, more compact and
better able to withstand heat, pressure and chemicals.
Nano- and microporous filtration media are not new. A
handful of polymers — most of them thermoplastic — are
used to produce both nanoporous flat membranes as well
as nanoporous fibers. Typical applications range from high-
performance water filters to medical filters to industrial gas
separation. The most common polymers used for high-
performance filtration applications include polyethersulfone
(PES), polysulfone (PSU), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF),
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and cellulose acetate (CA).
Depending on the needs of the application, filtration media
can be produced in several distinct porosity levels with pore
sizes on the order of 0.1 micrometer for microfiltration, 0.01
micrometer for ultrafiltration, 0.001 micrometer for nano-
filtration and 0.0001 micrometer for reverse osmosis. For
high-performance filtration media, critical technical require-
ments include: good and broad chemical resistance; good
mechanical strength; permeability; and low fouling.
That carbon fiber can be used as a nanoporous filtration
medium is attractive in a number of ways. First, activated
carbon — a form of carbon with a small volume of tiny holes
used to increase available surface area for adsorption and/
or chemical reactions — has long been used as one compo-
nent in a range of lower-performing filtration systems. With
atomic carbon’s ample supply of empty orbitals, and acti-
vated carbon’s increased surface area, the material can be
an effective medium to trap and bind (adsorb) a variety of
active substances. Unfortunately, since activated carbon is
essentially solid, its permeation function is mostly confined
to the surface of the substrate, and its filtration function is
primarily physical (not chemical), which limits the types and
sizes of substances that can effectively be separated.
In the case of Toray’s porous carbon fiber — or powders
produced from grinding such fiber — the pores are
16 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld
Toray’s new porous carbon fiber (top left,
showing hollow central shaft) features a
controllable, nano- or micro-scale pore
structure throughout the entire fiber (top
right). That porous structure helps make the
material an effective filtration medium that
may be useful as the support structure of
gas-separation membranes. Because carbon
also has well-known adsorption properties
(for chemical as well as physical filtration),
and is an effective thermal and electrical
conductor, the porous carbon fiber may
also find use in advanced battery systems and catalyst carriers used in chemical
processing. Source | Toray Industries Inc.
continuous throughout the structure, meaning that prod-
ucts made from the material should be able to filter both
physically and chemically. By leveraging atomic carbon’s
adsorption properties, the nanoporous carbon fiber may
prove to be useful for electrode materials and catalyst carri-
ers in high-performance batteries. What’s more, carbon in
all of its solid forms is both a good thermal conductor as
well as a good electrical conductor — features that could
prove useful in certain applications.
Toray reports that both pore size (micro- through nano-
levels) and cross-sectional pore shape are controllable in its
product regardless of whether they create a “solid” porous
fiber or a hollow porous fiber (with a central shaft along the
length of the fiber). So far, Toray has been able to create
“large” as well as “small” pores (although no specifics on
actual pore sizes was provided). Since carbon fiber already
has been carbonized and graphitized, it is chemically stable
and very stiff and strong — properties that also can be
harnessed in the production of stronger, more compact
gas-separation membranes.
Reportedly, the company drew on three internal areas
of expertise to develop the new product: polymers,
carbon fiber, and separation membrane/water filtration
technologies.
The company also reports that it is continuing research
into this new material to foster carbon recycling, tap hydro-
gen energy production and shrink industry’s environmen-
tal footprint. It is one arm of Toray’s Group Sustainability
Vision to help materialize low-carbon economies by 2050
through contributions to environmental, resource manage-
ment and energy issues.
 Flax fiber-reinforced marine structures
NEWS

MARINE

Sicomin bio-based resins used in

flax fiber-reinforced boat
Epoxy specialist Sicomin (Marseille, France) has part-
nered with marine natural fiber composites manufac-
turer GREENBOATS (Bremen, Germany) on the supply
of GreenPoxy bio-based resins for GREENBOATS’ FLAX
27 daysailer boat — the most complete natural fiber
composite project the company has realized to date. In
addition, Sicomin says its hand lamination and infusion
production processes have been optimized for natural fiber
composites.
GREENBOATS, which has been producing natural
fiber composites for marine and industrial applications at
Source | Sicomin
its Bremen facility for more than a decade, says its mission
is to use 100% renewable and sustainable raw materials in its
sandwich composite structures. 
The FLAX 27 is an 8.2-meter classically with a choice of hardeners to adjust the curing time as
styled daysailer designed by naval architects Judel/ required, InfuGreen 810 also carries DNV-GL approval.
Vrolijk & Co. The hull, deck and internal structures of The companies plan to continue working together in 2020.
the vessel were infused with Sicomin’s low-viscos- “Our goal is to really get people excited about natu-
ity GreenPoxy InfuGreen 810 resin and flax fiber ral fiber composites. Sicomin’s GreenPoxy products
reinforcement fabrics. Vacuum infusion combined help us create sustainable composites with no compro-
with Sicomin’s resin produced clear natural fiber laminates mise in performance or appearance,” says Friedrich
said to have outstanding mechanical properties. Available Johann Deimann, GREENBOATS founder.

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CompositesWorld.com 17
 TRENDS

MASS TRANSIT

AIMPLAS develops flame-resistant resins for railway lightweighting project

The recently completed European

MAT4RAIL project aimed to develop new
materials and components for the “railway
of the future,” and included efforts to
reduce vehicle weight by replacing metal
structural components with lightweight
composites, as well as increasing vehicle
capacity and passenger comfort through
the use of smart modular design.
As part of this project, AIMPLAS
(Valencia, Spain) reports that it has
developed hybrid resin formulations with
improved resistance to flame propagation
to be applied to fiber-reinforced poly-
mers, for use in structural components
for railway vehicles. The company reports
that results are promising and the new
Source | AIMPLAS
formulations are expected to be of use
in other sectors such as construction,
automotive and aerospace.
In addition, according to AIMPLAS,
collaborative work was done to improve
specific regulations on calculating fatigue
requirements for trams, and involved
efforts to standardize the design and
calculation of trams by means of sensor
monitoring, as well as evaluating and
improving joins between metal and
composite materials.
The project also involved modifying
the design of cabins and seats by incor-
porating new technologies and communi-
cation systems. The goal was to increase
safety, detect the presence of extraneous
objects on the tracks and improve vehicle
intercommunication. Modular carriages
were also developed to enable a range
of configurations. A new seating design Source | AIMPLAS
was developed to accommodate more
passengers with greater comfort while
offering more seating arrangement options.
Implementation of this project is expected to improve L’Industrie Textile Belge (Belgium), Coexpair SA (Belgium),
railway infrastructure in terms of costs, operations, reliabil- Huntsman Advanced Materials GmbH (Switzerland),
ity, punctuality, increased capacity and energy efficiency, Escatec Switzerland AG (Switzerland), Accelopment AG
and reduced life cycle costs. (Switzerland), Rise Research Institutes of Sweden AB
The MAT4RAIL project began in 2017 and was coordi- (Sweden), ASAS Aluminyum Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim
nated by CIDETEC (San Sebastián, Spain). Collaborators Sirketi (Turkey), Spirit Design Innovation and Brand GmbH
in the project included AIMPLAS and 15 other research (Austria) and INDAT Modellbau Werkzeugbau Formenbau
centers, SMEs, companies and universities from seven GmbH (Austria).
European countries: Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón The MAT4RAIL project was funded by the Shift2Rail Joint
(Spain), the University of Bremen (Germany), IMA Material Undertaking (S2R JU), a public-private partnership in the
Research and Application Technology GmbH (Germany), rail sector established under the European Union Research
NVGTR GBR (Germany), Grammar Railway Interior and Innovation program Horizon 2020, grant agreement
GmbH (Germany), Centre Scientifique and Technique de number 777595.

18 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Hybrid carbon/wood fiber composites
NEWS

AUTOMOTIVE

Hexcel, NaCa Systems develop hybrid

carbon/wood fiber composite car seat back
Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn., U.S.) is collaborating
with NaCa Systems, a Tier 1 supplier of natural fiber composite auto-
motive interior parts, to develop a lightweight carbon fiber prepreg
and wood fiber composite sportscar seat back using a rapid press
molding process.
Source | Hexcel Corp.
The goal? To validate a short cycle
time process for hybrid carbon fiber-
reinforced polymer (CFRP) and wood
fiber composite parts. • Over 40 types of
As part of the project, Hexcel
supplies NaCa Systems with an opti- W yoming fixtures in stock,
ready to be shipped.

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material component. The carbon fiber
prepreg is cured at around 145°C for
4-5 minutes and can be fully inte-
grated into NaCa Systems existing Combined Loading
production lines and metallic tooling. Three & Four Point Compression Test Fixture
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The benefits of the hybrid compos- Flexure Test Fixture ASTM D 6641
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ite component are said to include ASTM D 790, Test Fixture
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a typical injection molded plastic
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32 Years
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fiber part. Unlike plastic molded parts,
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the prepreg and wood fiber structure
doesn’t produce sharp edged pieces
when damaged, increasing passen- Boeing Open-Hole
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the wood fiber composites increase ASTM D 7137 ASTM D 6484
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damping within the vehicle. We provide quotes for a variety of grips, fixtures, and jigs. We carry
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more sustainable composite solutions,”
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www.wyomingtestfixtures.com
on working with Hexcel.

CompositesWorld.com 19
 TRENDS

Q&A with Gary Sharpless, Concordia Fibers, Boston Materials Inc.

CW editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan talks to Gary Sharpless, a composites industry veteran who
is currently serving on the board of directors for Concordia Fibers (Coventry, R.I., U.S.) and
Boston Materials Inc. (Bedford, Mass., U.S.). Sharpless’s career has spanned more than 35
years and has included serving as the president of Fiber Innovations Inc. (Walpole, Mass.,
U.S.) and as a consultant for such companies as Lancer Systems (Allentown, Pa., U.S.),
Maverick Corp. (Blue Ash, Ohio, U.S.) Renegade Materials (Springboro, Ohio, U.S.) and
Nammo Composite Solutions (Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.). To listen to the full interview, go to
compositesworld.com/podcast or download CW Talks on Google Play or iTunes.

