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APRIL 2013 APRIL 2013 || VOL. 19 VOL. 19 || NO. NO. 22

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Aiming Resin Infusion at the Application

Seawalls: Pure Polyurethane vs. Steel

COMPOSITES 2013 Show Review

COMPOSITES IN CHEVY’S VOLT

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Table of Contents

FEATURES

April 2013 | Vol. 19 | No. 2

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This extremely complex lithium-ion battery pack assembly, for General Motors’ (GM, Detroit, Mich.) new hybrid-electric Chevy Volt, was engineered by GM, resin source BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany), molder MANN+HUMMEL (Portage, Mich.) and Canadian toolmaker Omega Corp. (Old Castle, Ontario), using an ultraprecise injection molding process. See p. 46.Source | General Motors

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COMPOSITESWATCH

Automotive | 8, 10

Wind Energy | 9

Marine | 13

News | 16

COLUMNS

Editor | 2JEC 2013 at fi rst bush

Composites: Past, | 5Present & Future

DEPARTMENTS

Work In Progress | 22

Applications | 39

Calendar | 40

New Products | 41

Marketplace | 44

Ad Index | 45

Showcase | 45

COVER PHOTO

ACMA COMPOSITES 2013 ReviewOnce again, cautious optimism, an abundance of revealing research and a parade of notable new products are ACMA convention keystones.

Aiming Infusion at the ApplicationWith so many process variables to play with, how do you know which new solutions that promise better, faster infusion are right for your application?By Ginger Gardiner

Inside Manufacturing Pultruding Polyurethane | Sheet Pilings Break BoundariesHigh-pressure pultrusion process creates polyurethane composite sheet pile system with the strength and stiffness to compete with steel.By Karen Wood

Engineering Insights Chevy Volt Battery Pack | Rugged but PreciseGM and partners engineer composites for this complex assembly with a strong accent on repeatability. By Michael LeGault

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Editor

Composites Technology (ISSN 1083-4117) is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October & December) by Gardner Business Media, Inc. Corporate and production offi ces: 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244. Editorial offi ces: PO Box 992, Morrison, CO 80465. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH and additional mailing offi ces. Copyright © 2013 by Gardner Business Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Postmaster: Send address changes to Composites Technology, 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. If undeliverable, send Form 3579.

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EDITORIAL OFFICES

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Contributing Writers Dale Brosius / [email protected] Ginger Gardiner / [email protected] Michael R. LeGault / [email protected] Peggy Malnati / [email protected] John Winkel / [email protected] Karen Wood / [email protected]

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ALSO PUBLISHER OF• High-Performance Composites • Modern Machine Shop • IMTS Directory of Exhibits • NPE Offi cial Show Directory• Moldmaking Technology • Production Machining• Products Finishing • Products Finishing Directory• Plastics Technology / PT Handbook • Automotive Design & Production

Today’s push into auto composites will help us

all tomorrow.

Jeff Sloan

JEC 2013 at fi rst blush

Th ere is a certain risk involved when one too hurriedly attempts to put a trade show like JEC Europe in perspective. Th at said, for those who did not make it to Paris this year, I’ll hazard this fi rst memo of observations, written as I jet home fol-lowing the three-day (March 12-14) event in Paris.

Th e incursion of composites into structural automotive parts continues, despite disagreement among industry observers about the seriousness and the pace of the eff ort. Some at the show argued that the use of composites in automotive passen-ger cells is sporadic at best and may never become widespread, despite the launch this year of the BMW i3, which features an all carbon fi ber passenger cage. Others argue that the i3 will be remembered as the fi rst of many vehicles to employ struc-tural composites — the launch of a new era in composites application.

For the record, you can put me in the latter camp. Even before JEC, there was much evidence of substantial eff ort to develop resin systems and manufacturing processes that would facilitate high-speed/large-volume production of composite chassis members and body panels. At the show, the signs were concentrated in one location and hard to ignore. Teijin/Toho Tenax, KraussMaff ei, Dieff enbacher, Mo-mentive, Cannon, DSM, Barrday, Quickstep, Globe Machine, Toray, Dow, Ticona,

TenCate, Owens Corning and Gurit either announced or reiterated plans along these lines, involving glass fi ber- and carbon fi ber-reinforced thermosets and thermoplastics.

A fad? Market forces say otherwise: Emis-sions restrictions in Europe and new U.S. fuel effi ciency standards are putting pressure on

carmakers like never before to lose weight. Although some automakers might wish that such weight could be lost with conversion to aluminum alone, the fact is that it will take a combination of materials, intelligently applied, along with advances in engine fuel effi ciency.

And that takes me to my second point: It was clear in Paris that the eff ort to make automotive composites molding viable for production vehicles is pushing the entire composites industry down the path of improved productivity. Th e com-posites industry’s dynamism has us all accustomed to the advent of new technolo-gies and products that move the industry forward, but the fact is that winning over automakers (and other fence-sitters) will require that good, old-fashioned basic manufacturing gets better. And “better” means faster, more consistent, more re-peatable and more predictable, with quantifi able, traceable quality control.

Look at it this way: We’d all like to go zipping down the highway in a new Lamborghini Aventador, but for practical, reliable day-aft er-day transportation, there’s nothing like a well-tuned, well-engineered, well-built Ford, Toyota or BMW. Suppliers to the composites industry see this, and at JEC there were a variety of new products and technologies on display designed to make everyday composites manufacturing just a little bit “better.” Perhaps, even if composites in automotive becomes the fad some claim, we will all be more savvy and capable for it.

Th at’s all for now. Look for a full report on JEC Europe 2013 in your June issue of CT.

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Composites: Past, Present & Future

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f ever there was cause for bold thinking in light-duty vehicles engineering and construction, it’s the latest round of U.S. Corpo-

rate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations. And with the new CAFE, the opportunity has arrived, fi nally, for carbon fi ber to break into mainstream use. But will the strong, lightweight material and the processes needed to make it cost-competitive be ready?

CAFE calls for a 99 percent improve-ment, a corporate average of 54.5 mpg, in each automaker’s fl eet fuel effi ciency through 2025, compared with 2011. For an industry that prides itself on squeezing sin-gle-digit effi ciency gains from its products, a leap like this in less than four product cycles will take a Hercu-lean eff ort. Th e daunting task will be toughest for those full-line automakers with larger pickups and SUVs, the most frugal of which currently eke out 25 mpg on the highway.

As CT readers know, vehicle mass reduction is one of the stra-tegic pillars in the drive to 54.5. Product planners want to reduce vehicle curb weights by as much as 750 lb/340 kg, without sacrifi c-ing the size and functionality customers love — and without raising cost signifi cantly. It’s a tricky proposition. It will require new mate-rials and new processing solutions, some of which already are ap-pearing on the technology road maps of those full-line auto OEMs.

For the materials industries, the new CAFE regulations are heat-ing up competition like it’s the 1980s again. Back then, the plas-tics industry was mustering an all-out blitz on steel’s dominance. Plastic-bodied concepts headlined auto shows. Plastic fenders and lift gates were replacing their steel counterparts on production cars. And GM was launching plastic-bodied spaceframe architectures for the Pontiac Fiero, the U-body “dustbuster” minivans and the multibillion-dollar Saturn program.

Th e plastics industry pushed hard and gained market share while it scrambled to resolve quality issues related to the thermal-expansion coeffi cients of some materials. But as hard as plastics pushed, steel responded to the threat by rolling up its sleeves and pushing back harder. Instead of allowing themselves to be swept

Will carbon fi ber be ready to join the 54.5-mpg battle?

Bio | Lindsay BrookeLindsay Brooke is the senior editor of the Society of Automo-tive Engineers’ (SAE) Automotive Engineering International magazine (aei-online.org). Before joining SAE, Brooke was the senior auto industry analyst who specialized in technol-ogy forecasting at CSM Worldwide (now IHS Automotive) and was widely quoted by The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Forbes, Fortune and other media. Prior to that he was editor of Automotive Industries magazine, with a

brief hiatus as Chrysler Corp.’s manager of engineering and technology public rela-tions. Brooke’s writing on automotive topics has appeared in The New York Times, AutoWeek, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Cycle World and other periodicals. He is the author of fi ve books and holds a BA and an MA in journalism and com-munications from Shippensburg University.

Carbon fiber’s decades-long promise ... may, indeed, be realized.

under the tsunami of PC/ABS, MPPE/PA and SMC, the steelmakers innovated. Th ey revamped manufacturing processes and brought new and lighter alloys to production. Most importantly, they worked with their customers on holistic, cost-saving processes.

It was a call to arms that became a case study in how an industry sector can respond successfully to a competitive challenge. As we march toward 2017-2025 CAFE, it appears the aluminum indus-try will challenge steel as the primary material for automotive body structures and exterior panels. Th e boldest example is Ford’s deci-sion to switch its breadwinning F-Series pickups to an aluminum-intensive body and cargo box in 2015.

It will be a costly and somewhat risky move. But what other available material can enable signifi cant mass to be shed yet meet the manufacturability, crashworthiness, repairability, long-term du-rability, cost, recyclability and part-per-minute throughput require-ments of a mainstream vehicle program?

Th is is where I would cue the drumroll and trumpet fanfare for carbon fi ber and advanced composites … but the band isn’t yet ready to sound those tones. When will it be, then? Recent progress has made me cautiously optimistic that carbon fi ber’s decades-long

promise to move beyond specialty applica-tions may, indeed, be realized in time to help OEMs meet CAFE 2025.

My view comes from what’s happening on the front lines of carbon fi ber development. Th e collective work is aimed at dramatically

scaling up the capability to serve automotive volumes with robust products, improved process technologies and lower materials cost.

At their joint-venture plant in Moses Lake, Wash., BMW and SGL have placed a $100 million bet that carbon-fi ber-intensive vehicle structures, initially for BMW’s 2014 i3, are indeed ready for prime time. (Th e facility and its managers made a quite positive impres-sion on me during a recent visit.) In Walker, Mich., Plasan Carbon Composites’ new 200,000-ft 2/18,580m2 facility has begun midvolume (40,000 to 50,000 units per year) production of the carbon composite hood and roof for the 2014 Corvette Stingray, using a new process technology that dramatically reduces machine and curing cycle times.

And at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Knoxville, Tenn.), a leader in carbon fi ber R&D in the U.S. for years, there are ongoing and promising projects to devel-op low-cost precursors based on kraft lignin (a by-product of pa-permaking); to use commodity-grade polyacrilonitrile (PAN) as a precursor; to reduce precursor conversion costs using microwave energy-generated plasmas; and to slash equipment costs and pre-cursor oxidation time.

Th e expanding list of precompetitive industry collaborations is encouraging, to say the least. Indeed, it’s getting easier to count the global OEMs who aren’t working together on carbon fi ber projects. Besides BMW and SGL, Toray is working with Toyota, Fuji Heavy In-dustries, and Daimler while its major Japanese competitor, Teijin,

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has a venture with General Motors. Ford and DowAksa are part-ners. Audi is working with Voith, the third-largest shareholder in SGL, of which VW owns a minor share. Th ere’s even a deal between Lamborghini, Quantum Composites and Callaway Golf.

Perhaps more remarkable, there’s CALM, the Coalition of Automotive Lightweighting Materials at the Center for Automo-tive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Formed last year with support from the American Chemistry Council (Washington, D.C.) and the Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group (Arlington, Va.), CALM combines the strengths of the aluminum and composites/plastics industries with technology providers in design, fabrication and joining. Th eir collective goal is to support OEM eff orts to reduce vehicle weight.

Whenever I air the words “carbon fi ber” among industry engi-neers, the high cost of the raw material gets the greatest play. It’s dif-fi cult to talk about carbon fi ber’s many attributes when its average price is $12/lb, compared to about $2.50/lb for aluminum and about $1/lb for typical high-strength steels. But industry leaders tell me that solutions for narrowing that big gap are coming at a faster rate.

“Our goal is to match the cost of aluminum,” said Dr. Joerg Pohlman, SGL Automotive’s managing director, during my visit to Moses Lake. “We’re not yet there, but we foresee the day in the next few years where we can match aluminum’s cost in a full-vehi-cle body structure.”

If Pohlman’s vision is realized, carbon fi ber could play much more than a minor role in the CAFE battle. | CT |

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Initiatives in the automotive, wind energy and marine sectors continue to bear fruit

as manufacturers, suppliers and processing technologies take root.

NAIAS: Detroit auto show spotlights plug-ins/hybrids

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Overfl ow crowds, up about 3 to 5 percent over attendance last year, descended on this

year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Mich. Held in the Motor City’s Cobo Hall, Jan. 14-27, it signifi ed industry confi dence in the economy as it stabilizes. Auto market analyst Edmunds.com predicted sales of 15 million light vehicle sales in 2013, or an increase of about 4 percent over the 14.4 million vehicles sold in 2012.

Th e sales surge continues to be driven, in large part, by the release of pent-up demand from buyers who deferred buying or leasing a new vehicle during the recession. Th e market is also expected to receive a boost from nearly 500,000 more lease re-turners, compared to 2012, who are expected to buy or lease a new vehicle when their lease terminates.

Th ere were 59 new vehicle introductions at the show, of which nine were exclusive to the North American market. With ever-more stringent fuel economy standards on the horizon, new and revamped hybrid and all-electric vehicles shared the spotlight with fresh introductions of more fuel-effi cient pickup trucks and tech-nology- and perk-laden SUVs and luxury cars.

Th ermoplastic composites have played, and will continue to play, a prominent role in the industry’s eff ort to lightweight and improve fuel economy. In cars equipped with conventional internal combus-tion engines and diesel engines, composites have seen steady growth in underhood, body and high-temperature powertrain applications. In hybrids and all-electrics, composites are already the material of choice for battery packs, and they will likely play an expanded role in body interior and exterior components.

