High-Performance Composites is read by qualified composites industry professionals in the fields of continuous carbon fiber and other high-performance composites as well as the associated end-markets of aerospace, military, and automotive.
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2 8 | H I G H - P E R F O R M A N C E C O M P O S I T E S JEC AMERICAS 2014 REVIEW SHOW COVERAGE Source: HPC/Photo: Jeff Sloan Composites industry exhibitors at this combined show emphasized the textile side of the fiber/resin mix and touted process automation. J EC Americas 2014 (May 13-15) took place in the Georgia World Congress Center (Atlanta, Ga.), co- located with the textile industry trade shows Techtextil North America and Texprocess Americas. JEC says the three shows will continue to colocate through 2016 — JEC Americas will be held June 3-5, 2015 in Houston, Texas and return to Atlanta for the frst week of May in 2016. Although composites exhibitors occupied only about eight of the com- bined show's display aisles, HPC found the following new developments and evidence of several key trends, particu- larly in 3-D textiles and automation. (See a sampling of "New Products" that made their debut at the show, begin- ning on p. 49.) BY GINGER GARDINER Broad themes The use of 3-D textiles for reinforcement of composites was the focus at several booths. Automation, robotics and tex- tile equipment specialist Stäubli (Pfäf- fkon, Switzerland and Duncan, S.C.) underlined the role its 3-D weaving technologies have played in production of composite structures for CFM Inter- national's (Evry, France and Cincinnati, Ohio) LEAP jet engine, which powers the latest single-aisle commercial jetliners. Also on hand was Lindauer DORNIER GmbH (Lindau, Germany), which, as part of Dassault/Dornier in 1973, produced the Alpha Jet, reportedly the frst high- performance aircraft with series-produc- tion structural components made from carbon fber composites. No longer an aircraft parts fabricator, DORNIER now focuses on fabric weaving technology and equipment. And Sigmatex (Cheshire, U.K. and Benicia, Calif.) also highlighted new and specialized 3-D capabilities (read more on p. 50). All three companies touted the nearly endless possibilities available now, including very localized, tailored fabric architectures. Increasing manufacturing speed and effciency through automation was an- other prevalent theme. Show attend- ees were exposed to new automated fber placement (AFP) and automated tape laying (ATL) equipment designed to capture the benefts of both pro- cesses, as well as robotic work cells, such as the system demonstrated live by automation specialist KSL Keilmann (Lorsch, Germany). A video highlighting the company's extensive work in com- posites included segments devoted to a preforming center for the Eurocopter (Donauwörth, Germany) NH90 helicop- ter's fuselage frame profle; a CNC pro- duction unit for the Airbus (Toulouse, France) A380 jumbo jet's pressure bulkhead; robotic sewing units for The Boeing Co.'s (Chicago, Ill.) composite landing gear braces; Toulouse-based Latécoère's integrated RTM composite passenger door for Boeing's 787 Dream- liner, and the tufted crash box for the McLaren Mercedes SLR supercar. Heated and/or conductive composites were also seen multiple times on the ex- hibit foor. Products showcased on the show foor included those from Nora- fn Industries (Mildenau, Germany) and TIBTECH (Bondues, France), for which detailed information is available in "New Products," p. 51. Carbon composite aircraft propeller Composite Fabrics of America (CFA, Taylorsville, N.C.) displayed this carbon fiber composite propeller blade molded by Sensenich (Plant City, Fla.). The blade features a CFA-made Textral custom-patterned fabric that, CFA says, not only served the purpose of product differentiation in the aircraft market but also enhanced manufacturability. Source: Composite Fabrics of America 0714HPC JEC AmericaReview-e1addphoto.indd 28 6/17/2014 10:35:19 AM