CW: Let’s talk about your decision to sell Fiber
Innovations and how you moved into consulting.
GS: I started [Fiber Innovations] in 1984, with the intention
of building a company and selling it. So, at the age of 53, I
retired. But the thing that I realized was that I really missed
the relationships that I developed. So after about a year …
I was approached by some old colleagues and they asked
me if I would do some consulting and be on the board of
directors of a couple of companies.
CW: And some of those companies you’ve worked with, I
think are pretty well known, like Maverick and Renegade,
Nammo and Concordia Fibers, and then most recently,
Boston Materials, which is a new startup. Were you drawn
particularly to these companies or did they come to you?
How do you decide who to be involved with now?
GS: Well, most of them I had previous relationships with
and in general these are small growing entrepreneurial
companies that I feel at home with based on my experience
running a similar type of company. Not that these compa-
nies were the same as Fiber Innovations, but kind of have
similar cultures. As the president of a small company, you
get involved in the technical aspects, the business aspects
and the sales aspects. So, with most of these companies I
get involved in the technical and the sales aspects of the
business because, in most cases, problems can be solved
with good innovative technical solutions or by generat-
ing revenue, [and that’s] sort of what I do. In the case of
Maverick and Renegade, I mainly worked with the founding
partners kind of reassuring them that it was okay to sell
the company after growing it — taking care of employees
and finally letting the reins go. When you start a company
and you grow it for 25 years, there is a real emotional part
to that. You have to be prepared for that. I worked with
the folks at Renegade to kind of help them through some
of that. Both Maverick and Renegade have worked hard,
taking risks and reinvesting back into the business. They
should be proud of what they’ve built, and should feel good
about handing it over to another company to grow it even
bigger. But as we all know, once you sell the car, you can’t
drive it anymore. So you have to be prepared to do that.
With a company like Nammo Composite Solutions, that’s
probably the most similar company [I’ve worked with] to
Fiber Innovations because they’re a contract manufacturer,
but they have a lot more capabilities than we had at Fiber
Innovations because they offer more or less end to end
composite manufacturing capabilities: composite molding
and machining all the way through painting and finish-
ing and testing. The thing that I admire most about them
and other small companies is being agile and competitive
to meet the demands of contract manufacturers because
you’re always looking at the best value. And that means the
best technical approach, the best product at the most fair
and reasonable price.
One of the things that that I’ve helped them with is
[while] they’ve traditionally been more of an autoclave and
filament winding company, now they’re into more out-of-
autoclave. They have capabilities in terms of triaxial braid-
ing, resin transfer molding and VARTM. So it’s a company
that I’ve helped to be a little bit more diverse in terms
of the more traditional composite processing.
I’m also on the board of directors at Concordia Fibers, a
100-year-old industrial textile company that has constantly
reinvented themselves. They’re a Rhode Island company,
but they also have plants in France and Mexico. They have
two main businesses. They were originally a company
that made twisting of polyester fibers, nylon fiber, more
traditional and industrial textiles. And they’ve transitioned
into composites. In the thermoset area, they’re the exclu-
sive supplier of twisted carbon fiber for the Leap Engine
program, one of the fastest selling engine programs in
aviation history. And in thermoplastics, they’ve developed
a comingling process where they can combine carbon fiber
and a thermoplastic fiber to make a broad range of thermo-
plastic fibers to produce what they call a flexible composite
prepreg. And that’s what I’ve been kind of involved in with
them since 2012. They’re always looking for strategic part-
ners and opportunities to expand their composites business.
They have a long history of innovation. They actually went
into the medical device business at one point in time. They
built a medical device company around textile fibers and
processing and then sold that to another company. So it’s
interesting to see a hundred-year-old company constantly
reinvent themselves and go into the direction of compos-
ites as a higher value added opportunity, as compared to a
startup company like Boston Materials.
CW: So, let’s talk a bit about Boston Materials
and what they do.
GS: I’m also on the board of directors with Boston Materials.
I’ve been with them for about a year and a half. They came
out with a new product called Supercomp [that] is basi-
cally a through-the-thickness “z” fiber reinforcement that
is used to with traditional woven or unidirectional carbon

20 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld


reinforcement and enhances the interlaminar, dampening
and heat dissipation of composite properties in either a dry
fabric or prepreg.
CW: And they use milled carbon fiber that they orient for
the z-direction, right?
GS: Yeah. So without getting into the proprietary nature [of
what they do], they’re taking milled carbon fiber, which is
actually recycled carbon fiber, taking a traditional woven
fabric, for example a 3K, 12 by 12, 200 grams per square
meter fabric, they are able to align the milled fibers through
the thickness.
If you hold up the fabric up to the light, you’ll see these
little windows there. So these milled fibers basically go
through the thickness and then you could take that dry
fabric and run it through prepreg line and prepreg it. Now
when you stack those layers together to make a compos-
ite laminate, you have fibers that are actually penetrating
through the thickness from one layer to the next. So in a
sense, it gives you kind of like a mechanical lock between
the layers. It doesn’t have anything to do with toughened
resin systems or nanotechnology, it’s really more on a
macro level than a micro level.
One of the things that’s kind of important here is that
you’re taking a recycled carbon fiber — milled carbon
fiber, which is lower cost and you’re displacing some of
that volume of more expensive material, so that there’s a
20
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CompositesWorld.com
Q&A with Gary Sharpless
NEWS
potential for cost reduction here compared to more tradi-
tional prepreg or dry fiber reinforcement. What they found
in terms of doing testing is that there’s no knockdown of
in-plane properties, but there’s an increase in interlaminar
properties. Because you have these fibers through the thick-
ness, you’re able to conduct the heat through the thickness
of a composite — so good heat dissipation and also good
dampening properties.
When I first came across Boston Materials, it was inter-
esting because I went to an ASM meeting in Cambridge
and I met these two young guys and I told them the story
about Fiber Innovations. As I was kind of looking at these
two young fellas and was like, “Wait a minute, that was
me 30 years ago.” And so, part of the enjoyment of work-
ing with these companies is that I don’t have the sleepless
nights that I had when I had my own company, but I still
have the excitement of working with really talented, hard
working people that are really interested in kind of chang-
ing the world a little bit. And I believe that they’re on a path
to success. For most of my career, I’ve been chasing this
holy grail of “how do you make composites better” and
I’m pretty confident that this is going to make a difference.
They’ve raised about 4 million in funding from Clean Energy
Ventures, and one of their strategic partners is Sabic. Right
now, they have a 12-inch capability to do their Super Comp.
They’ll be expanding out to 60 inches wide first quarter of
2020. So pretty exciting stuff going on.
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 TRENDS
AMRC develops 3D woven composite components for fusion nuclear reactor
The University of Sheffield Advanced
Manufacturing Research Centre
(AMRC; Catcliffe, U.K.), in collabora-
tion with the United Kingdom Atomic
Energy Authority (UKAEA; Abingdon,
U.K.), is developing a 3D woven
composite breeder blanket compo-
nent capable of withstanding extreme
temperatures inside a fusion nuclear
reactor, as part of an effort to accel-
erate delivery of limitless zero-carbon
fusion energy.
The work was commissioned by the
Joining and Advanced Manufacturing
(JAM) program, which forms one of
three Fusion Technology Facilities at
UKAEA. The AMRC, part of the High
Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult,
Source | AMRC
worked with Dr. Lyndsey Mooring,
technical lead for non-metallics at
UKAEA, to explore how composite materials could produce
components that are stiffer, lighter and easier to manufac-
ture than those currently in use, but which retain the neces-
sary capabilities.
The UKAEA is involved in developing a next-generation
magnetic confinement reactor — called a tokamak — at
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its site in Culham, Oxfordshire, U.K.
Research is focused on preparing for
an international tokamak experiment
at the International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Saint-
Paul-lès-Durance in southern France,
and for the subsequent machine
intended to demonstrate the genera-
tion of power from fusion.
In September 2019, the UKAEA
announced that it would build
a new £22 million fusion energy
research facility at the Advanced
Manufacturing Park in Rotherham,
U.K., that includes a test facility that
reproduces the thermohydraulic and
electromagnetic conditions in a fusion
reactor. The center will work with
industrial partners to commercialize
nuclear fusion as a major source of
low-carbon electricity.
Fusion occurs when two types of hydrogen atoms, tritium
and deuterium, collide at enormously high speeds to create
helium and release a high-energy neutron. Once released,
the neutron interacts with a much cooler breeder blanket to
absorb the energy. The breeder blanket must capture the
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 3D woven composites
NEWS

energy of the neutrons to generate power, but also prevent
the neutrons escaping and ‘breed’ more tritium through
reactions with lithium contained in the blanket. Each blan-
ket module typically measures about 1 by 1.5 meters and
currently weighs up to 4.6 metric tonnes.
Up until now, breeder blanket designs have been made
of steel, but the AMRC’s research involves developing a
design that uses silicon carbide composite materials formed
into a 3D woven structure with additively manufactured
components.
“At the moment, the designs being tested in ITER use steel
for the breeder blankets structure, which have a network of
double-walled tubes of 8-millimeter
internal diameter and 1.25-millime-
ter wall thickness to collect the heat.
Each one is welded into place and
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on the loom was a 3D woven structure with pockets for
the 3D-printed tubes which could be formed into a ridged
component,” McHugh says.
The next step, according to Dr. Elizabeth Surrey, head of
technology at the UKAEA, is to continue silicon carbide
composite development and build a demonstrator that can
be tested inside a reactor test facility in order to understand
how it performs and reacts to the environment.
“If nuclear fusion is going to be realized, you need a
simple design for breeder blankets that are manufacturable
and easily replicated. That is what we have tried to create,”
Surrey says.

every connection has to be inspected.

That is what we were asked to
replace,” says Steffan Lea, research
fellow at the AMRC Composite
Centre. “Currently, their steel modules COMPOSITE PRESSES
are limited to approximately 500°C, a lifelong bond
so UKAEA asked us if there was
anything we could do to get it up to
600°C. We set out to see what mate- The composite presses from WICKERT are as diverse
rials we could use, that would enable Visit us at
and as precise as your production specifications. Our
higher temperature operation.” highly technical staff will partner with you to design
For the proposed composite
the optimal solution for your material, product design
breeder blankets, the cooling tubes
and process requirements –ranging from manually in Fort Worth, Texas
would be integrated into the material,
operated presses to fully automated, turnkey systems. March 17 th –18 th 2020
and 3D-printed parts used to define Booth 437
features such as connectors and With hundreds of systems in the field
manifolds. globally, you can be assured of
“We wanted to maximize the avail- a system that is efficient,
able surface area for heat trans- safe and reliable.
fer while being as lightweight as
Our focus and expertise is
possible, but ensure it occupied a
concentrated in the following
similar volume to the existing breeder
blanket designs,” says Joe Palmer, processes:
senior project manager at the AMRC’s
Design and Prototyping Group. “To
RTM and HT-RTM •
achieve a lightweight, temperature- Thermoforming •
resistant structure, a silicon carbide Pre-Preg •
composite material was chosen for
the breeder blanket, with the internal
Compression •
Molding
flow channels being created by form-
ing the composite around a dispos- Preforming •
able core.” Wet-Layup •
After a computer-aided design
(CAD) model was produced, Chris
McHugh, dry fiber development
manager at the AMRC Composite
Centre, created a weave design for
the composite. “The design I created
had multiple weave zones and had
multiple layer weaves. The struc- COMPOSITE PRESSES AND PRESS SYSTEMS
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CompositesWorld.com 23
 WORK IN PROGRESS

Automation options
arise for labor-intensive
composites
Laser projector

3-axis manipulator

Typically labor-intensive
fabrication processes have
more automation options as
new technology works in
concert with operators to
improve efficiency.