Ford Motor Co.’s (Dearborn, Mich.) electric/hybrid lineup now includes three vehicles with EPA ratings of 100 mpge or more: the Focus Electric, C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid. Ford claims the C-MAX Hybrid line, which launched late last year, has become the fastest-selling hybrid ever at launch, with 8,030 units sold in its fi rst two months on the market, outpacing the record of 7,300 held by the 2006 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Ford used the show to introduce the second of its plug-in hybrids, the Fusion Energi, said to be the top-performing plug-in on the market, with a range of 620 miles/998 km (assuming a fully charged battery and full gas tank at start). Ford also announced that customers will now have the choice

to order both the Fusion and the Focus as an all-electric, hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

In Germany automakers are expanding hybrid platforms, as evi-denced by the North American premiere of the 2013 Volkswagen (VW, Wolfsburg, Germany) Jetta Hybrid, powered by a new light-weight, turbocharged 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine capable of 150 hp, coupled to a 140-kW/27-hp electric motor. Th e total output of 170 hp is sent through a seven-speed transmission, giving it the distinction of being the fi rst hybrid to use a dual-clutch automatic transmission. VW also displayed a plug-in SUV prototype called CrossBlue that mates a diesel engine with two electric motors. Th e vehicle can travel 14 miles/22.5 km in all-electric mode and gets an estimated 35 mpg while running on both gas and electric.

Guangzhou, China-based automaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd. (GAC) had three vehicles on display, including the Triumpchi, a four-wheel drive hybrid with a 1.8-liter gas engine; the Triumpchi GS5 BEV, a pure electric concept crossover vehicle; and the all-electric E-jet concept sedan. Although GAC is not currently selling cars in North America, a spokesperson at the show said “cir-cumstances look good” for a U.S. introduction in the near future.

One of the most anticipated NAIAS events was General Motors’ (GM, Detroit, Mich.) reintroduction of its classic Chevrolet Cor-vette Stingray badge. Th e 2014 Stingray (shown with an earlier in-carnation at top left in photo) features a carbon fi ber composite roof and hood molded by Plasan Carbon Composites (Bennington, Vt.). Get the Stingray roof/hood production story in CT’s sister maga-zine, High-Performance Composites (HPC March 2013, p. 42, or visit http://short.compositesworld.com/V4Ty5Iv4).

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COMPOSITES WATCH

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Billed as the “world’s fi rst high-performance electric pickup truck,” VIA Motors’ (Orem, Utah) VTRUX, is actually a concept hybrid pickup built on GM’s Chevy Silverado chassis. VIA, whose chairman, Bob Lutz, is a former GM vice chairman, has raised more than $5 million and has a business plan to produce this and other extended-range electric vehicles (E-REVs) by modifying OEM trucks, vans and SUVs. Th e company purchases basic vehicles from GM and couples the gas powertrain to an electric drive.

Aft er beta testing its vehicles with fl eet customers, VIA plans to sell directly to fl eets under the VTRUX brand name. Th e truck at the show featured SMC body panels, but the company representative at the show could not say whether the body panels on VIA’s fi rst pro-jected commercial vehicles would be composites or metal.

Smart (Böblingen, Germany), part of Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG, introduced its third-generation Fortwo electric car, which will go on sale in North America by the second quarter of 2013. Th e third-generation model includes a more powerful electric motor and sports a new lithium-ion battery pack, which increases the vehicle’s range to 140 km/87 miles.

At a press event held during the show, executives with Johnson Controls (Plymouth, Mich.) discussed trends in seating, highlight-ing the company’s new Gen 3 Synergy seating. Frame components of the Synergy Seat are constructed of natural fi ber-reinforced com-posites, which replace steel. Th e company said it expects the use of composites in seating and interiors in general to become a trend that will further reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel effi ciency.

UML Center opens for WIND ENERGY research/education

Th e University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) reported on Feb. 8 that it will anchor the Center

for Wind Energy, Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR). Th e Center’s aim is to develop a cadre of diverse undergraduate and graduate students with world-class training, who will support and eventually lead in the analysis, design, manufacture, installation, operation and maintenance of wind energy systems. Partners in-clude Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Iowa State University. Th e team is actively seeking industrial partners that are willing to join the center as collaborators.

Th e proposed Industry & University Cooperative Research Program (I/UCRC) will engage in research and education that will include composites applications and provide a forum in which wind turbine manufacturers, ancillary equipment suppliers, service companies and wind farm developers can work together to solve problems that are of mutual interest. In addition, the center will work to develop and integrate educational activities that enhance recruitment and retention of diverse student populations. KidWind, for example, will provide teaching materials for K-12 teachers and manage regional and national challenges for team turbine design competitions. Th e center also will be the conduit for the transfer of ideas from KidWind to industry and academia.

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Acceptance and incorporation of composite materials into production automobiles and trucks is growing. CT’s North American

International Auto Show (NAIAS) report (p. 8) and two feature articles in this issue (pp. 22 and 46) are cases in point. But beyond

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these headline events, and sometimes overshadowed by them, are no less important tales of progress. Here’s a sampling.

In the Middle East, Polmet Automotive Ltd. (Bursa, Turkey) says it is entering a new phase in its development of specialty composites for European markets. In a Feb. 14 announcement, the company reported that it had acquired fi ve resin-injection systems, 10 hydraulic presses and two vacuum lines for the new eff ort. Th e equipment will be installed and made operational in a 2,500m2 (27,000 ft 2) workspace at the company’s facilities.

According to Mahir Arpaci, Polmet’s product manager, the new products will include fi nished, gel-coated carbon fi ber body parts: “Carbon fi ber components and composites will strengthen our presence in international markets,” Arpaci contends.

Polmet has specialized in automotive and marine applications since it was founded in 1980, and it has a network of distributors throughout Europe. Th e fi rm employs about 25 skilled employees and sells its composites in more than 10 countries.

News of a new automotive initiative, the Lightweight Inte-grated Process Application (LIPA) project, came from the Georg Kaufmann Tech-Center AG (GK-Tech-Center, Busslingen, Swit-zerland). LIPA seeks to develop a process of forming and “back injecting” thermoplastic prepregs or commingled thermoplastic fabrics, which the group calls “organic sheets,” to produce fiber-reinforced lightweight thermoplastic components for eventual

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series production. The primary goal of the project is to develop and validate the manufacturing process for large-scale produc-tion by focusing on structural components and process control. Because the development work would be difficult for one compa-ny to handle alone, a multicompany consortium was envisioned. GK-Tech-Center joined forces with partners ASE Industrieau-tomation GmbH (Näfels, Switzerland), Kistler Instrumente AG (Winterthur, Switzerland), Krelus AG (Oberentfelden, Switzer-land) and Quadrant Plastic Composites AG (Lenzburg, Switzer-land). The consortium has constructed a specially designed flex-ible manufacturing cell at the new LIPA Development Center, in Busslingen.

Th e composites process under development involves pressure preshaping of a fl at, dry reinforcement in a closed mold before in-troducing the matrix. Organic sheet fabrics are placed in a tool, then formed upon tool closure, without damage, for local rein-forcement. When the preshaping process is fi nished, an injection process begins, encapsulating the fabric as a stiff ening element within the part. Th e problem, says LIPA, is that the process is not yet fast enough for a high-volume automotive production line. But the development partners have more than 20 years of experience in back-injection/pressing of fl exible materials, such as textiles and thermoplastic sheets, says the group, and it intends the work to produce, eventually, a fast, coordinated process.

Scott Bader Co. Ltd. (Northamptonshire, U.K.) has reached an agreement to acquire ATC Formulated Polymers Inc. (Burling-ton, Ontario, Canada), effective Feb. 4, 2013. ATC has a strong reputation for manufac-turing a wide range of bonding, tooling, fairing, compression molding and other polyester- and vinyl ester-based pastes, sup-plied largely in the North America compos-ites industry. This acquisition reportedly will make Scott Bader and ATC a global leader in the structural adhesives and bonding pastes business, with a full range of technologies and manufacturing capabilities to meet the needs of composites customers. Tom Johannsen, ATC’s majority owner, states, “I was attracted to Scott Bader because of their wide range of adhesives, their vision to grow this market on a worldwide basis, and their employee-owned company struc-ture.” Scott Bader will keep customers up to date on developments and the timing of new product introductions. The Scott Bader Inc. U.S. offi ce, located in Stow, Ohio, will continue to sell Scott Bader’s trademarked Crystic resins and specialty chemicals.

BIZ BRIEF

In addition to an injection molding machine with a clamp force of 4,200 kN, the project partners are equipped with an infrared heating station and a six-axis robot with a carrying weight capac-ity of 90 kg/200 lb. Depending on the respective development eff ort, the manufacturing cell can be modifi ed and expanded as needed. Further, the molding equipment is fi tted with extensive sensor technology that tracks all the relevant process parameters. As a “nonindustry-specifi c facility,” the LIPA Center is available to interested processors, users and material manufacturers for test-ing and development initiatives. Th e LIPA project is supported by KraussMaff ei Technologies GmbH (Munich, Germany), Kuka Roboter GmbH (Augsburg, Germany) and the Institute of Light-weight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) of the Techni-cal University of Dresden.

In the U.S., Cannon USA (Cranberry Township, N.J.) reports that it has developed a work cell for the manufacture of carbon fi -ber/epoxy automotive parts at relatively high production volumes. Craig Woolheater, product manager at Cannon, says the cell is al-ready used in Europe to manufacture the passenger cage of a 2013 passenger vehicle. Th e cell focuses on the robotic dispensation of epoxy resin onto a dry carbon fi ber fabric. Th e combined fabric and resin are then cured in a heated 1,000-ton press. Woolheater claims the system off ers a fi ve-minute part-to-part cycle time, with minimal labor interaction and high levels of automation.

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Kenway Corp. (Augusta, Maine) reported on Jan. 14 that it has been awarded a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract to manufacture

four sets of composite submarine berthing aids, called “camels,” for the U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London (Groton, Conn.). Th e composite camels are large semisubmerged structures used to create a protective barrier between submarines and piers while the vessels are berthed (see image below). When they are complete, each composite camel will measure 38 by 18 by 18 ft (11.6 by 5.5 by 5.5m) and will weigh more than 100,000 lb/45.4 metric tonnes.

Kenway president Ian Kopp says, “As Kenway has diversifi ed its composites manufacturing business from strictly heavy industrial

customers to a broader customer base, we have excelled where advanced manufacturing technology re-

quirements meet value-added components. Th e demanding service requirements

and inherent manufacturing challenges of the U.S. Na-vy’s composite camel pro-gram fi t the company’s core competencies perfectly.”

Kenway says the com-posite camel design re-presents an innovation for

the U.S. Navy. In 2000, the Navy developed a set of composite sub-marine camels as part of a demonstration project. Although steel camels had a lower upfront cost, the lifecycle costs were signifi cantly higher due to accelerated corrosion in the harsh marine environ-ment. Aft er 10 years in service, the prototype composite camels, by contrast, have required virtually no maintenance. As a result, the Navy has replaced the steel design with the composite alternative. Th e composite camels also represent a Navy focus on standardiza-tion, enabling manufacturing of the system in Augusta, Maine, for shipment and assembly anywhere in the world. Th e project will take two years to complete.

Kenway, Composite Advantage vie for U.S. Navy SUBMARINE “camel” contracts

MAR

INE

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Kenw

ay

Source | Composite Advantage

(continued on p. 14)

COMPOSITES WATCH

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Kenway is collaborating on this project with a range of industry partners. Kenway senior project engineer Jake Marquis says, “Our material suppliers have played key roles in this project, allowing us to innovate with improved materials and manufacturing processes while still building to the Navy’s standard design. Also essential has been collaboration with the Advanced Structures & Composites Center at the University of Maine [Orono, Maine], where we have evaluated materials and conducted testing.”

Elsewhere, a recent inspection of composite submarine camels developed and built by Composite Advantage (CA, Dayton, Ohio) for the U.S. Navy reportedly gave the FRP “boat bumpers” perfect marks for performance (photo on p. 13, top right). CA installed its fi rst set of universal composite camels in 2010 at the Naval Subma-rine Base New London. Two more sets were installed in 2011. Th e inspection, led by a Navy facilities engineer accompnaied by CA engineers, confi rmed that all three sets were eff ectively transferring high loads to protect nuclear-powered submarines and piers and had not yet required maintenance. Th e inspection was aided by a waterline painted on the camels to check for trim and freeboard.

Th e Navy selected CA and Whitman, Requardt & Associates (Baltimore, Md.) for a design and build project to develop and fab-ricate a universal composite camel to replace its steel and timber products, which require annual maintenance and frequent replace-ment. CA manufactured the FRP camels to accommodate all classes of underwater craft up to and including the Navy’s largest ballistic missile submarines.

McClean

Lehmann & Voss & Co. (Hamburg, Germany) has launched a subsidiary to produce its trademarked LUVOCOM compounds. The new entity will di-rectly serve the North American compounding market. Located in Pawca-tuck, Conn., the new company, LEHVOSS North America LLC, is staffed by an experienced sales, engineering and manufacturing team. Formerly, Lehmann & Voss & Co. was represented in the U.S. by the joint venture Techmer Lehvoss Compounds LLC (TLC). LEHVOSS North America says it will manufacture LUVOCOM materials in the U.S. to the same engineering specifi cations and quality standards as those adhered to by the parent company’s operations in Germany.

“This is a strong commitment to our customers and is a major step forward to making sure customers have full access to our solution-based products and services,” comments Alfred Bartkiewicz, managing director of LEHVOSS North America. “We are now able to deliver our expertise and tailor-made products much faster and with the dedicated support our customers require.”

LUVOCOM compounds are based on a broad range of thermoplastic resins with a special emphasis on high-performance polymers. The prod-ucts can be divided into six product groups: high-temperature-resistant, lubricant-modifi ed, electrically conductive, carbon fi ber-reinforced, ther-mally conductive and detectable compounds. The primary industries served are automotive, medical, machinery and electrical. The company says it is committed to fast response times and quick delivery of newly developed, customized materials.

BIZ BRIEF

(continued from p. 13)

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DSM Composite Resins AG (Schaffh ausen, Switzerland) reports that it has been actively involved in the screening of diff erent recy-cling technologies for composites. Leading a project team for the European industry group EuCIA’s Recycling and Sustainability Platform in 2012, DSM evaluated in detail the coprocessing of composite regrind in cement manufacturing and confi rmed that it is the most sustainable composites recycling strategy today, based on a lifecycle analysis (LCA) study. Together with cement manufacturer Holcim Technology Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland) and its waste management unit Geocycle, DSM performed a detailed LCA on the cement clinker manufacturing process and the use of composite regrind as alternative input material. During the study, the research parties have been using the LCA4Waste soft ware tool, which was jointly developed by Holcim, the Zurich-based univer-sity ETH Zürich, the Swiss Ministries of Environment and Energy, and the association of Swiss waste treatment plants.

