Market outlook
Jacobson and Champion say the machine can process autoclave or out-ofautoclave thermosets, has applicability
to aerospace manufacturing and could
be used to process thermoplastics as
well. Globe is testing aerospace parts in
2013 and hopes to receive an OEM process procedure approval for aerospace
use sometime in early 2014.
Tapping a similar vein was Dale Brosius, president, Quickstep Composites
LLC (Dayton, Ohio), who reviewed his
company's automated through-thickness infusion and rapid-cure process. It
uses resin spray transmission (RST) in a
process that, Brosius says, approximates
semipreg. In RST, the user starts with an
open, empty mold. The mold is sprayed
with a thermoset resin. A carbon fiber
fabric preform is placed over the sprayed
mold surface. The mold is then closed
and the part is cured. The system, says
Brosius, offers rapid heating and cooling
(30°C to 40°C/min), 10-minute part-to-
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52
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high-performance composites
part cycle time, low tooling costs, energy
efficiency, easy automation and parts
with Class A surfaces. The material costs
are said to be 20 to 40 percent less than
prepreg, and parts can be either painted
or clearcoated. Quickstep is selling and
licensing the technology globally and,
Brosius added, has placed a machine
that, at HPC press time, is set to begin
operation in the first quarter of this year.
Exhibitor Dieffenbacher North America (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) introduced its high-pressure resin transfer
molding (HP-RTM) process, aimed at
manufacturing automotive carbon fiber
composites. Dieffenbacher officials at
the conference said the company has
developed machinery to automate fabric preforming, molding and finishing.
Molding is performed at pressures of 80
to 100 bar (1,160 to 1,450 psi) and offers
part-to-part cycle times of about three
minutes. The process, said Dieffenbacher, is being used by a European automotive OEM to manufacture B-pillar structures for a production vehicle.
Next year, Tennessee
Other presentations at the conference
covered a comparison of metallic and
composite wings, design and engineering of large antenna structures, carbon
fiber use in electricity transmission lines,
automated dry fiber placement and design of reinforcements for damage tolerance. Check online at www.compositesworld.com for exclusive reports on these
presentations.
Carbon Fiber 2013 has already been
scheduled for Dec. 9-12 in Knoxville,
Tenn., and will include a tour of Oak
Ridge National Laboratory. Visit www.
compositesworld.com and click "Conferences" for more information and to register for an e-mail service that will provide updates on the event.
Learn More
@
www.compositesworld.com
Read this article online at http://short.
compositesworld.com/WDizAr0l.
Read more about the BMW/SGL automotive
carbon composites partnership in "SGL
Automotive Carbon Fibers plant's two fiber
lines in production," HPC November 2011
(p. 17) or visit http://short.compositesworld.
com/6u9fjkUc.