By Michael LeGault / Contributing Writer

Ply backing accounting

Layup tool interface plate

» Automation of composites manufacturing processes in Multi-axis work cell

commercial aerospace has focused primarily on the use of auto- Accudyne's multi-axis work cell
mated fiber placement (AFP) and automated tape laying (ATL) provides the highest level of automa-
of large structures — such as fuselage and wing skins, stringers, tion within a space-efficient footprint.
frames, spars and wing boxes — that consume quantities of Source | Accudyne

material sufficient to justify the cost of the automation itself.

However, automation is more difficult to justify for discrete parts
and structures that often are fabricated using hand layup or other manual processes. For some of these
smaller applications, new tools and equipment are being developed that bring automation to a large
segment of the aerocomposites manufacturing process, yielding a return on investment (ROI) that
justifies the capital investment.
Accudyne Systems Inc. (Newark, Del., U.S.), for example, has developed a type of equipment it calls
Automation-Assisted Work Cells. It consists of five automation equipment “elements” that work in
concert: tool positioning, laser projection ply templating, ply backing accountability, work order and
recipe management, and integration with manufacturing information systems (MIS). Accudyne has
partnered with Aligned Vision (Chelmsford, Mass., U.S.), which manufactures laser projection equip-
ment, to build and integrate Automation-Assisted Work Cells in commercial production for clients in
the aerospace industry.
Stephan Zweidler, executive director at Accudyne, says Automation-Assisted Work Cells have
helped several composite part manufacturers realize the benefits of automation technologies with
budget-friendly solutions that improve process controls and part quality. “The Automation-Assisted
Work Cells are cost-effective equipment solutions that sensibly integrate automation technologies and
are aimed at parts and/or processes that do not lend themselves to a lights-out solution.”
Within a manufacturing process, Zweidler notes, there might be one specific facet of the materials,

24 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 NEWS
More efficient automation

The pick/place/form/
compact work cell
The pick/place/form/compact work cell
incorporates a pick and place head, twin
forming heads, two debulk stations, and
a two-position tool shuttle that facilitates
the layup of two parts simultaneously.
The work cell is equipped with tool
positioning, work order and recipe
management and MIS integration, but
instead of laser projection to position the
plies, the equipment has reference edges
that form an X, Y datum for manually
aligning the plies for the pick and place
function. Source | Accudyne

process or part geometry that is a hurdle to full automation; Accu- positioning (a linear vertical axis and two rotary axes) that can be
dyne’s Automation-Assisted Work Cells, therefore, are designed to adjusted for each operator.
complement and enable more efficient manual operations.
Accudyne Systems has built Automation-Assisted Work Cells Stringer former and trim cell
for multiple manufacturing processes, but three equipment Accudyne Systems designed and built a stringer former and trim
categories stand out in the composite manufacturing arena: pick/ cell currently used to manufacture omega-shaped stringers for a
place/form/compact work cells, stringer former and trim cells, customer in the aerospace industry. The cell can accommodate
and multi-axis layup work cells. Between these three equipment parts up to 20 feet long as well as a variety of similar shapes with
examples, the manufacture of just about any size or shape of laminate thickness up to 0.25 inch. The process to make the parts
composite part can be accommodated, from revolute or prismatic illustrates the functions of the work cell features, as well as how a
parts that fit within a - by - by -foot work envelope to - to customer can customize the equipment to meet production and
-foot-long “stick” shapes. price point requirements.
“The equipment designs are tailored to a component family but Similar to other work cells that Accudyne has built, the stringer
are otherwise agnostic to minor geometry differences within that former and trim cell accommodates two tools to facilitate the
family. For example, the stringer former and trim cell was devel-
oped for a long slender part with a specific cross section that just
happened to be a stringer. If there was another part (perhaps not
The stringer former and trim cell
even a stringer) that fit within the work envelope, the machine can
be programed to manufacture it,” Zweidler says. This stringer former and trim cell is currently being
used by an aerospace company to manufacture an
The pick/place/form/compact work cell is designed for the
omega-shaped stringer up to 20 feet long with a
layup of a variety of stick-shaped constant cross-section parts (C, T, laminate thickness up to 0.25 inch.
Z, L, etc.). The system also can be adapted to accommodate longer Source | Accudyne
or larger components if required. The machine incorporates a
pick-and-place head, twin forming heads, two debulk stations, and
a two-position tool shuttle that facilitates the layup of two parts
simultaneously. The work cell is equipped with tool positioning,
work order and recipe management and MIS inte-
gration, but instead of laser projection to position
the plies, the equipment has reference edges that
form an X, Y datum for manually aligning the
plies for the pick and place function. Ply backing
accountability can be integrated into the cell if
desired.
The multi-axis work cell provides the highest
level of automation, with complete integration of all five key
Automation-Assisted Work Cell elements within a space-efficient
footprint. The cell features ergonomics-enhancing, three-axis tool

CompositesWorld.com 25
 WORK IN PROGRESS

manufacture of two composite parts simultaneously. Prior to
production, the equipment’s two laser projectors are calibrated to
both of the servomotor-driven platen positions. During this proce-
dure, the LASERGUIDE projectors (from Aligned Vision) identify
and locate multiple targets on the tool platen. These points are
used to establish the frame of reference between the laser projec-
tors and the tool during production.
The operator is supplied a pre-cut ply kit comprising composite
prepreg materials at the prep workstation. A control panel prompts
the operator — as part of the work order and recipe management
tool — to enter the work order number, then proceeds through a
number of validation steps, to ensure the work order, recipe and
tool are all correctly matched. Once validated, the
operator selects the approved recipe and the
screen displays instructions for the sequence
of operations required to complete the layup Automation can be
of the composite part(s). The recipe and justified for low-volume,
associated data are not stored locally, but
discrete parts that are
on a manufacturing information system
(MIS) that ensures data integrity and
typically hand-made.
version control.
Accudyne’s work cells can be
supplied with multiple motion axes to
facilitate ergonomic tool positioning to reduce operator fatigue.
However, the tool positioning in the stringer former and trim
cell consists of just one axis per tool platen; for example, lateral
motion within the same plane. Once the tool is positioned, the
laser projector illuminates the perimeter of the first ply on the tool. manufacturing process in a way that is transparent to the operator.
The laser projector can also be programmed to display ply number
or orientation of the fabric directly onto the tool.
After placing and positioning the ply on the tool, the operator
steps out of the prep area, presses the “ready” button and the tool
is moved laterally, via servomotor, into the automated forming
section of the work cell.
The ply is formed over
Read this article online | the tool geometry and
short.compositesworld.com/auto_cells then the tool is moved
back to the prep area
for operator inspection. With inspection complete, the operator
steps out of the prep area and the tool is moved into an automated
compaction section of the work cell, which is equipped with a
permanent compaction bladder. The tool is positioned under the
bladder and the frame is lowered down to the surface of the tool
until a vacuum-tight seal is achieved. A vacuum is drawn under
the bladder, providing evacuation of the entire bladder in -
seconds via a vacuum reservoir system attached to the machine
frame. The controller monitors the compaction process and can
be programmed to provide various compaction cycle parameters
depending on component recipe.
While one component is being formed, compacted and/or
trimmed, the operator can make progress on a second compo-
nent. Layup and compaction steps continue until the compo-
nent recipe has been completed. The operator selects the “Trim
Cycle” mode and a bespoke six-axis CNC ultrasonic trim head,
supported by an overhead box-frame gantry, trims the perimeter
of the part at a rate of about  inch per second. The ultrasonic knife
edge trims the part to an aerospace-grade tolerance. After the trim
cycle is complete, the component is inspected, removed from the
forming tool and placed on another tool for subsequent manufac-
turing operations.
Zweidler says equipment integration with a client’s MIS allows
multiple Automation-Assisted Work Cells to draw from the same
recipe data stored on a controlled, secure network. This digital
architecture provides the ability to protect and control versioning
of recipes, software, laser projection geometry, G code, etc., as well
as the capability to monitor progress of a component’s build and
adjust upstream and downstream activi-
ties in real time. MIS integration also
can facilitate remote service access for
new equipment features or software
code changes.
The laser projectors in the automa-
tion-assisted work cells are integrated
into the process workflow and controls
through a software developers kit (SDK)
provided by Aligned Vision and integrated
into the cell by Accudyne. Zweidler says one of
the key benefits of the SDK is that it provides access to advanced
laser projection system features such as communicating servo
axis positions as a common coordinate system frame of refer-
ence. This coordinate system is maintained throughout the part
Whenever the tool is repositioned in D space, the controller
communicates the new tool position to the laser projector. The
laser projector uses matrix geometry transforms to recalculate and
correct the projection geometry for the new frame of reference.
“The SDK tool is worth its weight in gold to us and the customer
in terms of efficiency,” Zweidler says, noting that without it the
operator might have to re-calibrate the targets every time the tool
is moved, even if slightly.
Aligned Vision has also developed new technologies that,
though not yet used in one of Accudyne’s work cells, could,
according to Zweidler, be readily adopted into a work cell with the
current software. The first, LASERVISION, incorporates a camera
and laser in one enclosure. The high-resolution camera operates
in the same frame of reference as the laser and is used to inspect
for ply orientation, ply position, foreign object debris, etc. The
second technology, TARGETGUIDE, enables the owners of older
equipment, without the integrated coordinate system features
described above, to realize auto-target scanning following the
repositioning of tooling.
Michael R. LeGault is a freelance writer located in Seattle,
Wash., U.S., and the former editor of Canadian Plastics magazine
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada). mlegault@compositesworld.com

26 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 The Insight That Matters
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 Building bridges
with composites

The growing role of
advanced materials
in infrastructure.
By Scott Francis / Senior Editor
»Aging infrastructure is an often-cited global Arch bridge systems
AIT Bridges’ arch bridge system uses
problem with bridges, waterfronts and other
braided fiber-reinforced polymer
structures in need of rehabilitation, and in many
cases, replacement. Composites offer the advan-
(FRP) tubes filled with concrete. It can
be applied to various bridge structures
tages of corrosion resistance and durability, and can span up to 80 feet.
enabling low maintenance and long service life Source | AIT Bridges
for structures, enhancing life cycle cost savings
and providing a long-term economic advan-
tage over traditional materials such as steel and concrete. Many advocates in the
composites industry, from material suppliers to fabricators, are working to spread
awareness about the benefits advanced materials offer to update infrastructure the
world over. Resistance to change, concerns over unit material costs and skepticism
about the performance of new materials have proven difficult hurdles for advanced
materials advocates to overcome, but all of that is gradually starting to change.
Fibrelite (Skipton, U.K.), a brand of OPW (Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.), a Dover
(Downers Grove, Ill., U.S.) company, specializing in composite access and manhole
covers, has recognized a shift over the last decade or so, as metal and concrete
covers are gradually being replaced with composites in covers and other applica-
tions. Jo Stott, marketing director for Fibrelite, cites a combination of corrosion
resistance, light weight and higher load ratings as the reason behind the shift.
Fibrelite’s composite covers weigh approximately a third of traditional mate-
rials, which helps decrease handling injuries while retaining mechanical proper-
ties. In many cases the covers can fit existing frames, cutting installation time and