Th e analysis confi rmed that using glass-reinforced composite regrind in coprocessing can help minimize composites’ carbon footprint signifi cantly. Th is is very good news both for the com-

Composites recycling slowly gaining momentum

posites industry and the cement industry in their eff orts to increase sustainability. According to DSM, the study conclusion will have a strong and positive infl uence within both sectors, and will encour-age increasing acceptance and future use of composite materials.

“Recycling of composite materials through coprocessing is a reality already today, in full compliance with the European Waste Framework Directive,” comments Thomas Wegman, marketing manager at DSM. “Therefore, it has been a great pleasure to work together with the EuCIA project team to demonstrate the posi-tive impact on carbon emission reductions [that] composite re-cycling can bring.”

“DSM has been actively involved in developing solutions for composites recycling for many years,” adds Fons Harbers, Euro-pean commercial director for DSM. “Providing reliable end-of-life solutions is vital for the future growth of composites.”

An electronic version of the DSM brochure on composites re-cycling, titled “Renewable Value,” is available at the following Web site: http://www.ifu.ethz.ch/ESD/research_2/projects/coprocess-ing/coprocessing/index_EN.

Composites NEWS

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Other companies are also joining the LCA and recycling eff orts. At the recent American Composites Manufacturers Assn. (ACMA, Arlington, Va.) COMPOSITES 2013 event in Orlando, Fla., CT had the op-portunity to speak with Frank O’Brien-Ber-nini, VP and chief sustainability offi cer at Owens Corning Composite Materials (To-ledo, Ohio). “Th e LCA data inventory for composites has grown a lot over the last few years, and that data is being managed by a third party, Franklin Assoc. [Prairie Village, Kan.],” he says. “Th ere is now considerably more fi berglass data, as well as more new LCA case studies, which are available from ACMA.” But, for O’Brien-Bernini, recycling is a big issue that has not yet been addressed adequately by the composites industry: “For the metals industry, it’s all about recycling and recyclability. Th e composites industry really needs to start working on this issue to keep up,” he says. Owens Corning has recently developed a program to recycle its roofi ng shingle products, whereby home-owners can contact contractors in their area who are participating in the program to prevent landfi ll disposal. Th e ground-up shingles are used in asphalt for paving.

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After a successful internal audit, the French Oil Mill Machinery Co. (Piqua, Ohio) has renewed its Det Norske Veritas (DNV) ISO 9001:2008 certifi cation through Dec. 28, 2015. The certifi cation ensures that French’s company-wide quality management process meets the stringent requirements of the ISO 9001:2008 International Standard accred-ited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB). “The ISO certifi cation renewal reinforces our quality standards and helps to assure our stakeholders that we are provid-ing world-class products and services,” says Jason McDaniel, French’s president and COO. French received its initial certifi cate in 1998, and since then, there has been no interrup-tion in the accreditation. French Oil Mill Machinery Co. is a family-owned 112-year-old company that custom designs, manufac-tures and supports presses for composites compression molding and a variety of other applications.

BIZ BRIEF

he American Composites Manufacturing Assn. (ACMA, Arlington, Va.) hosted COMPOSITES 2013, this year’s edition of its annual conference and exposition, from Jan. 28-30 in Orlando, Fla. Exhibitors and attendees alike

expressed more of the same cautious postrecession optimism that has marked this event for the past two years.

At the opening general session, the keynote address was an awe-inspiring look into the world of U.S. Navy SEALs. Sponsored by Owens Corning Composite Materials LLC (Toledo, Ohio) and introduced by Owens Corning president and CEO Michael Th aman, former SEAL Robert O’Neill described his years as a member of SEAL Team Six and how those searing experiences can translate to a model for leadership in any business or organization. Th e ingredients for success, he said, are no diff erent in busi-ness than in covert operations: Preparation; clear, concise communication; trust in team members; and a willingness to make critical decisions under pressure. O’Neill’s main point was “never quit,” and he contended that anyone can persevere to become “the best of the best.”

Also part of the opening session was a look at the composites market, presented by Chuck Kazmierski, the program manager at market research fi rm Lucintel (Dallas, Texas). Kazmierski said Lucintel estimates that the total value of the composite ma-terials sector in 2012 was $7.3 billion, a 9.5 percent jump over 2011. He predicts that number will grow to $10.9 billion by 2018, which represents a 7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). His number for the total value of end-use products made with composites in 2012 is $21 billion. In Kazmierski’s view, the market will recover to prerecession levels by 2014. And he identifi ed several markets that are “underserved.” Th ey have high-performance requirements, but the penetration of composites has, so far, been low. Th ese markets include medical technologies, pressure tanks, off shore oil and gas structures/piping and, in the construction industry, rebar for concrete and commercial and residential window frames.

Among the notable technical papers was the winner of the Best Paper Award in the Materials category, “Exterior Wall Assembly Material Screening Process for NFPA 285,” coauthored by Dr. Nicholas Dembsey, a professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, Mass.); Young-Geun You, a Worcester student; Bill Kreysler (Kreysler & Assoc., American Canyon, Calif.); and Mike Stevens of Ashland Performance Materials (Dublin, Ohio), in the ar-chitectural and construction market. Interest there is increasing in composite exterior

ACMA’s keynote speaker Robert

O’Neill described his years as a

member of U.S. Navy SEAL

Team Six and how those searing

experiences can translate to a

model for leadership in any

business or organization.

T

Once again, cautious optimism, an abundance of

revealing research and a parade of notable new

products are ACMA convention keystones.

ACMA COMPOSITES

2013REVIEW

Owens Corning’s president and

CEO Michael Thaman told CT

that despite industry progress

toward material and equipment

standardization and automation,

many composites processes

remain ripe for optimization.

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wall assemblies for tall buildings. Th e International Building Code (IBC) requires composite materials to comply with the acceptance criteria of several National Fire Protection Assn. (NFPA) tests. If a fi ber-reinforced polymer (FRP) panel passes the tests, the IBC now allows it to be used anywhere on a building. Although this is a huge step forward for architectural composites, the testing is expensive, and there are a limited number of accredited test sites in the U.S. Dembsey and his student, however, were able to develop a cost-eff ective screening tool, using a cone calorimeter bench test and the “Tunnel” fi re test. Th ey demonstrated that these methods can accurately predict whether a composite fabrication will meet the rigorous NFPA standard. According to Dembsey, a “garden-variety” FRP layup is easily able to pass, as long as “the ingredients are put together in the right way.” He urged fabricators to use his approach and employ the highest possible glass content and a fi re-retardant polyester, plus an aluminum trihydrate (ATH) additive and, per-haps, an intumescent additive. “Fire resistance,” says Dembsey, “can be attained using ordinary, nonexotic materials.”

Also a winner, in the Best in Green Composites category, was “Life Cycle Assessment of Composite Shipping Container Floors Compared to Conventional Wood Flooring,” presented by George Pavlovich and Shen Tian of Bayer MaterialScience LLC (Pittsburgh, Pa.). It examines the lifecycle of shipping containers, particularly the container fl oors, which are typically made of wood and, oft en, very fast-growing materials, such as bamboo. Th e study showed that 99 percent of wooden container fl oors require maintenance during their lifetime, while only 8 percent of containers with pultruded FRP fl oors need repair or replacement. More importantly, huge energy savings are possible with the composite-fl oored containers. Reduced mass means that ships use less fuel, and fewer repairs ex-tend their service life. Th at, and the potential for end-of-life reuse or recycling, slows deforestation and, thus, preserves the world’s prin-cipal tool for carbon dioxide sequestration, say the authors. Notably, an audience member pointed out that cargo is oft en secured to con-tainer fl oors with nails or screws and suggested that container walls and ceilings might be better candidates for replacement with FRP.

In his talk, Bob Lacovara of Convergent Composites (Perkasie, Pa.) noted that out-of-autoclave materials and processing meth-ods now can reliably produce parts that are competitive in quality with autoclaved components. Further, the processing methods of-fer shorter cycle times. He posited that small composite shops, for which autoclaves have historically been out of the question in terms of initial investment and energy costs, now have avenues to produce aerospace-quality parts cost-eff ectively, without an autoclave.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC featured, as usual, several applica-tions based on the use of polyurethane composites. Most intrigu-

ing was a polyurethane composite manhole cover manufactured by GMI Composites Inc. (Muskegon, Mich.) using Bayer’s Baydur RTM 902 polyurethane. GMI offi cials said the company has been in business for 20 years and had made manhole covers with vinyl ester until eight years ago. Reportedly, the polyurethane cover is tougher, features a 65 percent fi ber volume fraction and has a life expectancy of 75 years. GMI’s modifi ed RTM process (in which a vacuum is pulled) cycles in 20 minutes. Th e fi nished cover that was on dis-play weighs 55 lb/25 kg (compared to 360 lb/163 kg for a cast iron cover) and withstood 2.5 million cycles in lifecycle testing regimes. GMI says the cover, which is available in diameters of 12 inches to 50 inches (305 mm to 1,270 mm), meets the U.S. AASHTO M

On display at the Bayer MaterialScience (Pittsburgh, Pa.) booth was this

polyurethane composite manhole cover, manufactured by GMI Composites

Inc. (Muskegon, Mich.) using Bayer’s Baydur RTM 902 polyurethane.

The mood on the COMPOSITES 2013 show fl oor was in keeping with news

that the composites industry had grown 9.5 percent in 2012 and would

maintain a 7 percent CAGR through 2018.

Source | CT / Photo | Jeff Sloan

Source | Bayer MaterialScience

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TABLE 1 ACE AWARD WINNERS, COMPOSITES 2013

Award Category Winner Application

Best of Show Flexi-StiX LLC Tsunami Barbell fl exible composite barbell

Most Creative Application Kreysler and Associates Large acoustic wall and ceiling panel assemblies

Equipment and Tooling Innovation German Advanced Composites Inc. Membrane Tube Infusion (MTI)

Material and Process Innovation Romeo RIM Harvest Vehicle Roof: Class A, in-mold decorated, glass-reinforced polyurethane

Composites Sustainability Plastics Unlimited Helical turbine blades and end caps for Savonius wind turbine

Green Composites Design The Composites Group Low-density commercial truck inner fender

Infi nite Possibility for Market Growth Ershigs Inc. DOW/CFT Tequatic Plus F-50 fi ne particle fi lter vessel

306 Standard Specifi cation for Drainage, Sewer, Utility, and Related Castings with a 40,000-lb/18,144-kg proof load concen-trated on a 9-inch/228.6-mm square area and held for one minute. It also exceeded the H-25 and HS-25 standards by a safety factor of 2.5. And, noted GMI executives, unlike cast-iron covers, polyurethane cov-ers have no scrap value and are, therefore, less likely to be stolen. Bayer also featured in its booth Gulf Synthetics’ (Cummings, Ga.) PURLoc pilings for sea walls, made with Bayer’s Baydur PUL 2500 polyure-thane. Read more about PURLoc in “Pul-truding polyurethane: Sheet pilings break boundaries,” on p. 32

In light of last year’s decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to list styrene as a suspected car-cinogen, Arkema Inc.’s (King of Prussia, Pa.) senior applications engineer Michael Wells presented a technical paper on al-ternatives to styrenated resins. Fabrica-tors, he said, can choose an alternative monomer, such as vinyl toluene, or even a modifi ed resin with no monomer — the latter relies on reactive crosslinking at re-activity points and, thus, requires a more aggressive initiator, but, says Wells, it is practically possible to eliminate styrene with creative solutions.

Aft er introducing the keynote speech, Owens Corning’s Th aman sat down with CT for an interview and off ered some per-spective on his company’s strategy and fo-cus over the next few years. Th aman not-ed that Owens Corning has spent much of the past few years “building out and fi rming up” its manufacturing operations around the world. Now, he says, the com-pany is focusing its eff orts on markets and products. Th e eff ort is focused not only on products that help expand composites’ ca-

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pabilities, but also on products that make existing technologies and materials easier to use and apply. “We are always looking to move the industry forward,” he told CT. “But we also see opportunity in making existing technologies perform more eff ectively.” He argued that despite calls for material and equipment standardization and automation — to increase product consistency and quality, and pro-cess uptime — many composites processes remain ripe for optimi-zation. Th aman noted, for example, that his company’s improved OptiSpray rovings enable easier and faster sprayup, and faster wet-out with less resin usage (OptiSpray rovings are profi led on p. 42).

At the industry awards luncheon, hosted by ACMA president Lori Luchak of Miles Fiberglass and Com-posites (Happy Valley, Ore.), several ser-vice and achievement awards were given. Randy Weghorst, chairman of AOC Resins (Collierville, Tenn.), received the Presi-dent’s Award for his planning and service activities within ACMA, including the re-cently announced joint convention with the Society for the Advancement of Ma-terial and Process Engineering (SAMPE), planned for 2014 (see our end note). AC-MA’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to Strongwell (Bristol, Va.) chairman John Tickle for long-term commitment to many roles within the organization. Joining the ACMA Hall of Fame were Bill Seemann, president of Seemann Composites (Gulf-port, Miss.) and Steve Walling, former CEO of Plasticolors Inc., now Chromafl o Technologies Corp. (Ashtabula, Ohio).

Th e ACMA Awards for Composites Excellence (ACE) pavilion was packed with innovative ideas and part sizes rang-ing from small to huge. One standout was the HydroDome composite stormwater chamber, submitted by LRM Industries International Inc. (Rockledge, Fla.), made in a unique in-line process called Sheetless Th ermoforming (STF). An extrusion ma-chine produces a molten sheet of STAMAX long-strand glass fi ber-reinforced, high-density polyethylene supplied by SABIC (Pittsfi eld, Mass.) directly onto a large, complexly shaped mold as the mold is passed beneath the die. In the mold, the sheet is subjected to a vacuum to form and cool the thermoplastic part. Th e large (ap-proximately 10-ft by 10-ft /3m by 3m) part has a height less than 24 inches/610 mm, making it a good choice for shallow instal-lations. (All the ACE winners are identifi ed in Table 1, p. 20.)