28 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 NEWS
Composites for infrastructure

costs. “The market is maturing and customers are becoming more waterfront market to introduce FRP sheet piling and FRP bridge
comfortable with making the switch,” Stott says. “And that drives protection systems. Blaszak has noticed the beginnings of a sea
change in the rest of the market.” change for composites use in infrastructure.
As awareness of the advantages of composites expands, many “As years have gone on, we’ve started to see more engineers
fabricators and suppliers say conversations with civil engineers really start taking a hard look at these types of materials because
are focused less on resistance to change and skepticism over they are, for the most part, maintenance-free,” Blaszak says. One
material capabilities, and more about on factors, such as cost example, he says, is the increasing number of projects specifying
and materials capability. And that’s a good thing. The goal is not fiberglass rebar for reinforcing concrete structures as an alterna-
to replace legacy materials but to allow engineers and designers tive to traditional steel rebar.
to fully understand the potential of composites so they can make “Fiberglass reinforcement bars have been around for  years,
informed decisions. but are now starting to be utilized more frequently to reinforce
“We know we’re not going to displace steel; steel has a very concrete structures as a substitute or an alternative to traditional
definite place in the market. Pre-cast concrete, which is rein- steel,” he says.
forced with steel, also has its place in the market,” says Brit Corrosion of steel rebar is a leading cause of the deterioration
Svoboda, CEO and chairman of AIT Bridges (Brewer, Maine,
U.S.), an engineering and manufacturing company special-
izing in composite materials for bridges. “But there is definitely a
reason to add alternative technologies using advanced materials
to increase longevity, to provide lightweight transportation and
mobility of [infrastructure] products and, if nothing more, to drive
the market to better performance specifications,” he adds.
According to Scott Reeve, president and CEO of Composite
Advantage (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.), which fabricates very large
composite structures for infrastructure markets, the points of
discussion have shifted from the capabilities of composite mate-
rials to cost and maintenance. “When I’m presenting to designers,
engineers, contractors, there are very few questions about the
structural capabilities or structural integrity anymore,” he says.
Instead Reeve finds himself talking about the same questions that
pre-cast concrete and other traditional materials face, such as
how long the material will last, how well the joints hold up over
time and what kind of maintenance will need to be performed.
In the U.S., new legislative efforts such as the IMAGINE Act
(Innovative Materials for America’s Growth and Infrastructure
Newly Expanded), which was introduced in August , are
helping increase awareness of the potential lifecycle cost savings
that composite materials can provide for infrastructure projects.
“The nation’s leaders have noted America needs more than a
trillion dollars’ worth of investment to rehabilitate bridges, water
systems, dams and the electric grid,” says Tom Dobbins, presi-
dent of the American Composites Manufacturers Assn. (ACMA,
Arlington, Va., U.S.). “Composites are uniquely poised to provide
real-world solutions to meet this demand.”
“Legislation that encourages state agencies to use [compos-
ites] and demonstrate their benefits is definitely applauded,” says
Gregg Blaszak, a licensed engineer and co-founder of Coastline
Composites (Lancaster, Pa., U.S.), a consulting firm that works
with manufacturers of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite
products. “Once those benefits are understood, the materials will
and must be able to stand on their own.” Lightweight for safety
Coastline Composites has been helping FRP composite product Composite manhole covers weigh approximately one third of manhole covers
manufacturers develop infrastructure applications for more than made with traditional materials, reducing the potential for injury during manual
 years. The company got its start working in the marine and handling. Source | Fibrelite

CompositesWorld.com 29
 FEATURE

of concrete structures. The service life of concrete reinforced with

In the trenches
Composite access covers offer numerous advantages including lighter weight,
corrosion resistance and anti-skid patterns to provide a safe walking surface.
Source | Fibrelite
steel rebar is limited to around  years, rather than the -
years once estimated. Composite rebar, such as that produced by
Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio, U.S.), offers an alternative to steel
reinforcements with advantages that include corrosion resis-
tance, improved durability, lightweighting, ease of installation,
greater tensile strength and longer service life. Owens Corning’s
Fiberglas rebar is composed of fiberglass roving in a vinyl ester
resin matrix and is well suited for structures exposed to deicing
salts, seawater or other corrosive agents. The rebar is available in
- and -foot lengths in #, , , , ,  and  diameter bars, as
well as custom diameters. In late , the company is launching
a new composite rebar it calls Pinkbar that is designed for slab on
ground applications such as: parking slabs, sidewalks and contin-
uous reinforcement concrete paving (CRCP) for streets.
“I expect to see the continued development of fiberglass
rebar in structural applications and increasingly in flatwork
applications,” says Christopher Skinner, vice president, stra-
tegic marketing, composites for Owens Corning. “Contractors
are seeing increased strength and weight reduction versus steel,
which significantly increases productivity for their crews. I expect
that the durability of composite materials will soon be factored
into purchase decisions.”
Looking beyond rebar, Blaszak believes FRP is gaining
momentum in infrastructure projects because, in some cases,
the costs of rehabilitation outweigh initial cost savings realized
through the use of traditional materials.
“We’ve started to see more and more agencies, like the Navy
and some of the more progressive DOTs [departments of trans-
portation] consider the future costs of rehabilitation or replace-
ment because of their firsthand experiences fixing deteriorated
structures, which can be very costly and are usually accompanied
by severe disruptions to communities and the public [e.g. bridge
closures],” Blaszak says. “The initial material and construction
costs, while important, are not always the singular deciding factor
in selecting materials.”

Bridges pave the way

FRP rebar
Composite rebar offers an alternative to steel reinforcement. Advantages include
corrosion resistance, improved durability, lightweighting, easier installation,
greater tensile strength and longer service life.
Source | Owens Corning
According to a 2019 report from the American Road and Trans-
portation Builders Assn. (Washington, D.C., U.S.), more than
47,000 bridges in the U.S. are in poor condition and in need of
immediate rehabilitation. Of the approximately 614,400 bridges
in the U.S., approximately 245,000 have exceeded their estimated
service life of 50 years. Couple that with the fact that legacy
bridges will continue to reach states of disrepair with continued
aging, and a picture of a country at the edge of an infrastructure
precipice comes into focus.
New bridge projects continue to provide examples of how
composites and advanced materials can help rebuild crumbling
infrastructure and create new lightweight, corrosion-resistant,
sustainable structures that can stand the test of time and the
elements. In addition, composites allow for bridge customization,
versatility and speed to market that can’t always be achieved with
traditional materials. Companies like Composite Advantage and

30 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Composites for infrastructure
NEWS

Quick installation Shared-use path

Composite Advantage’s fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) FiberSPAN system was Composite Advantage’s FRP FiberSPAN system was used to build a new shared-
chosen for a quick, lightweight, corrosion-resistant solution to repair an use path along Nevada’s State Route 28 bordering Lake Tahoe. The light weight
87-year-old bascule bridge in Michigan City, Ind., U.S. that buckled due to low of the FRP solution allowed workers to meet the demands of construction on the
temperatures. Source | Composite Advantage region’s uneven slopes. Source | Composite Advantage

AIT Bridges are working to rehabilitate existing bridges and build company’s FRP FiberSPAN system along Nevada’s State Route
new ones that can exceed the lifespan of current structures.  — a two-lane, mountainside road bordering  miles of Lake
For example, in February , record-breaking low tempera- Tahoe’s undeveloped shoreline. Thirty-two -foot bridge span
tures buckled the Franklin Street Bridge in Michigan City, Ind., sections were installed, creating five distinct bridges, used in
U.S., an -year-old bascule bridge that uses counterweights to areas where the slope was too steep to provide flat walking
raise and lower its spans to provide clearance for boat traffic. surfaces. The goal of the shared-use path is to support an antici-
Composite Advantage’s fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) Fiber- pated increase in traffic, protect the area’s ecosystem and deal
SPAN system was chosen for a quick, lightweight, corrosion-resis- with problems of limited parking and safe access points. The light
tant solution to repair the bridge’s crumbling weight of the FRP solution allowed
concrete leaves and steel supports. workers to meet the demands of
“The traditional approach called for a The goal is to allow construction on the region’s uneven
temporary steel plate until the weather engineers and designers slopes.
warmed up enough to accommodate the In addition to the bridge decks,
to fully understand the
-day cure requirement for concrete,” Composite Advantage’s offerings include
Reeve says. “But that would have taken
potential of composites. composite pilings and fender systems,
months. It also meant paying for two which have been used to rehabilitate aging
repairs and closing the bridge to waterfront infrastructure including a bridge
traffic twice. The need for light weight eliminated most material at a seaside resort at the southern tip of New Jersey’s Cape May
options.” Peninsula.
To fix the problem, Composite Advantage prefabricated the “We’re able to fabricate our pilings with a high strength-to-
panels with mechanical clips for bolting the deck to the steel weight ratio, which means we can make a very structurally effi-
stringers. The FRP supplier was able to design, prefabricate, cient pile,” Reeve says. In the Cape May Peninsula project, the
ship and install the panels in just  days, allowing the bridge to company’s FRP FiberPILE system was able to cut the number
reopen in April . of piles needed for the structure in half, thereby offering cost
In addition to repairs, Composite Advantage works on savings. Composite Advantage met the necessary  kip-foot
new bridge projects as well. In June , the Nevada Depart- energy absorption impact load using  composite piles, ulti-
ment of Transportation (NDOT) and the Tahoe Transportation mately replacing  original wooden piles.
District opened a new shared-use path manufactured using the AIT Bridges’ composite arch system was developed at

CompositesWorld.com 31
 FEATURE

FRP pilings Pultruded decking

Composite Advantage’s pilings offer a high strength-to-weight ratio and can AIT Bridges’ composite arch system is covered with pultruded FRP decking panels
reduce the number of pilings needed in a marine structure. CW Photo | Scott Francis that use a polyurethane matrix. Source | AIT Bridges

the University of Maine’s Advanced Structure and Composite

Composite tub girder
In addition to use for bridges, AIT Bridges’ CT girder system can be used for
parking garages, floor and roof decks and other architectural structures.
Source | AIT Bridges
Center (Orono, Maine, U.S.) and has been used to build more
than  medium-span overfill bridges since its introduction in
. The system is based on a braided fiber-reinforced polymer
(FRP) tube filled with concrete and used as a support structure
for bridge structures that span up to  feet. The FRP provides
the stay-in-place form for the concrete as well as external rein-
forcing and protection from the elements by providing a weather-
resistant, non-corrosive outer layer. On top of the arches are the
main support members, which are then covered with pultruded
FRP decking panels that use a polyurethane resin. The company’s
lightweight Atlas decking panels can be manufactured to any
length, attach to the composite arches with self-tapping screws,
and support backfill.
Developed over the last three years in conjunction with
the University of Maine’s Advanced Structure and Composite
Center, AIT Bridges’ latest innovation is its composite tub (CT)
girder system. It consists of a U-shaped FRP girder supported on
standard foundations and covered with precast or cast-in-place
concrete bridge decking. The depth and width of the girder can be
customized to meet project site requirements; maximum length
is  feet.
“One of the advantages of working with composites is you’re
not tied in tightly to very specific standardized designs and archi-
tectures,” says Ken Sweeney, president and chief engineer of AIT
Bridges. “With steel and concrete, you’re kind of stuck with what
strength and mechanical properties that they have. With compos-
ites you can architecturally design what you need to meet the
requirements for the particular project, which is one of the big
values that you get out of using composites.”
In addition to use for bridges and highway overpasses, the
girder can also be used for parking garages, floor and roof decks

32 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 NEWS
Composites for infrastructure

and other architectural applications. AIT Bridges’ first CT girder materials — both advanced and traditional. With the conversa-
bridge will be built in Hampden, Maine, in . tion moving from the initial cost of materials to the overall value,
The company has composites are receiving much fairer and objective consider-
also developed a ation for infrastructure projects. Improved construction time
Read this article online |
Mobile Composite and labor as well as long-term cost savings due to increased
short.compositesworld.com/bridges Manufacturing Unit durability of structures are building the case for advanced mate-
Read about Composite Advantage’s (MCMU) that can be rials with each successful project. Plus, new innovations are
Franklin Street Bridge Project | located at a bridge constantly improving cycle times and efficiencies for processing
short.compositesworld.com/CompAd_FRP site and used to composite materials, making them increasingly competitive right
Read about Composite Advantage’s Tahoe fabricate parts on out of the gate.
East Shore Trail Project |
short.compositesworld.com/NevFRPpath
location. The -foot, “We’re hoping that we not only will begin to set standards that
self-contained manu- everybody else will have to grow up and into by building things
Read more about AIT Bridges’ CT Girder
Bridge System | facturing unit is fully that last longer, we hope to be able to do it and demonstrate that
short.compositesworld.com/AIT_bridge outfitted with all the we can also do it on a first cost-competitive basis,” Svoboda says.
Read about Composite Advantage’s Cape tools and equipment “That will really put the pressure on everybody to step up their
May Project | necessary for manu- game and provide a long-term solution to taxpayers, and provide
short.compositesworld.com/NJ_bridge
facture, allowing for longer-lasting, better products.”
local and scalable
manufacturing at a
low capital cost. The units can be outfitted and shipped globally.

Raising the bar on infrastructure
One of the exciting things about all of the work to get advanced
materials more readily accepted for infrastructure projects is that
it is raising awareness about the need for higher standards for all
Scott Francis, senior editor for CompositesWorld, has worked
in publishing and media since 2001. He’s edited for numer-
ous publications including Writer’s Digest, HOW and Popular
Woodworking.

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CompositesWorld.com 33
 APPLICATIONS

Microfiber-infused › Spoke Materials Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.), a new resin technology company, has acquired
resin enables a line of molding and casting resins, structural adhesives and pastes and putties originally
developed by Mirteq Inc. (Fort Wayne, Ind., U.S.). Spoke is improving and relaunching the
single-step advanced composite material to provide alternatives to traditional methods such as RTM,
hand layup and infusion that use long fibers. According to Spoke Materials CEO Joe Locke, its
molding process MIR line of products can reduce labor, raw materials cost and decrease production time for
many detailed parts as the products require no additional reinforcement or expensive tooling.
Spoke’s approach uses AOC’s (Collierville, Tenn., U.S.) vinyl ester resins, which are modified
Spoke Materials’ reinforced using Spoke’s Materials’ patented microfiber infusion process to develop its MIR products.
liquid composites enable Spoke’s technology first treats glass microfibers with a proprietary process and then infuses
alternative fabrication the fibers into the vinyl ester resin, which increases strength, impact and abrasion resistance,
methods. performance and durability in a single-step/single-pour molding process.
“These products are not ‘replacements’ for long fibers, but are possible alternatives for
detailed applications, molded-in features or thick cross-sections where there would be a lot of
manual labor or multiple materials in the fabrication process,” explains Locke. “In some cases,
this alternative can replace those processes, sometimes cutting costs in half, and in some
instances up to 85%.”
In most cases the single-pour approach enabled by MIR products also allows
expensive tooling to be replaced by molds made of polyurethane or fiberglass
tooling board, offering further cost savings. In addition, the products cure
at room temperature, can be machined or milled, and are chemical- and
corrosion-resistant.
One example of Spoke’s technology is a composite chemical tank base
created to replace a stainless steel part that weighs more than 1,000
pounds. According to Locke, the new MIR-based part weighs only 180
pounds — 82% lighter than the original — and reduces the production
time from 4-5 days to just hours. In addition, the composite version is
corrosion- and chemical-resistant.
The tank base was fabricated using Spoke Materials’ MIR-170, a
material specifically designed for the molding of thick parts and cross-
sectional applications. The low-exotherm product allows fabricators to
develop complex, detailed parts up to 3 inches thick with a decreased
risk of internal cracking.
“A lot of times in those thick cross-sections you’ll get cracking and
crazing, or it just doesn’t cure properly,” says Locke. “MIR-170 utilizes
Spoke’s ControlCure technology, allowing the part to resin to cure evenly.”
The original stainless steel part was not only costly to manufacture, but it
was also costly to ship and required heavy machinery to install and maintain.
The composite version can be installed by one or two workers. In addition, it
costs 90% less to fabricate.
According to Locke, the tank component is an example of how Spoke’s
technology might enable new applications. For a customer accustomed to building
chemical tank parts out of steel, the composite solution opens a new market. In the
architectural sector, the material is proving to be a highly effective solution for restoring
decaying stone features; such refurbishment, using traditional methods, can take weeks
and cause construction delays and higher costs. With Spoke’s solution, the old part can be
removed and reassembled to cast a new mold and pour using the MIR material.
Spoke Materials’ MIR-170 reinforced
While MIR materials aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, the technology can be a cost- and
liquid composite was used to manu-
facture a composite chemical tank time-saver in a number of applications. According to Locke, the key to using Spoke Materials’
base component that weighed only products lies in understanding the material-application match. “We always try to get into
180 pounds and replaced a more than the front end of the application before a customer starts building molds,” says Locke. “It’s
1,000-pound stainless steel part. important to understand what it works for and make that change up front.”
CW photo | Scott Francis

34 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 CALENDAR

Composites Events
March 2, 2020 — Paris, France March 31 – April 2, 2020 — Hamburg, Germany May 19-21, 2020 — Aurora, Colo., U.S.
SAMPE Europe Summit Conference Aircraft Interiors Expo ACMA Composites Recycling Conference 2020
sampe-europe.org aircraftinteriorsexpo.com cvent.com/events/composites-recycling-
conference-2020/
March 3-5, 2020 — Paris, France April 20-24, 2020 — Birmingham, U.K.
JEC World 2020 MACH 2020 June 1-4, 2020 — Denver, Colo., U.S.
jec-world.events machexhibition.com AWEA WINDPOWER 2020 Conference & Exhibition
engage.awea.org/events
March 5-6, 2020 — Detroit, Mich., U.S. April 21-23, 2020 — Moscow, Russia
Graphene Automotive 2020 COMPOSITE-EXPO June 22-26, 2020 — Nantes, France
usa.graphene-automotive-conference.com composite-expo.com ECCM19
eccm19.org
March 11-13, 2020 — Barcelona, Spain April 21-23, 2020 — Detroit, Mich., U.S.
6th Annual World Congress of Smart Materials-2020 WCX 2020 SAE World Congress Experience Sept. 9-11, 2020 — Novi, Mich., U.S.
bitcongress.com/TOPwcsm2020 sae.org/attend/wcx SPE ACCE
SPEautomotive.com/acce-conference
March 15-19, 2020 — Houston, Texas, U.S. April 26-29, 2020 — Denver, Colo., U.S.
Corrosion 2020 Conference & Expo TRFA 2020 Annual Meeting Sept. 15-16, 2020 — Chicago, Ill., U.S.
nacecorrosion.org trfa.org Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS
additiveconference.com
March 16-18, 2020 — Thuwal, Saudi Arabia April 29 - May 1, 2020 — San Diego, Calif., U.S.
KAUST Workshop: Shaping the future with ACMA Thermoplastic Composites Conference Sept. 21-24, 2020 — Orlando, Fla., U.S.
Composite Materials www.acmanet.org/TCC20 CAMX 2020
cohmas.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/FUTURECOMP.aspx thecamx.org
May 4-7, 2020 — Seattle, Wash., U.S.
March 16-19, 2020 — Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. SAMPE 2020 Oct. 13-14, 2020 — Bremen, Germany
AeroDef 2020 nasampe.org/events ITHEC 2020
aerodefevent.com ithec.de/home
May 12-13, 2020 — Madison, Wis., U.S.
March 17-19, 2020 — Pasadena, Calif., U.S. SPE Thermoset TOPCON 2020 Nov. 10-12, 2020 — Stuttgart, Germany
AeroTech spethermosets.org/Topcon Composites Europe
sae.org/attend/aerotech composites-europe.com
May 12-14, 2020 — Atlanta, Ga., U.S.
March 30 – April 2, 2020 — Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. Techtextil North America Nov. 17-19, 2020 — Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
36th Space Symposium techtextil-north-america.us.messefrankfurt.com Carbon Fiber 2020
spacesymposium.org carbonfiberevent.com

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0320_CW_Solvay_half page.indd 1 CompositesWorld.com 2/13/2020 8:05:56 AM 35