In 2014, ACMA’s COMPOSITES show will be back in Orlando, but it will be a

joint production with the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE, Covina, Calif.). Aft er months of discussion, SAMPE and ACMA announced in late 2012 that the two organizations would cooperate to off er the composites industry a single event at one venue, to showcase the full range of compos-ites products and technologies in North America. Th e joint ACMA/SAMPE event is set for Oct. 14-16, 2014. | CT |

See a sampling of the new products and technologies on display in Orlando in CT’s review of COMPOSITES 2013 “New Products,” be-ginning on p. 41).

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Work in Progress

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Fraunhofer ICT campus for several days of testing. During test sample molding, Fraunhofer inline compounded a third material, a discontinuous-glass, direct long-fi ber thermoplastic (D-LFT) with a PP matrix. Th e D-LFT combined PP-C711-70 RNA resin from Dow Chemical (Midland, Mich.); an additives package that featured a Priex 20078 coupling agent to improve impact strength, and AddVance 453 stabilizer supplied by Addcomp Holland BV (Nijverdal, Th e Nether-lands); and JM 490 glass fi ber (2400 tex) from Johns Manville (Den-ver, Colo.), initially used at an auto-industry typical 30 wt-%.

Th ese material types were layed up in a press, alone and in com-binations, in several thicknesses to produce 400-mm square/15.75-inch square fl at test plaques, which were waterjet cut and subjected

Work in Progress

A

TOUGHENING AUTOMOTIVE COMPOSITES

Hybrid Thermoplastic

Molding

Tailored D-LFT with continuous and discontinuous glass offers best combination of strength, moldability.

s interest in composites increases in ground transportation, resin and reinforcement suppliers, processors and machinery makers are working to fi nd better ways to meet the needs of

automotive OEMs and their suppliers. One standout eff ort reported in 2012 evaluated methods to increase impact strength without sacri-fi cing moldability of compression-molded thermoplastic composites. In 2011, Ticona Engineering Polymers (Florence, Ky., and Sulzbach, Germany) approached Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (Fraunhofer ICT, Pfi nztal, Germany) about conducting a study on thermoplastic composites. Michael Ruby, Ticona’s global composites business manager, notes: “To support the automotive sector, we felt it was important to show technology leadership in application develop-ment, so we took on the topic of localized reinforcement of structural automotive composites.”

Ticona provided its trademarked Celstran CFR-TP PP-GF70 unidirectional (UD) glass/polypropylene (PP) tapes (70 wt-% glass, 0.25-mm/0.01-inch thick) slit to various widths. Some tapes were converted by Oxeon AB (Borås, Sweden) into its trademarked TeXtreme plain-weave fabrics (unconsolidated, 0.50-mm/0.02-inch thick per layer, in 0°/90° and ±45° forms). Th e other tapes were formed by Fiberforge (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) into its Tailored Blanks — preconsolidated 0°/90° sheets in four thicknesses and a quasi-isotropic layup (0°/90°/+45°/-45°s) where s is the number of layers of laminate sym-metry) — using its RELAY tape laying process.

Th en, a research team comprising members from each company, led by Ticona composites application development engineer Daniel Grauer and Fraunhofer R&D engineer Benjamin Hangs, assembled at the

Type of Layup

Name of Layup

Combination

Materials Used in Layups

Nominal Wall (mm) of Layups

No. of Plies/Layers in Layups

Fiber Orientation of Each Ply (o)

in Layups

Fabric Alone V1 Pure Tape Fabric 2.0 4 (0/90)

Tailored Blank Alone

V2 Pure Tape Laminate 2.0 1 (0/90)2s

D-LFT Alone V3 Pure D-LFT 2.0 n/a D-LFT

V4 Pure D-LFT 2.5 n/a D-LFT

V5 Pure D-LFT 3.0 n/a D-LFT

Hybrid Combinations

V6 Tape Fabric + D-LFT 0.5 + 2.5 1 (0/90) + D-LFT

V7 Tape Laminate + D-LFT 0.5 + 2.5 1 (0/90) + D-LFT

V8 Tape Fabric + D-LFT 1.0 + 2.0 2 2 x (0/90) + D-LFT

V9 Tape Laminate+ D-LFT 1.0 + 2.0 1 (0/90)s + D-LFT

V10 Tape Fabric + Tape Laminate + D-LFT

2 x 0.5 + 2.0 1+1 (0/90) + (0/90) + D-LFT

V11 Tape Laminate + Tape Fabric + D-LFT

2 x 0.5 + 2.0 1+1 (0/90) + (0/90) + D-LFT

Researchers began the study by testing 21 different plaques of pure tape fabrics, pure

tape laminates, pure D-LFT, and hybrid combinations in several thicknesses. The eleven

most representative layouts are shown above.

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to the EN ISO 6603-2 “Determination of Multiaxial Impact Behav-ior of Rigid Plastics, Part 2: Instrumented Puncture Test.”

Based on the small-plaque results, they embarked on the study’s next phase with a new layup that combined the three materials, molding parts in a 1,100-mm by 800-mm (43-inch by 32-inch) tool previously used for commercial production of an engine noise shield. Because the back (vehicle-facing) side of the part had tall, thin ribs, which are impossible to fi ll with unidirectional glass, D-LFT alone was used on that side. On the front (road-facing) side, which was subject to stone impact, the team wanted to see if impact strength/toughness could be improved, so that side featured the tape-based fabric and laminate. Th e team evaluated the time it took to heat fabrics and laminates, compound the D-LFT, stack materials in the tool and form parts to determine if the hybrid material and molding process were fast enough for commercial auto use. Because the shield tool lacked fi xtures to hold the tape-based fabrics and laminates in place, researchers were concerned that the materials might shift during molding. Each product was colored (fabrics were black, laminates were yellow, and D-LFT was blue, as shown in the opening photos) so the team could see where they ended up.

Although the composites industry has long recognized the ben-efi ts of using continuous-strand reinforcements to boost part stiff -ness, strength and toughness, UD tapes — as produced — are not always easy to use in compression molding or other thermoplastic forming because they can move in the tool during molding. When tapes are converted into fabrics or laminates, larger and thicker plies can be formed, and these are less likely to shift . In the case of Tai-lored Blanks, they also can be precut to net or near-net shape, which reduces postmold trimming. Additionally, the conversion process allows designers to orient tapes (e.g., 0°/90°/+45°/-45°) within the stack to improve multiaxial mechanical properties. Given this, it wasn’t a surprise that test plaque results showed that when the three material types were used solo, the fabrics and laminates off ered nine

Impact test results (above) for pure D-LFT, pure fabric and pure tailored blank

showed that the continuous glass in the UD-tape fabrics and laminates

improved impact strength by a factor of nine vs. discontinuous-glass D-LFT

alone, but demonstrated little difference in performance between the tape-

fabrics and tape-laminates. When results for the hybrid confi gurations were

compared (below), interesting results were seen when comparing impact

energy at maximum force (blue bars) and total energy absorbed (red bars)

for each side of the hybrid samples (D-LFT vs. fabric/laminate).

times the impact strength and toughness of the D-LFT. Despite a small uptick in weight per unit area, the continuous-glass products were clearly tougher — also no surprise because the tapes had 70 wt-% glass loading vs. 30 wt-% for D-LFT in the plaques and a mere 20 wt-% in the shield (to enhance moldability). Notably, there was almost no diff erence in energy at maximum force and total energy between the tape-based fabrics and Tailored Blanks at the same thickness. Presumably, either form could be selected.

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Tape FabricTape Fabric /

Tape LaminateTape Fabric /

Tape LaminateTape Laminate

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Energy @ max.force Total energy

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

http://short.compositesworld.com/CF2013LEARN MORE AND REGISTER FOR THE CARBON FIBER 2013 E-NEWSLETTER

December 9-12, 2013 / Crowne Plaza Knoxville / Knoxville, TN USA

CARBON FIBER 2013

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the industry’s leading innovators and network with decision makers and key executives from all aspects of the carbon fiber supply chain!

This year we’re including an optional tour of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s carbon fiber manufacturing facilities!

CHAIRMAN

Andrew Head, President A&P Technology Inc.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

Register for the Carbon Fiber 2013 e-newsletter and get up-to-

date information on speakers, networking events and more!

SPONSORED BY:

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automotive leaders love the road less traveled It takes bold innovation to meet the demand for lighter, smarter, more fuel efficient vehicles. And we’ve never been more driven to deliver. From exteriors to interiors, engineered plastics to catalysts, chassis to converters, coatings and textiles to fuel additives and electronic, powertrains to particle filters – we partner with customers from concept to completion. Because at BASF, we create chemistry. Learn more at www.basf.us/automotive

Read this article online | http://short.compositesworld.com/BKca0rOd.

compositesworld.com

Work in Progress

CONTRIBUTING WRITERPeggy Malnati covers the automotive and infrastructure beats for CT and provides commu-nications services for plastics- and composites-industry clients. [email protected]

Because the hybrid plaques were D-LFT on one side and either fabric or a blank on the other, the team wanted to see how a hy-brid would behave in a puncture test. Researchers impacted speci-mens to failure on both sides. When the results from each side of each layup were compared at several thicknesses, energy at maxi-mum force was always lower when the D-LFT side was impacted, because the total energy absorbed was always higher. “We believe that because the fabric/laminate side of each sample was stiff er and stronger, more energy was needed to damage that side of the sam-ple, hence the higher energy at maximum force measured,” Hangs explains. “Since the D-LFT side was not as stiff , it broke more easily and sooner ... so it absorbed less initial energy and had lower energy at maximum force. Similarly, as the impac-tor started breaking the D-LFT side, it put the continuous-fi ber tapes and laminates into tension on the reverse side, so those samples had higher total energy. When the D-LFT failed and allowed the impactor to start puncturing the fabric/laminate side, there was less kinetic energy left in the im-pactor to do more damage.”

“Clearly, the UD tape-based fabrics and laminates were tougher and should in-crease the use-life of parts that see punish-ing impacts like an automotive underbody shield,” Grauer contends. “Th eir higher cost would be off set by the fact that you’d need less of them to make a part perform better, leading to opportunities to reduce thickness at comparable performance or increase performance at slightly higher mass and sectional area.”

Th is study also shows that a hybrid ap-proach can more eff ectively handle part complexity. Although the total energy absorbed wasn’t as high as that seen with the fabric and laminate plaques (110J), the hybrids (40J to 72J) outperformed D-LFT only (~15J). Th e study’s second part showed that hybrid approaches can increase mechanicals where needed yet maintain moldability for challenging ge-ometries. Signifi cantly, the hybrid layup also promises an auto-industry-acceptable cycle time of 70 seconds — respectable for thermoplastics in a part this size and much faster than compression-molded thermosets. SMC, for example, needs a 2- to 2.5-minute cycle time. It’s all the more

remarkable because it was achieved despite what Hangs describes as an “unoptimized” process. Fabrics and laminates were preheated in an infrared oven, and materials were moved manually to the tool and hand layed. In fact, in-tool dwell time was only 30 seconds. With clamps and fi xtures in the tool, an indexing oven and robotic handling, researchers could shave more time off the process. | CT |

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uch has been written about resin infusion processing. Early on, infusion was a boon to open molders, especially those who made boat hulls, wind turbine blades and other

large parts. It reduced resin use and increased fi ber volume fraction and strength/stiff ness-to-weight. And it limited worker exposure to HAPs and VOCs at a time when governments were looking askance at “bucket-and-brush” operations. It was better, but not much faster.

As boatbuilders and blademakers pushed toward lighter-weight composites with higher mechanicals, and as aerospace companies sought to reduce costs with out-of-autoclave processes yet main-

With so many process variables to play with, how do you know which new

solutions that promise better, faster infusion are right for your application?

M

FEATURE: Infusion Advancements

tain prepreg performance, innovators saw a need for greater speed. Soon, ovens accelerated cure, and then resin fl ow became the focus. Hot items on that front included grooved core and a variety of fl ow media. Heat, it was said, could reduce resin viscosity and thereby increase fl ow. And a year ago, the rush was on toward very low-viscosity or snap-cure resins.

Since then, however, the infusion conversation has shift ed. A chorus of voices has raised questions, suggesting there is a point at which fast becomes too fast. Although there is no consensus on how best to infuse, a growing group agrees that process control is more

important than speed.

PERMEABILITY AND

REINFORCEMENTS

Every reinforcement supplier has a product “tailored” for infusion and promises improved speed, wetout or mechanical properties. But what makes a fabric suitable for infusion? Is faster fl ow always better?

There has been a good deal of

controversy recently over how best to

balance the need for greater part

quality and performance with the

growing need for more effi cient

processing, especially in large, complex

parts like this superstructure shell for

EPS Corp.’s (Tinton Falls, N.J.) EPS

M10, the fi rst all-composite hovercraft

built in the U.S. .

AIMING INFUSION at the APPLICATION

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half the size of those used in most glass fabrics, so the vertical openings are much smaller. “Th ere is no such thing as a fast infusion of carbon fi ber,” Steggall contends. “It is very diffi cult to achieve the same speed of fl ow through the depth as across the area.”

Steggall’s own search for a way to speed vertical fl ow led to a mesh made from randomly oriented continuous nylon 6 monofi la-ment. “At a very small amount of weight — 6 g/m2 (0.02 oz/yd2) or about the weight of two paper clips,” he reports, “the mesh induces fl ow in almost any type of carbon fabric.” Th e fl ow improves regard-less of fi ber angles (e.g., 0°/90°, ±60°, etc.). When the mesh is at-tached to each ply of a 300g/m2 (8.8 oz/yd2) stitched carbon fabric, it creates a channeling eff ect like that from a 0° oriented uni fabric and the stitching. For heavier 400g/m2 (12 oz/yd2) fabrics, he uses a 12g/m2 (0.4 oz/yd2) mesh. “For me, this is the way to achieve permeabil-ity in carbon fabric because it provides good strength and tough-ness properties with only marginally more resin in the laminate.”

Th e material is now used by Gunboat International (Wanchese, N.C.) in its 55-ft /17m all-carbon-fi ber production sailing catama-ran. Th e company infuses the complex hull in one piece, with the nylon mesh layered between each ply of woven and stitched multi-axial carbon fi ber fabric. Most impressive, it aids fl ow in the chine (transition from the hull bottom to the hull side), where 83 plies of carbon fi ber unidirectional fabric and 10 plies of carbon fi ber biaxial fabric provide resistance to defl ection along the inner side of each hull. Steggall says the nylon web provided what the project needed: “consistency in the infusion and wet out at low risk plus 18 percent more energy absorption in impact testing.”

TRADE-OFFS TO ACHIEVE FLOW

Although permeability limits can be overcome by using fl ow media or low-viscosity resins (as little as 10 cps), it’s important to do so only when the potential issues and trade-off s are well understood. “Th e problem with resins that have low viscosity (10 cps) at room temperature is that they typically have very low elongation and are very brittle,” Steggall warns, adding that they form thin fi lms as they are separated by the reinforcements in the laminates. Th ey also tend to reduce thickness. “I have gone from a 220 cps resin down to a 180 cps resin and lost 10 percent of the stiff ness in the same laminate.”

Cocquyt, however, off ers a caveat: “Vinyl ester and unsaturated polyester resins do become brittle when you add large percentages of styrene.” He says that adding diluents to epoxies does not lower elongation at break very much, but it does reduce their heat defl ec-tion temperature.

Surface fl ow media (distribution media) are easy to use and eff ective, but they add a processing step because they must be re-moved when the part is done. Th ey also absorb resin, which be-comes waste. Boatbuilding veteran Jay Carpenter, now a resin

Th e measure of how easily a resin fl ows through a material is called permeability. Fabrics with high permeability infuse more quickly. Aft er 13 years as head of technical development for Vec-torply (Phenix City, Ala.), Philip Steggall founded composite design and development services company Bravolab (Jamestown, R.I.). He routinely tests materials against their suppliers’ claims. His fi ndings? “Wovens typically don’t infuse as well as stitched materials, leaving dry spots within the tows and air bubbles where the fi bers intersect,” he reports. “Double-bias (± 45˚) does not infuse well because the stitching process fl attens everything out, causing the tows to nest. Unidirectionals made with heat-set cross yarns [hot-melt] look great but are the hardest to infuse because the resin cannot penetrate through the ply stack. Alternatively, stitched unis allow resin to drop down through the needle holes and are easier to infuse.”

Does that mean more space in a fabric is better? Not necessarily, says resin infusion consultant André Cocquyt (ACSM Inc., Harp-swell, Maine; see “Learn More,” p. 29). “To make fabrics more per-meable, you must create void space that does not collapse/compress under vacuum.” He cautions, however, “a lot of the fabrics out there have resin channels that are detrimental to the mechanical proper-ties.” If the fi ber form has too much void volume in the channels between the tows (intertow fl ow), shrinkage of the resin between the tows can create stresses on the microlevel. Further, if resin fl ows too freely between the tows, the result could be incomplete wetout within the tow (intratow fl ow). As a result, says Cocquyt, “many infusion-friendly laminates do less well in fatigue.”

“Th e permeability of fabrics for infusion is a balancing act,” notes Stephen Misencik, technical marketing manager for stitched multiaxial supplier SAERTEX USA (Huntersville, N.C.). “From the process point of view, you want to achieve the fl ow rates you need for the project, but high permeability rates aren’t necessarily what you want for the mechanical properties needed.” On a large infused fi berglass barge cover that measures roughly 20 ft by 30 ft (6m by 9m) and weighs 2,500 lb/1,134 kg, he notes, “We used a diff erent size of input fi ber to open the fabric slightly, increasing the space between the glass tows from 0.2 to 0.4 mm [0.0079 to 0.057 inch],” he explains. “Th is slight opening was enough to really enhance fl ow and achieved the production speed and wet out we needed.” Most important, it did not compromise the key mechanical properties of compressive or bending strength and stiff ness.

GLASS VS. CARBON

Permeability issues also vary based on fi ber type. “Th e space between the 5- to 7-micron diameter fi laments of carbon fi ber is almost nonex-istent compared to that between the 20-micron diameter glass fi ber fi laments, especially when compacted under a vacuum,” Steggall illustrates. “Glass is easier to infuse because of the bigger diameter bundles.” He also notes that carbon fabrics use stitch yarns that are

Bravolab (Jamestown, R.I.) prefers to use a

continuous nylon monofi lament mesh to aid resin fl ow

between plies of carbon fabric during infusion. For the

Swift gigayacht (see “Learn More,” p. 29), the mesh was

used to achieve full wetout in the 8-ply shear webs and

faceskins of this helicopter landing pad panel.

Source | Compmillennia LLC

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infusion instructor at Abaris Training (Reno, Nev.), oft en uses them to solve permeability problems. He counsels, “When using a surface fl ow mechanism, there is a fi ne balance between moving the resin along the required distance and moving it too fast so that you end up with dry spots.” To prevent resin from hitting the vacuum line before it wets out the dry stack, he wraps the line with a peel ply or other ultralow permeability material and then stops the surface medium several inches away from the vacuum line. “For me, slow fl ow works better,” Carpenter claims. “Typically, gel time of the resin is not my enemy. I can get infusion epoxy resins formulated with a gel time anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 hours.”

Steggall believes that a speed of 0.75 inch/min to 1 inch/min is a good target for infusing a solid carbon fi ber laminate using vinyl ester or epoxy resin in the 200 cps viscosity range. “Achieving a high fi ber fraction — like 68 percent by weight — is risky at very fast speeds. You can have dry spots in the laminate at those speeds, or miss a tow bundle. However, if you slow down to 0.25 inch/min. then you’re susceptible to stall out.”

Flow media “cores” and grooved foam or balsa cores that pro-mote fl ow inside the laminate are also eff ective, but they also ab-

sorb resin and, because they can’t be removed, increase part weight. Steggall understands the appeal of grooved core. “With those huge grooves, you can get just about anything to infuse,” he quips, but he adds that in tests where core with grooves on both sides was infused between sheets of plate glass, the core’s weight was increased sig-nifi cantly. He estimates that even knife-cut core (thinner grooves) increases in weight by 10 to 15 percent (see also Fig. 1, at left ).

Steggall says the weight increase might be justifi ed depending on what factors drive a project. “You must ask what properties are you looking for? Th ere are so many tricks you can use, but what do they really buy for what they cost in time and money?” Steggall enters into a spreadsheet the price per square foot of everything he’s going to use to evaluate what each component really off ers vs. its cost.

And perhaps time saved is worth the extra cost. Carpenter teaches his students to model and test: “You need to do fl ow mod-eling, which can be as simple as laying out diff erent colors of tape for resin feed lines and vacuum lines or using one of the diff erent soft ware programs available. To remove any doubts, nothing beats running an actual test, which does not necessarily have to be in the mold.” Carpenter stresses that what’s important is to include every-thing that will be in the laminate stack, infuse it and see what hap-pens. Try diff erent materials, play with diff erent process variables, measure fl ow times and then test for mechanical properties.

TACKING THE DRY STACK

Dry spots and racetracks are typically caused when resin fl ow must wrap around something, such as cutouts and the edges of core in a sandwich laminate. Steggall advises that when dry laminate layers are tacked together or a dry stack is adhered to vertical surfaces, using the least possible amount of spray adhesive will give the lami-nate the best chance to sit tight on a core and in the corners and reduce the risk of fl ow issues. “When you spray tack adhesive to the point that the whole thing is thoroughly tacked together, it wants to bridge,” Steggall says. He prefers to lay in the fabric as loose as possible with only spot tacking where absolutely necessary.

Carpenter agrees, and adds, “We advise to use products that are chemically formulated to emulsify in a way that doesn’t degrade laminate properties. Th is isn’t possible with spray adhesives that are basically rubber or thermoplastic digested in solvent.”

Another option is to use fabrics that have been precoated with adhesive. SAERTEX, for example, designed its patented SAERfi x fabrics to mitigate fi ber movement when an RTM mold is closed. Yet Misencik points out that adhesive is used sparingly. “We never use more than 2 percent of the fabric’s areal weight.” Th us, the ma-terial is not “boardy” and can be removed and repositioned. Th is helps when laminates are tacked to complex shapes and geometries, and it helps maintain fi ber alignment in thick laminates (30 to 50 mm/1.2 to 2.0 inches) while a vacuum bag is applied.

“With SAERfi x, the fi bers do not move,” Misencik claims, “even with laminates up to 120 mm [4.7 inches] thick.” Similarly, it helps with fi xation of core materials and inserts. Available in both polyester (UP) and epoxy (EP) compatible formats, the adhesive has been designed to become part of the laminate. Misencik details, “Th e EP adhesive is bisphenol A-based, so it actually crosslinks and becomes part of the matrix, while the UP adhesive is a styrene-soluble ethylene vinyl ace-

SAERfi x fabrics (SAERTEX USA, (Huntersville, N.C.) come with tack

adhesive pre-applied in a light, even layer, improving quality control when

adhering fabrics and cores to vertical surfaces and complex shapes.

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Resin Absorption vs. Confi guration

Fig. 1: The difference in resin absorption (and therefore weight) based

on confi guration and thickness for 5 lb/ft3 density PVC foam core.

Source | Baltek, div. of 3A Composites

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Aft er receiving many questions about double-bagged infusion, Composites Consulting Group (CCG) recently conducted side-by-side testing. Launched in 2010 by core materials manufacturer DIAB International (Laholm, Sweden), CCG off ers computer analy-sis, testing and infusion process development and fl ow-modeling expertise. CCG process specialist Dean Callander says, “We wanted to see for ourselves if it actually produces improvements that merit the additional cost, complexity and potential risk.”

Th e fi rst round of tests involved 10 samples. Each measured 0.5 ft by 2 ft (152 mm by 610 mm) and was made using six plies of a nominal 36 oz/yd2 (1,221g/m2) 0°/90° biaxial stitched E-glass fabric from Vectorply and CoRezyn vinyl ester resin from Interplastic Corp. (St. Paul, Minn.). Two panels were made using traditional hand layup open molding for a baseline; one was vacuum-bagged during cure. Half of the remaining eight panels were infused under a single vacuum bag, and half were infused using a double-bag process. All materials and consumables were identical. All laminate stacks were held un-

tate (EVA, a common adhesive) which remains in the resin, much like a fi ller.” Th e benefi t to the laminate is not insignifi cant: Misencik says the EVA, for example, reduces interlaminar shear (ILS) properties by a mere 3 to 5 percent (vs. a baseline without adhesive) but using an aerosol spray adhesive can drop ILS by as much as 15 percent.

SAERTEX test results show that the materials do not slow resin fl ow, obstruct wetout or degrade mechanical properties. Misencik adds that the material “improves the quality of the fi nal infused part by enabling homogeneity in the amount of tack adhesive applied. Th ere is no excess and no missed areas.”

SINGLE-VS. DOUBLE-BAGGING

Th e ultimate goal of infusion is a thoroughly wet out, well-compacted laminate without air bubbles or dry spots. Although that is something proponents of double-bag infusion claim to have achieved (see “Learn More”), others suggest the same result can be had with conventional single-bagging.

TABLE 1

1 Hand Layup

2 Vacuum-bagged Hand Layup

3 Single-bagged Infusion Vacuum and resin feed inlet open throughout infusion

4 Single-bagged Infusion Vacuum throughout and resin feed inlet closed after wet out complete

5 Single-bagged Infusion Vacuum throughout and resin feed inlet turned into additional vacuum outlet for extracting excess resin after wet out complete

6 Single-bagged Infusion Vacuum and resin feed inlet open throughout infusion but resin degassed for 10 minutes prior to mixing in catalyst

7 Double-bagged Infusion Vacuum throughout in 1st bag and resin feed inlet closed after wet out complete.

Vacuum in 2nd bag applied after laying and sealing bag.

8 Double-bagged Infusion Vacuum throughout in 1st bag and resin feed inlet turned into additional vacuum outlet for extracting excess resin

after wet out complete. 2nd bag applied same as #7 with vacuum pulled for 30 seconds every 5 minutes.

9 Double-bagged Infusion Vacuum pulled in 1st and 2nd bag at beginning and throughout infusion

10 Double-bagged Infusion Infusion performed at 880 mbar (26 inches Hg). Full vacuum applied after wet out complete.

Full vacuum of 982 mbar (29 inches Hg) applied in 2nd bag as in #7.

Fig. 2: Results from the Composites

Consulting Group’s (Laholm, Sweden)

recently conducted fi rst round of side-by-

side testing showed that single-bag (green)

and double bag (red) infusion methods

reduce panel weight, thickness and void

content and (charted here) increase fi ber

fraction compared to hand layup (far left).

But it also revealed that there was little

difference between the results achieved

with the two infusion methods. (Details of

methods used in the testing are charted in

Table 1, below.)

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der vacuum for one hour before infusion (see “Flow-front dynamics: Heat and vacuum hold” below), and all panels remained under vacu-um during infusion and cure, using the same vacuum manifold. But to test specifi c infusion processing theories, each of the eight samples were processed uniquely, as noted in Table 1 (p. 27). Aft er cure, each sample’s laminate thickness was measured at 2 inches (51 mm) from each end and in 1-inch/25.4 mm increments, and the panels were weighed. Void and fi ber fractions were determined using test meth-ods ASTM D2584 and ASTM D2734. Separate samples from the same panels were sent to the National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR, Wichita, Kan.) to verify the results. Fig. 2 (p. 27) shows the results. “We did not see any real improvement in the laminate by using double-bagging,” summarizes Callander. Th e weights of the single- vs. double-bagged infused panels were all within 0.6 kg/m2 (0.12 lb/ft 2), and the thickness varied less than 0.3 mm (0.01 inch).

CCG performed a second round of testing. Th e infusion was re-peated for the combinations of process variables that produced the best results in its fi rst round (panels 3, 4, 6, 7 and 10 from Table 1). Th e panel weight remained within 0.2 kg/m2 (0.04 lb/ft 2), and the thickness varied by only 0.14 mm (0.006 inch).

“From what has been written about the process, people are ex-pecting a lot of extra pressure to be exerted on the laminate due to a

second vacuum bag, but the physics just isn’t there,” Callander con-cludes. “My only explanation of why it seems the double-bag exerts more pressure is that the action of the two bags together seems to smooth out the wrinkles in the fi rst bag so the whole set up is tight-er.” He says that a second bag can help achieve full vacuum integrity in the setup, overcoming or mitigating issues in getting the fi rst bag to seal and maintain vacuum, but he notes that “with proper bag-ging technique, that shouldn’t be needed.”