 NEW PRODUCTS
New Products
» TRAINING & ANALYSIS
Tutorial and market analysis available for
thermoplastic composite applications
CompositeTechs LLC (Amesbury, Mass., U.S.) has released a detailed
technical tutorial and a market analysis, each on high-performance
thermoplastic composites (TPC) for the aerospace, automotive and oil
and gas industries.
According to CompositeTechs, the CAGR of thermoplastic compos-
ites in the materials industry is greater than that of other types of
materials, including metals and thermoset composites, for several
reasons: Thermoplastic composites offer performance advantages,
cost advantages, increased ability to automate customized designs
and forms, improved multifunctionality and improved sustainability.
As conventional materials approach the physical limits of increased
performance, thermoplastics offer growing design and process
options with expanding performance capability and cost-driven
manufacturing advantages, the company says.
The tutorial provides a detailed view of the raw materials and
prepreg manufacturing processes for thermoplastic composites.
Property comparisons are provided, and several existing processing
options for the materials and prepregs are described including joining
methodologies, advances in automation and toolless composite
manufacture. Examples of processes and parts used in each industry
are included as well as market drivers and rationale for the materials
in each industry.
The market analysis contains all the elements of the tutorial plus
information on polymer volume usage in TPCs, global percentage
usage by prepreg, reinforcement type, reinforcement form and by
industry.
CompositeTechs’s personnel have given earlier versions of these
reports at the 2018 CompositesWorld Carbon Fiber conference, the
2019 SAMPE Charlotte conference (as a tutorial) and to numerous
clients. The technical information and market data were generated
from non-proprietary data compiled by CompositeTechs based
on several years of work in the industry as well as access to key
personnel in many of the relevant organizations. The company says
that earlier versions of the papers have been received favorably by its
clients and are considered the most accurate reports in the industry,
both technically and in market data.
Additionally, the reports are available at a cost of about 40% less
than the cost of similar reports by other market research companies.
A free overview of the documents is available at www.compos-
itetechs.com/shop.
compositetechs.com
36 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld
Source | Reliabotics
» SURFACE CLEANING
CO2-based cleaning systems
Reliabotics (New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.), in collaboration with
CleanLogix and Hitachi High-Tech, has introduced to the composites
market a line of CO2-based cleaning products designed to provide
fast, highly efficient, waste-free cleaning of a variety of surfaces,
including molds and finished composite parts and structures. Called
carbonic cleaning, the technology is similar to dry ice cleaning, but
uses CO2 delivered from a bulk tank and into a nozzle system that
jets CO2 particles onto a surface to dislodge contaminants. The CO2
tanks require no manual loading and the nozzle uses thermodynamics
to change CO2 particle size. Further, as with dry ice cleaning, CO2
particles from the carbonic system sublimate immediately after
impact and produce no volatile organic compounds (VOC) or waste.
The products Reliabotics manufactures fall into two categories.
The first is the CO2 delivery module, and for this the company offers
the CM-1 and the CM-2. CM-1 is a portable, robot-ready tabletop
model that uses beverage-grade CO2 and is designed for small parts/
applications. CM-2, designed for larger applications, uses gas-bulk
and micro-bulk CO2 and offers network and IO connectivity.
The second product type is the nozzle. Nozzle CE-3, compatible
only with the CM-1 delivery module, offers a 1-inch cleaning footprint
and consumes up to 12 lb/hr of CO2. Nozzle CE-6, compatible with
CM-1 and CM-2, offers a 2-inch cleaning footprint and consumes up
to 24 lb/hr of CO2. Nozzle CM-10, compatible with CM-2 only, offers a
5-inch cleaning footprint and consumes up to 40 lb/hr of CO2.
Reliabotics representatives say that its carbonic systems are
designed to complement surface preparation systems — like plasma
or corona treatment — that require a clean surface prior to prepara-
tion. To that end, representatives add that it is possible to combine
a Reliabotics carbonic cleaning system with a plasma or corona
treatment system in one robotic end effector, enabling cleaning and
surface prep in a single pass. Reliabotics says the only material its
carbonic system cannot remove is silicone. Reliabotics’ technology
and products are proven in the automotive, biomedical and
electronics industry and are now being targeted toward composite
surface preparation and high-reliability bonding applications in
aerostructures. reliabotics.com
 NEW PRODUCTS

» SOFTWARE & SCANNING

CAD viewer software updates simplify
printing, two-way file flow
WORKXPLORE is a high-speed CAD viewer and analyzer from Hexagon
Manufacturing Intelligence’s (North Kingstown, R.I., U.S.) Production
Software portfolio. The 2020.1 software release includes enhancements
for specific simulation import, additional reader translators and client
viewer measurements.
The software was originally created to import and analyze all
file types and sizes at high speed. According to Hexagon, using
WORKXPLORE often enables users to take less than half the time to
open a file compared to the original CAD application. Source | Hexagon
Manufacturing Intelligence
Among the new and enhanced two-way workflow functionality in
WORKXPLORE 2020.1 is the ability to import and export the IGP file
format for the Hexagon I++ Simulator, which is a server-based software be defined through an interactive rectangle, with the ability to move
for multi-kinematic simulation of process-oriented inspections to the camera in the 3D screen. When the command is launched, a mask
automate production metrology. corresponding to the paper ratio appears onscreen and enables users to
WORKXPLORE can export either opened or closed solids, mesh move the model to define the printing area. Another interactive rectangle
models as meshes, and also import meshes. provides an optional crop facility. A toolbar with the print options is also
Additional reader translators include Solid Edge 2D Importer and the now available on the right side of the screen, making it easier to select
IGES Reader Translator. The ability to read drawings has been added the target printer and define its properties, select the paper size and add
to the Solid Edge interface. Currently, 2D-supported versions are ST1 to headers and footers.
2019. The IGES translator allows users to choose between the in-house Another new function enables measurements done in WORKXPLORE to
integrated import library and the Datakit Advanced Import, giving a be exported to the Client Viewer.
choice for the setting best suited to specific needs. Translators in WORKXPLORE 2020.1 support a number of main formats,
A Print Option enhancement gives more interactive printing function- including ACIS, several CATIA products, Creo, DXF/DWG, IGES, EDGECAM,
ality in the single view layout by manipulating entities over the printing. I++ Simulator, INVENTOR, Parasolid, STEP, Solid Edge and SolidWorks.
According to the company, the printing zone in this enhancement can hexagonmi.com

» CARBON FIBER
Recycled carbon fiber non-woven fabric
Carbon fiber textile manufacturer Sigmatex (Benicia, Calif., U.S.) has
launched a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric. As part of its commit-
ment to reduce the environmental impact of composites, Sigmatex reports
that it has developed a process that enables energy-efficient capture and
reprocessing of its internal waste streams, as well as those of its customers.
The output of this is, Sigmatex says, a high-quality product that is both
versatile in its applications and easy to process. The company anticipates
that this recycling approach could save up to 500 metric tonnes of carbon
fiber waste going to landfill each year by 2025.
According to Paul McMullan, commercial director at Sigmatex, the
company’s ultra energy-efficient recovery method uses around 10-20%
of the energy demand of other carbon fiber recovery methods such as
chemical or pyrolysis.
This nonwoven fabric is produced from high-quality carbon fiber waste,
with sizing intact, offering improved fiber-to-resin bond strength with areal
weights of 100-600 gsm. The highly conformable product is an isotropic
material, said to exhibit excellent mechanical properties; that can be
debulked, improving processing via prepreg methods. sigmatex.com Source | Sigmatex

CompositesWorld.com 37
 NEW PRODUCTS

» RESIN ADDITIVES & MODIFIERS

Source | Bitrez Ltd.
» THERMOSET RESINS & ADHESIVE SYSTEMS
Bio-based epoxy and PFA resin systems
Polymers and chemicals manufacturer Bitrez Ltd.’s (Standish, U.K.)
new family of bio-based resins, including bio-epoxy systems and PFA
(polyfurfuryl alcohol), are designed for composites applications and
are REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of
chemicals) compliant.
Bitrez’s PFA is a thermosetting bio-resin derived from biomass
crop waste with properties similar to a phenolic resin but with
lower volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. In addition to its
environmental credentials, Bitrez Ltd. says PFA has fire-retardant
properties equivalent to phenolic resins, plus high-temperature and
chemical-resistance properties.
Bitrez offers epoxy products based on renewable substitute
feedstock that, when combined with the company’s green epoxy
curing agents, are said to provide formulated systems with high
bio-content. bitrez.com
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes available
in three forms
Goodfellow (Coraopolis, Pa., U.S.) has introduced a line of
multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) that are available in
three forms: regular powder, “chunky” powder and free-standing
“carpets.” All three forms are produced by means of a catalytic
chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) process.
Regular powder is available in research quantities of several grams
up to economical mass production quantities of several kilograms.
What the company calls “chunky” powder, exclusive to
Goodfellow, is said to be safer and easily dispersed via sonication
into a polymer matrix. It is available in small quantities for research.
Free-standing, vertically aligned MWCNTs arrays, called “carpets”
or “forests,” are distinguished by their anisotropic properties.
According to the company, current research is focused on potential
uses as free-standing membranes and filters, thermal interface mate-
rials, in electronic devices and supercapacitors, and by embedding
them in polymer matrices for the production of innovative compos-
ites. MWCNTs carpets are available in small quantities for research.
Carbon nanotubes are tube-shaped materials composed of carbon
atoms covalently bonded in a hexagonal network, having a nano-
metric diameter. As an additive in composites, they can improve the
mechanical, thermal or electrical properties of a material, offering
benefits such as high electrical conductivity, good processability,
flame retardancy, thermal dissipation, UV resistance and more.
According to Goodfellow, industries that can benefit from carbon
nanotubes include aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, oil
and gas, coatings and sporting goods. goodfellow.com

» CUTTING & KITTING

Automated system eliminates manual

material pleating, cutting
AZCO Corp.’s (Fairfield, N.J., U.S.) Model 219025 custom cut-to-length
system features a material flow package, pleating station and heat set
station designed to automate manual processes such as unwinding of
fabric from roll, folding it into pleats, pressing it and cutting it to length.
In the AZCO system, a motorized unwind feeds the material to
drive rollers that advance the material into the pleating station, where
stainless steel funnel guides take the fabric and fold it into pleats. Exit
guides lead the material into the heat set station, where heated idle
rollers press the pleats into place. A laminar air flow of ionized air floats
the product through the knife assembly, preventing static charge. The
pleated, pressed material is then cut to length. An operator control
panel is provided for easy setup and operation of the unit. A base plate
and clear anodized frame align the stations and support the unit. The
system requires 110/230 VAC and compressed air.  Source | AZCO Corp.