Callander posits that the technique of applying a vacuum through the feed line to draw extra resin from the laminate is pos-sible with a single bag, but it introduces unnecessary risk: “We did not have good results with this technique — all of the laminates were very dry with voids.” Callander believes people are looking to double-bagging and pulling out excess resin to achieve a higher fi -ber fraction, but he insists that outcome is readily achievable with suffi cient process control. “CCG uses single-bagging exclusively,” he reports, “and 70 percent fi ber fraction by weight is common.”

Cocquyt’s review is mixed: “Th ough the number of samples was too small — only one test per confi guration — this testing has shown that double-bagging produces a minimal diff erence in fi nal outcome.” He believes a larger test matrix would be benefi cial and is discussing how an industry partnership might pursue this. But he

“Most shops heat the resin and leave the laminate stack and tool at ambient

temperature,” observes Jay Carpenter, who teaches resin infusion at Abaris

Training (Reno, Nev.). But he and other experts suggest there’s much more to

the business of optimizing resin fl ow. Infusion consultant Phil Steggall (Bra-

volab, Jamestown, R.I.) points out that while heating the resin does reduce its

viscosity, “as soon as the resin hits the colder surfaces, it will rise in viscosity

and dramatically slow the fl ow.”

In his view, it’s better to heat the layup. “The temperature of the part

is more important than that of the resin,” he contends. As it fl ows through

the reinforcements, it is separated into myriad streams that “quickly come to

equilibrium with the temperature of the laminate and tool under the bag.”

Carpenter notes, “We always do a heated vacuum soak before infu-

sion.” This not only brings the laminate stack and tooling up to processing

temperature, but it also draws out moisture from the stack. “I’m convinced

most of our porosity problems are from the ambient moisture picked up by

the laminate stack,” he explains.

Composites Consulting Group’s (CCG, Laholm, Sweden, and DeSoto,

Texas) process specialist Dean Callander advises that this vacuum soak, if it

is to remove air and other trapped volatiles, can’t be rushed. “Depending on

part size, we encourage at least 45 minutes to an hour.”

Notably, the heat required to capture these benefi ts is modest. Carpenter

says heating the dry stack to 90°F/32°C is suffi cient, because with a good

vacuum, the boiling point of water can be reduced to very near room

temperature.“ But this is really only possible,” he warns, “if you have a good

mold and a good pump.”

FLOW-FRONT DYNAMICS: HEAT AND VACUUM HOLD

For those who are unconvinced, Carpenter suggests a test. Put a couple

of loops in the vacuum line between the edge of the vacuum bag and the

catch pot. “Over time,” he says, “you’ll see droplets of steam turn into

condensation, just like in a condenser coil.”

Steggall has tested the effect of heating the laminate by maintaining

one side at 65°F/18°C and the other at 95°F/35°C, infusing both with the

same resin. “The cold side had more bubbles. It was a slower infusion with

an erratic fl ow front, as the thicker resin came up against ‘roadblocks’ in

the dry stack,” he reports. The heated side, in contrast, showed an almost

straight-line fl ow front, with the heat causing bubbles to expand and come

to the surface where they burst, so that the trapped air void content

was lower.

Steggall’s advice is to invest in a heated tool to preheat the dry laminate

stack and consider how to heat the laminate on the B-side when using sand-

wich construction. “Core is an insulator and will effectively prevent the top

surface from reaching the tool/laminate temperature,” he notes. “When you

infuse, resin will chill down, here, and move more slowly. You do not want

the asymmetrical fl ow front this will create.” — Ginger Gardiner

What you don’t want: The

fl ow front during this infusion

test was charted on the bag

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Preventing such behavior is

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Read this article online | http://short.compositesworld.com/Qhht1BGP.

Read about the resin infusion techniques used in molding structures for the EPS M10 hovercraft in “Sea & land transport: Hydro Elevation” | CT December 2011 (p. 30) | http://short.compositesworld.com/EGhZGlzB.

Read more about the reputed benefi ts of double-bag infusion in “Double-bag infusion: 70% fi ber volume?” | CT December 2010 (p. 54) | http://short.compositesworld.com/s2RIkexJ.

Andre Cocquyt is a coinventor of Temperature Controlled Molding (TCM), a heat-activated cure and infusion control technology for thick laminates, marketed by TCM Composites (Augusta, Maine). Read more about TCM in the following two articles:

“The evolution of infusion” | CT August 2012 (p. 28) | http://short.compositesworld.com/BoqHww50.

“New infusion regime for superthick laminates” | CT February 2010 (p. 34) | http://short.compositesworld.com/XBBEnljC.

Read more about mesh-improved vertical resin fl ow in carbon fabrics in “From frigate to luxury gigayacht” | CT October 2009 (p. 32) | http://short.compositesworld.com/yzqjbIz1.

compositesworld.com

Excellence in core solutionsfor a lighter, stronger, greener world.

Europe / Middle East / Africa:Airex AG5643 Sins, SwitzerlandTel. +41 41 789 66 [email protected]

Asia / Australia / New Zealand:3A Composites (China) Ltd.201201 Shanghai, P.R. ChinaTel: +86 21 585 86 [email protected]

EXCELLENCE INCORE SOLUTIONS

www.corematerials.3AComposites.com

North America / S. America:Baltek Inc.High Point, N. Carolina 27261 U.S.A.Tel. +1 336 398 [email protected]

See Us at SAMPE, Long Beach, CA, May 6-9, Booth # i31

Contributing WriterGinger Gardiner is a freelance writer and regular CT contributor based in Washington, [email protected]

agrees that the reduced weight, higher fi ber fraction and better con-sistency credited to double-bagging are more likely due to greater attention to detail and the use of superior equipment.

REWARD VS. RISK

Th e overarching conclusion from CCG’s testing is that the process must match project requirements. Callander notes that double-bagging was developed in the aerospace industry, where a 1 percent reduction in void content and elimination of a 0.3-mm/0.012 inch variation in thickness might be worth the thousands of dollars in development and consumables if it eliminates an autoclave. But that typically is not the case in boats, even in racing yachts, using infused carbon fi ber.

Steggall agrees. “I think we should be driving infusion toward a low-risk pro-cess,” he says. “Pushing higher mechanical properties via low resin content ... presents too many ways to jeopardize the part.”

Cocquyt stresses process control. “In-fusion physics is straightforward, which is why resin infusion became a mainstream technology in a short time span. But it does require exactness and standard operating procedures, with no tolerance for ‘fudge’ factors.”

At day’s end, an extra bag, a resin heater or a snap-cure resin alone isn’t the answer. Th orough testing is. Carpenter sums up: “You can create repeatability in any infusion process, but you have to manage the process, not let it manage you.” | CT |

F

Pultruded using glass-reinforced pure polyurethane,

Gulf Synthetics’ PURloc composite sheet pile system is

gaining traction in parts of the Northeast in the wake of

damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, as well as in Russia,

Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. Pictured

here, the system is installed in Azervajain, a country in

southwestern Asia that borders the Caspian Sea

between Iran and Russia.

or years the composite industry and its material suppliers have been working to develop pultruded composite sheet piles that could replace wood, steel and concrete structures in

commercial sea walls, retaining walls and erosion-control systems. Composite pilings made with polyester and vinyl ester resins off er clearly superior characteristics in the face of the rot, insect infes-tation and corrosion that cut short the useful life of conventional pilings. But structural strength and, especially, stiff ness have long been factors that have limited their widespread adoption.

Material stiff ness, measured as modulus of elasticity (MOE), gauges the degree of defl ection a sheet pile system will experience based on wall height, soil loadings and other factors (see “Learn More,” p. 37). At the low end, vinyl has an MOE of approximately

380,000 psi/2,620 MPa, and wood is rated at approximately 1.5 mil-lion psi/10,340 MPa. Vinyl ester and polyester composites can ex-hibit MOEs between 2.5 million and 3 million psi/17,240 and 20,685 MPa. But steel’s MOE is approximately 21 million psi/147,790 MPa. Th e question, then, is how to close the MOE gap with steel.

For piling supplier Gulf Synthetics (Cummings, Ga.), the answer lies in a matrix of “pure” polyurethane (PU) technology. At the time of its adoption, Gulf ’s profi les were already pultruded, using a specially developed marine-grade hybrid PU. (A pure PU features two compo-nents, an isocyanate and a polyol. Hybrids include other components, such as amines, or even acrylic polymers.) Packed with rovings and three layers of bidirectional woven fi ber fabric, these fi nished piles exhibited a respectable MOE of more than 4 million psi/27,580 MPa.

“When compared to polyester and vinyl es-ter resins, polyurethanes off er properties that are vastly superior to our conventional pultrusion resins, especially in the transverse direction where pultrusions have traditionally been defi cient in mechanical properties,” says Jeff Martin, CEO of Martin Pultrusion Group (MPG, Oakwood Village, Ohio), which began working with Gulf Synthetics two years ago to redesign its sheet pile profi le using pure PU. Th e typical glass loading for the PU pultrusion is between 75 and 80 percent by weight. “Even if we could get that much glass into polyester resin, we still wouldn’t have the strength in polyester that we have in PU because the shear properties between the roving bundles is much higher in urethane than it is in polyester,” Martin points out. “Th e combination of total glass load-

High-pressure pultrusion process creates polyurethane composite sheet pile

system with the strength and stiffness to compete with steel.

SHEET PILINGS BREAK BOUNDARIES

Pultruding Polyurethane

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The trademarked PURLoc system

is being used for cantilevered walls

that require no tie back up to 8

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stiffener sheets to design a 100

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heights greater than 17 ft/5m.

ing and the higher loading of axial roving results in a higher fl exural modulus component that makes a PU pultrusion much stronger.” But Gulf ’s hybrid PU pilings still exhibited less than one-quarter the MOE of steel pilings.

FEA modeling performed by PU supplier Bayer MaterialScience (Pittsburgh, Pa.), however, “showed that with the same shape and same thickness and at relatively the same cost, we could produce a pure polyurethane composite part that was 30 percent stronger than what we were producing with a hybrid urethane resin,” ex-plains Gulf Synthetics owner Mitch Wood. By moving to a glass-reinforced pure PU system — Bayer’s Baydur PUL 2500 — with high glass loading, Gulf ’s PURLoc composite sheet pile system now exhibits an MOE of 6.9 million psi/47,573 MPa.

On the sea wall front, steel still has a higher MOE, but Wood points out that there are other practical factors that help PU com-pete. First, steel must be overengineered to account for strength loss due to corrosion. Second, steel is much heavier and its installation cost is much higher. Wood cites one job in South America: “Th ere are canals running between the lanes of traffi c and the water in the canals is eroding the road banks. Th e competing material would be steel, which … requires heavy machinery to deliver and install. Because our sheet piling is so strong, there’s no need to excavate the road to put in a tie-back system or bring in heavy equipment. Th ey simply drive in the sheet pile, which can be done manually, [then] backfi ll and it’s done.” Further, crews install steel pilings at a rate of 20 ft to 30 ft (6m to 9.1m) per day. “With our product,” says Wood, “it is possible to install 100 ft [30.5m] per day.”

“Th e PURLoc system is ideal for cantilevered walls that require no tie back up to 8 ft [2.4m] in exposed height,” adds Wood. “Th e strength also allows for very tall walls, typically from 10 ft to 17 ft [3m to 5m], to be constructed using a single tie-back system. Th e system also has a unique connector piece that allows engineers to use a combination of geogrid and stiff ener sheets to design a 100 percent composite system for heights greater than 17 ft [5m].”

SLOWING DOWN TO WIN

Why isn’t everyone using PU? “Polyurethanes are inherently reactive chemically,” explains Harry George, Bayer’s manager, new markets. Although Bayer has been making PUs for pultrusion since 2003, conventional PUs cured too quickly to facilitate thorough wetout of

profi les with high fi ber volumes in the pultrusion process. But recent developments have made it possible to delay the cure profi le. “Using a special catalyst, we’ve slowed the reactivity profi le down compared to a typical polyurethane, so that now we have a gel time of 22 to 23 minutes at room temperature,” says George. When combined, the two-part resin still cures in seconds aft er heat is applied. It also reacts to moisture, so conventional resin baths are out. “Because it cures that quickly, you have to use direct injection to minimize the amount of material being exposed,” explains George.

Roughly 10 years ago, early research into pultruding PU began with a focus on a low-pressure pultrusion system, which today is viable for less complex pultrusion of PU composites reinforced only with axial rovings. A few years later, MPG, a party to the initial re-search, broke off to develop a high-pressure direct injection system for pultrusion dies that could thoroughly wet out more complex structural profi les, such as Gulf ’s sheet pile.

It is possible to inject resin through the biaxial stitched fabrics used in Gulf ’s pile profi le only with a high-pressure system, Martin explains. “It’s also very hard to inject, even at high pressure, through an all-roving phase in thick packages of reinforcement, because roving creates a very dense layer. It takes very high pressure to push the poly-urethane through the glass to make sure you have complete wet out.”

Th e resulting composite exhibits high transverse strength, inter-laminar shear strength and damage resistance. Also, research has shown low void content (less than 1 percent) in glass-reinforced PU composites. Th e resulting profi le exhibits not only high interfacial strength, but also reduced water absorption and, therefore, a much-reduced risk of resin/fi ber delamination caused by saltwater diff u-sion into material voids, says Michael Connolly, principal scientist at Huntsman Polyurethanes (Auburn Hill, Mich.), which has been involved in PU pultrusion since 1998, working closely with MPG and other pultruders to further the technology.

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2 Prior to forming, the fi ber is run through 3 to 4 seconds of infrared

heat (approximately 120°F/49°C). Because PU reacts to moisture, fi ber

drying is critical. Excess moisture can cause blistering on the pile profi le

surface. The fi ber architecture is fully formed before it enters the

injector.

1 Approximately 900 ends of the heaviest weight roving (56 yield) fl ow

into Gulf’s sheet pile. Also incorporated are two layers of biaxial

stitched fabric, one on the bottom and one on the top. The resulting

pultrusion has a glass loading of approximately 78 percent by weight.

High glass loading is typical for PU pultrusions and can range from 75

to 80 percent by weight.

6 An artist’s conception of Martin Pultrusion’s dedicated Gulf machine

(with the meter/mix components cut off, bottom). A 6 ft/1.8m space has

been added between the die and the fi rst clamp puller (with air knives)

to provide an extra 1 to 2 minutes of ambient cooling time. If

enough heat isn’t drawn out of the profi le, the clamp pullers have a hard

time gripping the part.

“We struggled the fi rst year or two to make PU work in pultru-sion, but even in those early days, it was obvious that polyurethanes off ered unique physical performance characteristics that you can’t get with the competitive resins in the pultrusion market,” Connolly says.

MPG’s investment on the PU processing side has been sizable (see “Polyurethane pultrusion: Next-gen equipment,” p. 36). A year ago Martin and his son David (president and COO of MPG) started Viapul Corp. (Oakwood Village, Ohio), which does contract manu-facturing, almost exclusively in PU. Viapul is currently manufactur-ing the PURLoc sheet pile profi les for Gulf Synthetics.

HOW IT’S DONE

Th e PURLoc sheet pile system uses a series of corrugated, inter-locking piles to form a watertight wall. Each sheet pile is Z-shaped. Th e Z-shape is 8.5 inches/209 mm deep, and the profi le is 0.25 inch/6.35 mm thick and 18 inches/457 mm long (linear). Profi les are pultruded and cut to the specifi ed length for each job. MPG has a dedicated next-generation machine set up for just-in-time manu-facturing of Gulf ’s PURLoc system.

Th e pultrusion process itself is set up like any traditional pultru-sion process, with a few key diff erences. For one, Gulf ’s sheet pile has high glass loading: approximately 78 percent by weight.

“We have approximately 900 ends of the heaviest weight roving — 56 yield — fl owing into this part,” explains Jeff Martin. Rovings from PPG Industries (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Owens Corning Compos-ite Materials (Toledo, Ohio) have been qualifi ed for the sheet pile. Also incorporated are two layers of biaxial stitched fabric from Vec-torply (Phenix City, Ala.), one on the bottom and one on the top.

“Previously, the part was constructed with a center fabric layer,” says Jeff Martin. “However, when we redesigned the part, we took the center fabric layer out because … at the center axis [it was] not contributing mechanically to the performance of the seawall.”

“Typically, when you fi nd a center fabric in a traditionally pul-truded form, it’s being used as a resin carrier to aid in wetting out the profi le,” adds David Martin. “We’re able to do this in polyure-thane with a pressurized injection unit that is effi cient enough not to require a center carrier — a signifi cant cost saver since mats are more expensive than rovings.”

5 MPG included two removable inserts in the Gulf die to allow for different

wall thicknesses. When competing against a lower cost resin like

PVC, the inserts can be switched out to produce a thinner profi le. At

the exit end of the die, a cooling zone is required to act as a heat sink.

It’s not uncommon for MPG to see heat zones between 425°F/218°C

and 450°F/232°C through the die. The cooling zone can drop the

temperature by as much as 125°F/52°C.

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3 Next, the fi ber architecture enters MPG’s proprietary injector for fi ber

wet out. MPG’s injector (top) is modular in design and is completely

independent of the die (bottom). The injector is made to mate

with the parting lines of the die. Both require tight tolerances

(within ±0.001 inch/ ±0.025 mm) because PU lacks the resilience

necessary to conform to obstructions.

4 A two-part meter/mix unit provides a steady stream of PU to the injector.

It’s critical that resin is delivered without any pulsation or variation in

fl ow or pressure to the injector. A series of complex internal geometries

enable the injector to create the necessary pressure for fi ber wet out.

7 Clamp pressure is adjustable and separate from pull load pressure,

which reduces the incidence of cracking profi les.

8 The Gulf profi les are pultruded at a rate under 2-ft/min (0.61m/min).

An automatic, fl ying cut-off saw cuts the profi les to the specifi ed length

for each job.

Th e fi rst step in the pultrusion process is fi ber drying. Th e fi ber must be dry when it comes in contact with the PU. Excess moisture can cause blistering on the surface of the profi le. “Raw glass will ab-sorb even moderate levels of humidity, and while you can get away with some level of moisture absorbance with other resin systems, polyurethane reacts to moisture,” David Martin explains. “We run the fi ber through three or four seconds of infrared heaters — maybe 120°F [49°C] — in the preform section to fl ash off any excess mois-ture that might be hiding in the mass of roving.”

“From there we go into full-fl edged forming, which is where we part ways with low-pressure polyurethane pultrusion,” he adds. “We fully form the fi ber architecture before it enters the injector. So, we have essentially molded the complete seawall dry, and then it enters into our injector as a fully formed package of reinforcement.”

DIRECT INJECTION

Next the fi ber form is pulled into MPG’s proprietary injector. “Some people do direct die injection, which is when the die itself is modi-fi ed and the pump system is plugged directly into the die. Th ey may

hollow out a section inside the die to allow resin to accumulate, which creates a little bit of pressure,” David Martin explains. “What we’re doing is distinctly diff erent.”

MPG’s injector is modular in design and is completely inde-pendent of the die. A two-part meter/mix unit provides a steady stream of PU to the injector. For a quality part, it’s critical that resin is delivered without any pulsation or variation in fl ow or pressure to the injector.

“Our injectors are made to mate with the parting lines of the die,” he adds. “We can make them with anywhere from one sec-tion to multiple sections, depending on what our engineers deem necessary.” Th e injector itself creates the necessary pressure for fi ber wetout. “We do not rely on the pumping or metering system to sup-ply any pressure at all,” he explains. “Our injectors have a series of complex internal geometries that assist in the wetout process.”

“Th e pressure is created through these geometries, and we have found that small changes in certain places within that modular in-jection die have dramatic eff ects on the wetout in certain sections of the part,” adds the elder Martin.

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“Th e geometries … inside these injector sections oft en must be ground or EDM’d as separate inserts to allow for the complex ge-ometries,” he notes. “Most oft en, the parting lines in the injectors will match the die itself, which makes the system very user friendly for the operator.”

RUNNING TIGHT AND HOT

Th e pultrusion die requires much tighter tolerances than a tradi-tional die. “If you’re off by as much as 0.001 inch [0.025 mm] on the female taper towards the exit end of the die, you’re not going to be able to pull the profi le,” says David Martin. “Whereas a polyester will simply conform around a taper and have enough resiliency to go through, urethane is rigid enough that it will stop in the face of any obstruction.”

MPG, which also manufactured the die for the Gulf part, in-cluded two removable inserts to allow for diff erent wall thicknesses. “If Gulf is competing against a lower cost resin like PVC in an ap-plication, we can switch out the inserts to produce a thinner profi le.”

Also, the high glass loading of the urethane composite results in an overall higher density, which causes the emerging profi le to be hotter than a traditionally reinforced polyester profi le. “It’s not uncommon for us to have heat zones between 425°F/218°C and 450°F/232°C, which is signifi cantly higher than polyesters,” David Martin says. “One of the challenges is transferring that heat into the profi le in order to pick up processing speed.”

It’s critical to quickly cool the part aft er it exits the die. A cooling zone at the die’s exit acts as a heat sink. “If a part has seen as much as 425°F/218°C in the die, for example, the cooling zone can get it to exit the die closer to 300°F [149°C]. From there we have the dis-tance between the die and the fi rst clamp puller to ambiently cool the part,” he says. On the dedicated Gulf machine, 6 ft /1.8m has been

The PURloc sheet pile system uses a series of corrugated, interlocking

piles to form a watertight wall. Each sheet pile profi le is Z-shaped with a

depth section of 8.5 inches/216 mm, a wall thickness of 0.25 in/6.35 mm

and a width of 18 inches/457 mm (length depends on application).

POLYURETHANE PULTRUSION: NEXT-GEN EQUIPMENT

According to Jeff Martin, CEO of Martin Pultrusion Group (MPG, Oakwood

Village, Ohio), pultrusion with polyurethanes (PU) — with some initial equip-

ment investment and processing tweaks — can be done on existing pultru-

sion equipment. Each die requires a machined injection box (for high-volume

applications that incorporate dense layers of rovings and biaxial or triaxial

fabrics). These are typically manufactured from aluminum or stainless steel, at

an investment cost that can range, says Martin, “from a few thousand dollars

to perhaps as much as $20,000 as dictated by the size and complexity of the

profi le being processed.” Also, a meter/mix system is required to pump the

material into the injection box. Martin estimates that this piece of equipment,

with a static mixer on the end, can cost between $25,000 and $40,000 for

each processing cavity. There are also steps that must be taken to address

PU’s high processing heat, low shrinkage and increased pull force.

MPG, however, is all-in when it comes to PU pultrusion. Two years ago

the company fi nalized the design of a next-generation pultrusion machine

and has developed a proprietary direct injection box design for high-pressure

pultrusion. The tools represented a major investment in PU.

One of the primary differences in its next-generation machine design is

the overall robustness of the system. PU pultrusion can require stiffer frames

and more powerful hydraulics to handle the larger profi les. Also, due to the

high glass loading and stiffness of the urethane resin, PU lines can experience

signifi cantly higher pulling forces.

“Our polyester machines typically had approximately 6 tons of pulling

force,” explains Martin. “The minimum we have run in urethane is 12 tons.

We primarily focus on polyurethane applications that require a 20-ton pull

force,” he says, noting that one upcoming order will require a 40-ton

pull force.

Today MPG provides pultrusion services and markets equipment to other

pultruders. For the latter, the next-gen machinery is not just an option, it’s the

only option. “Even if our customers want a polyester machine,” says Martin,

“we are selling the upgraded machine because we believe that those who are

using polyester today will fi nd themselves wanting to have hardware to run

urethane in the future.”

Martin is equally optimistic about the future of his direct injection system,

particularly in light of potential action by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (Washington. D.C.). “The EPA is starting to become very critical of our

industry because of the VOCs associated with traditional, open bath process-

ing,” he points out. “Moving to a closed bath, contained injection system

signifi cantly reduces emission issues surrounding VOCs, including employee

exposure.” Further, the pure PU resin system now used by Gulf Synthetics

(Cummings, Ga.) — Baydur PUL 2500, supplied by Bayer MaterialScience

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) — features 10 percent bio-content. According to Bayer’s new

markets manager, Harry George, a new formulation (Baydur PUL 3500) will

feature 20 percent bio-content. — Karen Wood

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added between the die and the puller to provide an extra one to two minutes of time for ambient cooling. Th is is common for PU pultru-sion machines. Air knives are used in this area for additional cool-ing. Th e Gulf profi les, however, are pultruded at a rate of less than 2 ft /min (0.61m/min). For profi les that run at higher speeds, water misting has proven to be the most effi cient way to draw out heat. “We have some profi les that are running at 70 inches/min [1.78 m/min], which is fast for any system,” says David Martin. “If you don’t draw enough heat out of the profi le, the clamps have a hard time gripping the part.”

“Beyond the pullers, there’s nothing truly unique or diff erent,” he says. “In essence, there are much tighter process controls with polyurethanes than other resin systems — I always refer to it as a smaller target,” he adds. “With a polyester, you can aim at the target, and if you hit the paper, you’re going to get a good part. With urethane, when you aim at the target, you have to hit the bull’s-eye every time.”

IN THE FIELD

According to Wood, PURLoc sheet pile is gaining traction in parts of the North-eastern U.S. in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, as well as in Russia, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. Gulf currently has fi ve projects underway and recently completed projects in Long Island, N.Y.; the Cayman Islands; and Suriname, South America.

Gulf also has entered into a partnership with Pearson Piling (Falls River, Mass.), which manufactures a composite round pil-ing, for U.S. domestic sales of the PURLoc sheet pile.

Read this article online at http://short.compositesworld.com/rgHPMXWZ.

Read more about this subject in “On the waterfront: Composite marine piles build on success,” CT October 2009 (p. 26) | http://short.compositesworld.com/jftWRs63.

Martin Pultrusion presented the results of its pultrusion equipment R&D efforts in the following papers:

“Hardware Considerations When Processing Urethane Resins,” David Martin, Martin Pultrusion Group; ACMA, Feb. 2012, Las Vegas, Nev.

“Urethane Resins Increase Opportunities for Pultruders,” Jeff Martin, Martin Pultrusion Group; ACMA, Feb. 2012, Las Vegas, Nev.

compositesworld.com

Th e future? “What we’re doing is opening up new markets to vulnerability from composites,” claims Jeff Martin, stressing that composites now compete against not only steel and concrete but aluminum extrusions (MOE of about 10 million psi/68,950 MPa) in other markets. | CT |

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A regular CT freelancer, Karen Wood previously served as the managing editor of Injection Molding Magazine (Denver, Colo.). [email protected]

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Applications

Applications

Founded more than 30 years ago in South Africa and now head-quartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., GRC Fiberglass Coatings rehabili-tates aging residential and commercial swimming pools in the U.S. and Canada using a fi ber-reinforced polymer (FRP) approach fi rst developed for steel and concrete corrosion protection in African gold refi neries. GRC’s owner, Peter Gibson, a consultant to the pool industry since 1990, stresses that his product is not a replacement pool structure but instead a much less costly FRP coating, or lining, designed for onsite application to degraded pool surfaces.

To meet the requirements of the application, a high-crosslinking, corrosion-resistant isophthalic resin from Interplastic Corp. (St. Paul, Minn.) is modifi ed with shrink-resistant additives to promote bonding and is combined with chopped glass fi ber — 4800 TEX EC-R OptiSpray Roving from Owens Corning (Toledo, Ohio). Tai-lored for sprayup application, the material forms a pool lining with a 70:30 resin/glass ratio.

GRC provides these materials to selected pool care fi rms, under the brand name Sprayvex. Th e Sprayvex system is 10 to 20 percent more costly than plaster or cement-based repairs, Gibson acknowl-edges, but he estimates that time and cost savings in preparation, processing, pool startup and postapplication maintenance actually gives FRP a cost advantage over the long run.

A key savings point is the preparation of a pool’s damaged plaster fi nish, Gibson says. Instead of chipping away the damaged plaster , a time-consuming step that must precede cementitious repair, prepa-ration for FRP sprayup consists only of scarifi cation of the concrete substrate to a ±2 mm/0.079 inch anchor (jagged) profi le, which helps the resin grip and bond to the substrate.