azcocorp.com

38 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 NEW PRODUCTS

» TESTING, MEASUREMENT & INSPECTION SYSTEMS

Cure testing services for suppliers, fabricators
Precision measurement solutions specialist Lambient Technologies LLC
(Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) now provides cure-testing services for compa-
nies working with thermoset resins or advanced composite materials.
According to the company, customers can use this data to identify flaws
Source | Composites Evolution
or inconsistencies in raw materials obtained from outside suppliers. Such
flaws include variations in curing behavior between batches or within a roll
of prepreg. With data provided by Lambient Technologies, companies can » PREPREG MATERIALS

work with suppliers to improve the consistency of raw materials.
Lambient Technologies says its testing services provide researchers with
critical information about the curing of their materials, illustrating the effect
of formulation and time-temperature schedules on cure quality and cure
time. Applications include testing incoming resins or prepreg materials that
a company receives from suppliers as well as testing consistency of outgoing
materials that a company is supplying to other sources.
In addition, customers can submit material samples before engaging in
testing services, incurring no charges if Lambient Technologies determines
that the material is one that cannot be measured with its equipment. If
customers engage in testing services and then decide to purchase one of
Lambient’s DEA instruments, a portion of the testing expenditure will be
applied to the cost of an instrument.
In addition to its testing services, Lambient Technologies designs,
produces and sells instruments for real-time analysis of the curing of
thermosets and advanced composite materials such as those used in
aerospace, automotive and wind applications. lambient.com
50°C cure epoxy tooling prepreg
Composites Evolution’s (Chesterfield, U.K.) 50°C, 12-hour-cure tooling
prepreg is the latest product in the company’s Evopreg EPT tooling
epoxy range, and is designed to enable molders to create tools with
optimal surface finish and high dimensional stability.
This specially developed prepreg is also reported to have an extended
outlife, enabling large or complex tools to be manufactured with minimal
waste. Additional features are said to include good tack and drape for
easy layup, excellent release from patterns, high service temperature
performance (180°C after post-cure) and excellent surface finish.
According to the company, the addition of this product to the Evopreg
tooling epoxy range enables customers to produce high-quality tools
with a shorter, 12-hour cure cycle. Tools can now be laid-up and cured
overnight, ready to be used the following morning. 
Composites Evolution’s EPT tooling resins are available for a range of
carbon, glass and flax reinforcement fabrics.
compositesevolution.com

March 19, 2020 • 2:00 PM ET

PRESENTED BY Next Gen Wind Energy: Production and
Repair for the Decade Ahead
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Next Gen Wind Energy: Production and Repair for the Decade Ahead is focused on
www.compositesone.com exploring advances in materials and processes within the Wind Industry. During this
webinar, Composites One and Wind Energy and Technical Process Professionals from
PRESENTERS Solvay, 3M, Owens Corning, and Sika - Wind Blade Repair Systems will provide an
engaging presentation on new and innovating products and processes as well as a brief
overview on the outlook of the Wind Industry.

PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN:

• Solvay Bagging Materials and Kits
• Advanced Repair Materials from 3M
• Sealing and Bonding Solutions from Sika - Wind Blade Repair Systems
MARK KIRK NEIL SMITH • Owens Corning’s Ultrablade® X Fabric Solution
Wind Energy Technical Support
Sales Manager, Manager,
Composites One Composites One

REGISTER TODAY FOR WEBINAR AT: SHORT.COMPOSITESWORLD.COM/COMPONE319

0320_CW_Composites One_half page.indd 1 CompositesWorld.com 2/5/2020 9:47:43 AM 39

 NEW PRODUCTS

» ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING MATERIALS

Spherical polyamide particles developed
for 3D printing
A new technique from Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) has been
developed to more simply produce micro-level spherical particles of
polyamide with high melting points, such as polyamide 6 and polyamide
66. Specifically designed for additive manufacturing, Toray’s new
spherical synthetic particles can be used to produce high-strength,
heat-resistant 3D-printed parts.
According to Toray, polyamide particles, many of which are non-
spherical in shape and have low melting point, such as polyamide 12, are
used as materials in powder-based 3D printing. To create high-quality
3D-printed objects, truly spherical particles with high fluidity and
uniform fillability are ideal; high melting points are required to build
parts with high strength and heat resistance.
The drawback with conventional production techniques, according
to Toray, has been the difficulty of creating truly spherical polyamide
particles with the high melting points needed to handle high-
temperature conditions. Toray says it has created a new technique to
produce truly spherical particles at the same time that the polyamide
is polymerized from the monomer, and that is capable of working with
polyamide materials at a range of melting points. Moreover, Toray says
its technique makes it possible to control average particle sizes between
several microns through several hundred microns, enabling creation of
uniformly-sized particles.
Toray says it will continue to scale-up this technology so that it can be
applied to automotive and other markets. toray.com
Source, both images | Toray

» TESTING & INSPECTION

New models for precision test instru-

ment platform
Taber Industries’ (North Tonawanda, N.Y., U.S.) updated
Taber Rotary Platform Abraser is a precision test instru-
ment used to evaluate resistance to wear for a variety of
materials, including plastics, textiles and coated surfaces.
The instrument is available in two models — the single
turntable Model 1700 or the dual turntable Model 1750.
The updated instrument models have been re-engineered Model 1700. Source | Taber Industries
for an aesthetically pleasing, modern appearance and enhanced user
Model 1750. Source | Taber Industries
experience. An LCD operator touchscreen provides an easy-to-use
interface with features such as abrader status, visual reference of test
complete, cycles/time toggle (complete or remaining), pause interval provides a positive locking force on the hub retaining lip that makes
and more. certain the abrading wheels remain securely fastened until disengaged.
The Model 1700/1750 is designed for long-lasting use and includes A vacuum system removes debris during the test and includes a
a precision-machined, cast aluminum support frame that incorporates reconfigured air flow that eliminates right angle stops. The vacuum nozzle
alignment pins to ensure exact arm placement in relation to the has been designed with replaceable, screw-in nozzle tips, including the
specimen holder. Compact abraser arm assemblies are individually nominal 8-mm version and an optional oversized 11-mm version. An
calibrated and include wave springs to reduce clearance in the bearing improved vacuum nozzle height adjustment control eliminates binding
assemblies. Push-button, quick-release, wheel-mounting hubs include when the operator adjusts the gap between the nozzle and specimen.
an expanding collet and spring-loaded, beveled retaining nut that taberindustries.com

40 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 NEW PRODUCTS

HYDRAULIC PRESS
MANUFACTURER
» MOVING SOLUTIONS
Electric tugs ease loading of aerostructures
in and out of autoclave
The MasterMover (Ashbourne, U.K.) MT600+ electric tug, part of the
company’s MasterTug range, reportedly enables a single operator to
easily push, pull and steer wheeled loads up to 6,000 kilograms.
According to the company, operators at aerospace manufacturing
facilities can use the MT600+ to more easily load and unload composite
materials from an autoclave, saving time and minimizing risk of injury
compared to moving with trolleys and other methods. The MT600+ COMPRESSION // TRANSFER // VACUUM //
reportedly enables maximum control over load movement, reducing AUTOMATION // REBUILDS
potential for damage to materials and components.
According to MasterMover, aerospace parts manufacturer KCI
Composites Inc. (KCI; Sacheon, South Korea) had previously used a REQUEST A QUOTE ONLINE
trolley to move 6-tonne composite aircraft parts in and out of the auto-
clave, but experienced issues related to the lack of ability to control the WWW.TRINKSINC.COM
load on the trolley while pulling it out of the autoclave. MasterMover’s
sales partner Sung Wong Co. completed a site evaluation at KCI’s plant in
Sacheon, and recommended an MT600+ as the ideal solution.
mastermover.com

March 25, 2020 • 2:00 PM ET

PRESENTED BY How to 3D Print Sustainable Sacrificial
Tooling for Composite Part Production
and All-New Designs
www.exone.com EVENT DESCRIPTION:
With today’s focus on lightweighting, hollow parts made with composites, such as
ducting, fuel tanks, mandrels, and rocket shrouds, are in higher demand than ever
PRESENTER before. Manufacturing these parts is also now easier than ever with a new water-washout
tooling solution being used by Sikorsky and others. Learn how binder jet 3D printing can
produce durable, accurate sacrificial tools in sand - using a binder that remains water-
soluble throughout process. These tools are highly resistant to thermal expansion and
can simply be washed out with water after autoclaving. What’s more, the sand can also
be reclaimed for sustainable reuse.

PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN:

• How washout tooling is created and why it’s so simple
RICK LUCAS
Chief Technology • Why binder jet 3D printing is ideal for making tooling
Officer, ExOne
• Process specifications, tooling tolerances and sustainable properties
• All-new design possibilities with 3D printed tooling

REGISTER TODAY FOR WEBINAR AT: SHORT.COMPOSITESWORLD.COM/EXONE0325

0320_CW_Exone_half page.indd 1 CompositesWorld.com 2/5/2020 10:08:16 AM 41

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Listen in!

THE COMPOSITES PODCAST

CW Talks: The Composites Podcast

CW Talks is a podcast that highlights the people, processes
and technologies shaping the world of composites.
Interviews feature guests with expertise and insight about
where composites have been, where they are and where they
are headed.
Hear the stories behind the successes of the leaders and
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Download CW Talks on
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42 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 ADVERTISING INDEX / SHOWCASE

ADVERTISING INDEX SHOWCASE

A&P Technology Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Front Cover

www.braider.com

Abaris Training Resources, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

www.abaris.com

Airtech International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
www.airtechonline.com

Burnham Composite Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

www.burnhamcs.com

CGTech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
www.cgtech.com

Composites One LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover

www.compositesone.com

DeltaWing Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

www.deltawing.com

Design Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

www.designconcepts-us.com

Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing

Innovation (IACMI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
www.iacmi.org

IPCO US LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Supreme 11HT-3A

www.ipco.com HIGH STRENGTH ADHESIVE
LEWCO Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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McClean Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
+1.201.343.8983 • main@masterbond.com • www.masterbond.com
www.mccleananderson.com

Newstar Adhesives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Renegade Materials Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover

www.renegadematerials.com Ultra-High Temperature Vacuum Bag Sealant
GS# Fast Tack HT
SAMPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 • Specifically designed to build strong adhesion to polyimide
www.sampeamerica.org vacuum bag film during room temperature layups.
• Maintains flexibility and excellent seal
Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division . . . . 11
throughout entire cure cycle.
www.speautomotive.com • Ideally suited for thermoplastic processing.
• Rated for cures cycles up to 800°F (426°C).
Torr Technologies Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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Sealants in General Sealants industry leading Vacuum Bag Sealant portfolio please contact
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trinksinc.com ®

Stick To Quality®
Wickert USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
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Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

www.wyomingtestfixtures.com

CompositesWorld.com
43
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

Corrosion-resistant composite
piping over the long haul
Three decades of lessons learned using corrosion-resistant glass fiber-rein-
forced composites in piping at SABIC’s Netherlands chlorine production plant.

By Amanda Jacob / Contributing Writer

Corrosion-
resistant
composites
The 40-50 kilometers of
GRP piping installed at
SABIC’s Bergen op Zoom,
Netherlands, plant contain
highly corrosive chemicals,
including chlorine gas,
sodium hydroxide and
hydrochloric acid.
Source | SABIC

» The safe and uninterrupted operation of its chlorine produc-
tion plant in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, is the main priority for
chemicals manufacturer SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). The plant
began operations in 1987 and processes chlorine gas, strong acids
and alkalis at elevated temperatures, which are highly corrosive
environments where steel pipes could fail in only a matter of
months. To ensure maximum corrosion resistance and reliability,
SABIC selected glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GRP) for critical
pipes and equipment from the start, and materials and manufac-
turing improvements implemented over the years have increased
the design life of the composite components to 20 years, so that
they need to be replaced less frequently (see Side Story on p. 46).
“We want to make sure that chemicals like chlorine, hydro-
chloric acid and hydrogen remain inside an enclosed environ-
ment and are well contained,” states Thana Kammeijer, manager,
chemical operations, for the SABIC chlorine unit. “At the same
time, we do not want an equipment failure to interrupt the
continuous operation of the chlorine unit, as this may affect the
downstream processes on this site. Therefore, we closely follow the
condition of all piping and equipment and take the right actions
for preventive maintenance.”
GRP pipes, vessels and assemblies manufactured by Versteden
BV (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands) using resins supplied by DSM
Composite Resins (now part of AOC, Collierville, Tenn., U.S., and
Schaffhausen, Switzerland), have been employed from the begin-
ning. A total of - kilometers of composite piping, consisting
of approximately , pipe segments of various diameters, is
installed in the plant.
The reliability and durability offered by composite materials in
this corrosive environment were decisive factors in their selection
for this project.
“Plant designers are conservative, and their first thought
regarding material of choice for equipment and piping is steel,”
explains Thomas Wegman, marketing manager at AOC. “SABIC

44 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Corrosion-resistant composites

Structural layer:
5-25-mm thick
GRP laminate,
manufactured
using E-glass
reinforcement.

Process fluid

Exterior

Corrosion barrier: 1-12.5-

mm thick GRP laminate
(manufactured with C-glass Exterior layer (topcoat)
veil and E-glass mat), or
thermoplastic liner

GRP pipe laminate

› 1.0- to 12.5-millimeter resin-rich corrosion › 5- to 25-millimeter-thick structural laminate › External protective coating, minimum 0.2
barrier or thermoplastic liner ensures optimal provides the mechanical performance millimeters thick, provides UV and chemical
resistance to corrosive chemicals, protecting required to meet pressure and loading resistance and can be colored if required
the structural laminate conditions

Susan Kraus / Illustration

has always prioritized process safety and obviously wants
processes to run without interruptions. Corrosion resistance
together with mechanical strength and durability were the main
reasons for selecting composites over alternative materials like
steel, in combination with their cost competitiveness.”
The right choice
“Brine, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide are
obviously highly corrosive materials,” comments Paul Peterse,
mechanical integrity engineer at SABIC. “In some applications we
chose to use pure composite piping, while for other applications
(including wet chlorine gas streams) we selected composite pipes
with thermoplastic liners like PVC [polyvinyl chloride] and PTFE
[polytetrafluoroethylene].”
The composite components are produced using filament
winding or hand layup, depending on the design, size and
complexity of the part. A typical pipe structure consists of an
interior corrosion barrier layer, .-. millimeters thick, for
optimal chemical resistance; a --millimeter structural layer to
provide mechanical strength; and an external coating minimum
. millimeter thick to provide protection from the plant envi-
ronment. The inner liner provides chemical resistance and acts
as a diffusion barrier. This resin-rich layer is manufactured with
C-glass veil and E-glass mat and has a standard nominal thick-
ness between . and . millimeters and a maximum glass/resin
ratio of % (based on weight). This corrosion barrier is sometimes
replaced by a thermoplastic liner to prove greater resistance to
specific materials. Liner materials can include PVC, polypropylene
(PP), polyethylene (PE), PTFE, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)
and ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE).
The structural layer employs E-glass reinforcement (rovings,
woven roving and/or chopped strand mat). Wall thicknesses
depend on the pipe diameter and pressure class and are typically
between  and  millimeters. Depending on the manufacturing

CompositesWorld.com 45
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

process (hand layup or filament winding) the

structural wall has a glass/resin ratio between
% and % (based on weight). The UV-resis-
tant outer layer consists of low weight synthetic
veil, is relatively rich in resin, and has a
minimum thickness of . mm. On request, the
external layer can be supplied in any RAL color.
In many corrosion applications, the resin
chosen for the structural laminate is frequently
the same as that in the corrosion barrier, since
chemicals may diffuse through the barrier layer.
But in critical applications such as pipes used to
transport chlorine, a resin with greater corrosion
resistance is required for the barrier layer.
When choosing a resin for a chemical envi-
ronment, a number of complex factors need to
Optimizing for a longer lifespan be taken into account, including: the chemi-
Over the years, Versteden has optimized the design and manufacture of connections such as tees, cal’s concentration and pH values; service
helping to extend the design life of the chlorine plant’s piping. Source | AOC and maximum temperatures; static and cyclic
loading pressure; reinforcement and layup
used; and manufacturing technique. Versteden
selected AOC’s Atlac  bisphenol A vinyl
ester urethane resin, Atlac E-Nova FW , a
modified epoxy bisphenol A urethane vinyl ester,
and Atlac  bisphenol A unsaturated polyester
resin for the SABIC plant. AOC has built up an
extensive corrosion resistance database detailing
how its resins perform in contact with different
corrosive media, and Atlac resins have been used
in corrosion applications for more than  years.
This experience is important for manufacturers
and end users.
“The Atlac resins have a long track record of
consistent performance in pipes and assemblies
used in chemical plants,” says Erwin Simons,
technical director at Versteden. “The resin
quality gives us a huge predictability and consis-
Producing the pipes tency of our production.”
Filament winding at Versteden’s production facility in Bergen op Zoom. Source | AOC
Achieving a 20-year design life
For SABIC, defects resulting from part corrosion
SIDE STORY must be kept to a minimum. Strong chemicals
Chlorine production can attack the surface of the composite compo-
nents, resulting in a visible discoloration that
has limited effect on mechanical performance
The heart of SABIC’s Bergen op Zoom chlorine plant is the cell room, where a series of electrolysis
or chemical resistance, but more importantly,
cells convert a sodium chloride solution (brine) into chlorine; sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric
acid and hydrogen gas are produced as by-products. These chemicals are used in other parts a reduction of the thickness of the corrosion
of the site, where various thermoplastic resins are produced, including LEXAN polycarbonate barrier layer.
products. Following the electrolysis process, the chlorine and hydrogen gases are compressed. “We inspect pipes and pipe connections
The compressed chlorine is liquefied and transported to another production unit at the site. The continuously in order to understand their condi-
compressed hydrogen is transported through pipelines to a boiler for conversion into steam. As tion and minimize the risk of potential leaks,”
part of the chlorine drying process, concentrated sulfuric acid is used. The hydrochloric acid and Peterse reports. “We mostly use visual inspec-
sodium hydroxide are pumped into storage tanks to await further processing. tion methods, and to some extent X-ray and
ultrasound techniques. This gives great insight

46 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

 Corrosion-resistant composites

The right combination

To ensure the optimal performance of
composite components in chemical
environments, the correct combination
of design, materials and manufac-
turing process is essential.
Source | AOC

into the condition of the parts and confirms composites are very connections such as tees by ensuring that alignment and over-
reliable construction materials for contact with corrosive chemi- lamination are performed cautiously and consistently. Joints have
cals at elevated temperatures.” to be made in the correct way to ensure continuity of the corrosion
SABIC also conducts a detailed inspection of composite pipes barrier layer and avoid any imperfections which could result in
and vessels every four years as part of a scheduled site-wide turn- chemical leaks.
around. The results of this inspection determine if the composite “During part production at Versteden all elements of the
components can remain in operation for process are monitored and recorded,
another four-year cycle or whether they so we can trace any anomalies,” Erwin
need to be replaced. Over the  years of the “Composite solutions reports. “Our employees in production
plant’s operation, SABIC, Versteden and AOC are well trained and certified by external
have proven capable of
have introduced design and manufacturing parties in the processing of composite
performing under tough
improvements that have increased the time materials.”
intervals between replacement. environmental conditions.” The design life of a typical part in contact
“In the early years, SABIC was cautious with corrosive chemicals is now  years as a
using composites, and replaced pipes and result of improved resins and production tech-
tanks in critical areas every eight years,” Simons states. “Since then, niques, whereas previously it was  years.
we have worked with SABIC and learned together how these mate- “Keeping my plant in the right condition and knowing that the
rials perform over a longer period of time. As a result, we were chemicals stay where they should be, are my highest priorities,”
able to extend the lifetime of composite components and assem- SABIC’s Kammeijer adds. “I am very happy that through all these
blies through optimizing part design, fine-tuning part produc- years, composite solutions have proven that they are capable of
tion processes and performing under such tough environmental conditions. And that
improving overall quality we can also rely on knowledgeable partners like Versteden and
consistency.” AOC to make these materials work for us.”
Read this article online |
short.compositesworld.com/AOCpipes In order to achieve the
most accurate prediction
of final part performance,
Versteden has defined in detail the individual manufacturing
process steps for pipes and assemblies. During manufacture, these
steps are followed carefully so that the assembly’s functional and Located in Oxford, U.K., Amanda Jacob is a journalist and
marketing communications consultant with more than
mechanical performance is fully in line with the original design. 20 years of experience in the composites industry.
Based on feedback from SABIC and insights gained on material
performance over the years, Versteden has also optimized pipe

CompositesWorld.com 47
 POST CURE

Post Cure
Highlighting the behind-the-scenes
of composites manufacturing

Source | Aeris Energy

Inside the wind blade Show us what you have! @CompositesWorld

During a plant tour of Aeris Energy The CompositesWorld team wants
(Caucaia, Brazil), CW editor-in- to feature your composite part, CompositesWorld
chief Jeff Sloan saw inside the manufacturing process or facility
company’s wind blade manufac- in next month’s issue. @CompositesWrld
turing process. Pictured here, an Send an image and caption to
Aeris Energy employee inspects CW Senior Editor Scott Francis at @CompositesWorld

the shear web and bond line of a sfrancis@compositesworld.com, or

CompositesWorld
Vestas wind blade. connect with us on social media.

Correction: In the February 2020 installment of Post Cure, CW attributed the manufacture of a carbon fiber composite floor reinforcement to Continental Structural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, Mich.,
U.S.). The project was in fact a collaboration between by General Motors (GM, Detroit, Mich., U.S.) and CSP in a Department of Energy (DOE, Washington, D.C., U.S.) funded project led by GM.

48 MARCH 2020 CompositesWorld

Image courtesy of United States Air Force

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