Where there are structural cracks in the concrete substrate, a 13-oz/0.37-kg woven roving mat is layed up over the damaged area before FRP spray up begins. A layer of resin (without fi berglass) is applied as a sealer/primer coat, followed by sprayup and rollout of the glass/resin lining to a thickness of 4 to 5 mm (0.16 to 0.2 inch).

Th e Sprayvex system includes a proprietary fi nish layer: a 40-mil (0.04-inch) topcoat specially formulated to perform in pool water with a pH between 7.2 and 7.8 and a chlorine concentration up to 3 ppm at a water temperature of 80°F/27°C. Th is sprayed-up, resin-only topcoat is a high-viscosity (5,000 cps) isophthalic/neopentyl glycol (ISO/NPG) polymer that reportedly off ers osmosis, or hydro-lytic, stability; blister and UV resistance; and protection against fi ber bloom. It contains a wax surfacing agent to help prevent air from inhibiting cure and also incorporates custom color pigments.

Gibson estimates that GRC’s sprayup application is 25 to 30 per-cent faster than applying cement-based products. Aft er a two-day ambient cure, the pool is ready for water start up and balancing of pool chemicals. Unlike with cementitious fi nishes, the Spravex coat-ing system is inert, says Gibson, and that means “there is no two-way interaction between the pool water and the surface, so pool chemi-cals are more effi cient and fewer are needed, saving large commercial

pools thousands of dollars per year.” GRC, in fact, off ers a written 15-year material performance warranty that, Gibson says, “addresses the performance issues of the surface in a swimming pool.”

Sprayup equipment from GS Manufacturing (Costa Mesa, Calif.) is used exclusively. “GS provides robust equipment with the ability to run hoses 250 to 300 ft [76.2m to 91.4m] long for onsite fi eld work,” Gibson says. “Other companies do not go beyond 150 ft [45.7m].”

To date, the Sprayvex system has been used to rehabilitate about 1 million ft 2 (92,903m2) of swimming pool surfaces. In one challeng-ing example, the Sprayvex system was used to resurface three pools (totaling about 5,500 ft 2/511m2) in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. — in August, in 110°F/43°C temperatures. “To accomplish the resurfac-ing in this heat, we extended the gel time of the resin and specially adapted the catalyst to slow the reaction time,” Gibson explains.

GRC also off ers topcoats to refi nish prefabricated pools and FRP slides in water parks, and the Sprayvex system has been used to refi nish tanks for chrome-plating processes. Additionally, the company has joined forces with Spider Tie (Providence, Utah), the developer of a self-named concrete wall-forming system, to provide a fi nish for poured-in-place concrete (PIPC) pools.

In 2011, market research fi rm P.K. Data (Atlanta, Ga.) reported that there are as many as 5,371,000 in-ground residential pools and 309,000 commercial pools in the U.S. alone. Gibson estimates that 10 percent of these, annually, are scheduled for refurbishment — a growth market in the making for composite materials.

SWIMMING POOLS Fiberglass

resurfacing option extends useful life

Sour

ce |

GRC

The pool at top right, heated year ‘round at Americana Village in Lake

Tahoe, Calif., requires resurfacing every three to four years, partly due to salt

residue from snow melt. GRC resurfacing was less costly than concrete

resurfacing and was completed in four days. Above, a Sprayvex vendor’s

technicians use GS Manufacturing spray equipment with long supply hoses,

which enable onsite processing of specially formulated resin/chopped glass

coating on swimming pool.

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April 9-11, 2013 Aircraft Interiors Expo 2012

Hamburg, Germany |

www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com

April 16-18, 2013 eCar Tec Paris

Porte de Versailles, Paris, France | www.ecartec.de

April 24-25, 2013 Global Automotive Lightweight Materials Initiative 2013

London, U.K. | www.global-automotive-light

weight-materials.com

May 5-8, 2013 WINDPOWER 2013

Chicago, Ill. | www.windpowerexpo.org

May 6-7, 2013 Advancements in Fiber-Polymer Composites

Milwaukee, Wis. | www.forestprod.org/fi berpolymer/

May 6-9, 2013 Offshore Technology Conference 2013 (OTC 2013)

Houston, Texas | www.otcnet.org

May 6-9, 2013 SAMPE 2013

Long Beach, Calif. | www.sampe.org/

events/2013LongBeachCA.aspx

May 15-16, 2013 2013 Corrosion, Mining and Infrastructure

Denver, Colo. | www.acmanet.org/

events-calendar

May 20-25, 2013 13th International Symposium on Nondestructive Characterization of Materials

Le Mans, France | www.cnde.com

May 30-31, 2013 Forum de la Plasturgie et des Composites

Paris, France | www.forum-plasturgie-

composites.com

June 4-6, 2013 Transportation Weight Loss Diet Conference 2013

Stuttgart, Germany |

www.transportationweightlossdiet.com

June 10-13, 2013 RAPID 2013

Pittsburgh, Pa. | rapid.sme.org/public/enter.aspx

June 11-12, 2013 7th International CFK-Valley Stade Convention

Stade, Germany | www.cfk-convention.com

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Resin copolymers and PVDF fl uoropolymer foamArkema Inc. (King of Prussia, Pa.) highlighted several innovative chemi-cal technologies, including Nanostrength, a new family of self-assem-bling block copolymers that enhance epoxy resin system performance. Also on display was a new technology for manufacturing Arkema’s Kynar PVDF fluoropolymer foam product at very low density. The process en-capsulates a highly foamed center layer with solid interior and exterior layers. The technology reportedly allows production of very lightweight, low smoke and flame multilayer piping. Applications for the piping in-clude not only oil and gas plants and other chemical processing opera-tions, but also aircraft and automobiles, where ductwork is a target for lightweighting efforts. www.additives-arkema.com

Fire-resistant architectural panelsAshland Performance Materials’ (Dublin, Ohio) large booth featured full-sized, fire-resistant exterior architectural building panels that were recently selected to cover one façade of the new San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Fabricated by Kreysler & Assoc. Inc. (American Canyon, Calif.), the panels complemented the company’s next-generation Modar 820 FP acrylic-modified resin (pat. pend.), which was recently released for customer trials. The resin is now prepromoted and prefilled with aluminum trihydrate (ATH) to make it considerably more user-friendly for fabricators of low-smoke, low-flame composites, says the company. www.ashland.com/businesses/apm | www.kreysler.com

Additives for Class A SMCBYK USA Inc. (Wallingford, Conn.), as always, exhibited its wide range of processing additives, coupling agents and defoamers for myriad appli-cations. One highlight was an improved processing additive called BYK-P 9085, designed for sheet molding compound (SMC) production for automotive Class A panels. The additive is now easier to process thanks to a lower viscosity profile, easier incorporation into the SMC paste, and overall better handling in the production process. BYK-P 9085 improves the surface quality (gloss and haze) in the molded parts and increases paint adhesion. The company now offers a mobile phone app, called Additive Guide, which can be downloaded from the company’s Web site. www.byk.com

COMPOSITES 2013 Product Showcase

Near silica-free calcium carbonate fi llerHuber Engineered Materials (Atlanta, Ga.) introduced trademarked Hubercarb W4 calcium carbonate, milled from micritic limestone ore. Huber says this soft and virtually silica-free ore mills to a more spherical shape

than conventional marble sources, which grind to more rhombohedral

forms. This is said to provide maximum particle packing and minimize glass breakage during processing and molding operations. Huber also notes that the fi ller is composed principally of phosphorus, with lesser amounts of alu-minum, iron and lead compared to competing products. The material also features low soluble salt content, which provides a consistently low mois-ture content and reuptake, leading to a stable platform for liquid polyesters. www.hubermaterials.com

Water-based semipermanent mold releasesChem-Trend (Howell, Mich.) described its current research and develop-ment efforts aimed at mold releases for composites processing and high-lighted the company’s ongoing transition from solvent-based to water-based semipermanent compounds. Chem-Trend representatives appealed to the company’s long history and accumulated expertise to assure attend-ees that its semipermanent products can be customized to meet a par-ticular need. Further, they emphasized that their chemistries result in very low transfer of release agent to the molded part, maintain appropriate slip levels between the mold and the part in highly complex geometries and pro-vide a consistent molded-part surface fi nish while minimizing the number of applications. www.chemtrend.com

Hubercarb W4 (Mag=10.0 K X)

Here’s a sampling of new products and technologies that were on display at the American Composites Manufacturers Assn.’s annual trade show, held this year Jan. 28-30 in Orlando, Fla. For a report on other news from the show, please turn to p. 18.

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New Products

Closed mold demos and moreComposites One (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and its 20 industry partners pre-sented live demonstrations of closed molding processes for the ninth con-secutive year in its “Lean, Mean, Closed Mold Machine” demo booth. One feature was production of an actual hatch cover part for customer Regal Ma-rine Industries (Orlando, Fla.) using the Light RTM process. Composites One also marked the debut of some advanced materials in its line of specialized reinforcements from materials suppliers Axiom Materials Inc. (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Oxeon AB (Borås, Sweden), which supplies spread tow prepregs and fabrics. www.compositesone.com | www.axiommaterials.com | www.oxeon.se

New tackifi er integrates with resin3M (St. Paul, Minn.) showed an array of products, including a new tackifi er system called Adjustable Composite Positioning System 11095. The prod-uct is compatible with vinyl ester, polyester and epoxy and is unaffected by ambient temperatures and humidity, says the company. Further, it has a very effective tack mechanism that does not impact laminate shear proper-ties because it integrates with the resin during part infusion. The company says 11095 can maintain the position of reinforcements for days without sagging. The product is available in drums, pails or 24-oz spray cans. Also new from 3M is its nanoenhanced Fortifi ed Tooling Prepreg. Compared to standard epoxy tooling prepregs, says 3M, it features 55 percent greater fracture toughness, 17 percent higher shear strength, 47 percent less spring

back, 61 percent less exotherm and 33 percent less shrinkage. Testing, says 3M, shows that after 200 cycles from 120°F to 350°F (49°C to 177°C), tools made with the prepreg showed no vacuum leaks. 3M also says it exhibits less scuffi ng and scratching than competitive materials, thereby minimizing part rework and resulting in reduced manufacturing costs. www.3m.com/advancedcomposites

New blush-resistant gel coatCCP Composites (N. Kansas City, Mo.), the fi rst to develop a MACT-com-pliant gel coat product, ARMORCOTE, in the early 1980s, unveiled a new gel coat called IMEDGE Fusion. The new product combines the benefi ts of the original ARMORCOTE with the company’s newer IMEDGE PCT product, intro-duced in 2006. The IMEDGE Fusion gel coat reportedly provides deep, rich colors, high gloss and blush resistance, yet it is easy to use and fully MACT compliant. www.ccpcompositesus.com

Perforated, nonwoven polyester coreMilyon S.A. de C.V. (Mexico City, Mexico), a fi rst-time exhibitor, showed its line of Inacor-TE nonwoven core material with perforated skins made of continuous polyester fi bers and plastic microspheres. The core, intended for open-molding applications, reportedly increases impact strength, reduces weight and saves on resin consumption, compared to other candidate materials. www.milyon.com.mx

Sprayer for gel coat and chopMCC Equipment and Service Center (Indianapolis, Ind.) is an authorized distributor and service center for resin delivery systems manufactured by Gra-co Inc. (Minneapolis, Minn.), including GlasCraft brands that are part of the Graco product line. The company showed its new Graco RS resin spray gun for gel coat and chop applications. The lightweight design is ergonomic, enables one-hand speed control and is designed for tool-less operation and fast blade changes. New blade cartridges can be removed and changed in seconds, says the company, and cartridges are available in 4-, 6- or 8-blade confi gurations. www.mccind.com | www.graco.com/composites

New multi-end glass rovingOwens Corning Composite Materials (OC, Toledo, Ohio) introduced its reengineered OptiSpray multi-end glass roving, based on Advantex glass fi ber. The original roving was optimized to work with any resin in any ap-plication via a design of experiments (DOE) approach. To achieve optimal sizings, OC developed three versions, reengineered with a smaller fi lament diameter: OptiSpray, OptiSpray H and OptiSpray F (for faster wetout). The rovings reportedly chop faster with less fuzz, and stay together until they hit the chopper gun, which leads to faster throughput. Fiber conformity reduces spring back, the roving’s better mechanicals are said to translate to fewer chopper-gun blade changes, and the sizing's increased softening point spells better performance in high ambient shop heat and humidity. Less air is incor-porated, so rollout is faster. www.owenscorning.com

Finally, there’s a fire retardant, low smoke/low smoke toxicity phenolic FRP that’s processed as easily as polyester. It’s called Cellobond FRP and it’s processed from phenolic resins available in a wide range of viscosities for:

**

*FM approved

Gel coated Cellobond Phenolic FRP far

mance tests with ease.

tance, low flame and low smoke / smoke toxicity properties make Cellobond the hottest new material for fire retardant applications. For the aircraft and aerospace

Call or write today for more information.

Finally, a fire retardant FRP with unmatched processability.

Mektech Composites Inc.Distributor for Momentive Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (Formerly Hexion)

Hillsdale, NJ 07642Tel: (201) 666-4880 Fax: (201) 666-4303E-Mail: [email protected]

Cellobond and Durite are registered trademarks of Momentive Specialty Chemicals, Inc.

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Large-composite machining centerThermwood (Dale, Ind.) introduced its Model 77 CNC machining center, featuring a 12-hp spindle (3,000 to 24,000 rpm); impact-resistant head; 36-inch/914-mm vertical z-axis, 10-position rotary tool change system; Sie-mens servo drives; 3-D laser-compensated axis alignment; and QCore Su-perControl. Designed specifi cally for machining large composite materials, Model 77 also offers fi xture placement compensation; constant tip-speed machining; tip center rotation; remote diagnostics; an optional fi xed drill and tapped aluminum table; optional access doors; and table sizes of 5 ft by 10 ft (1.5m by 3m) or 10 ft by 10 ft (3m by 3m). www.thermwood.com

Rapid wetout E-glass fi bersPPG Industries Inc. (Cheswick, Pa.) focused show visitor attention on technical papers presented by its researchers, which described the com-pany’s development of new E-glass fi bers designed to improve fi ber per-formance in a variety of structural and chemical environments. The new fi bers are Hybon 2002 and Hybon 2026 XM, for structural applications, and Hybon 2002 and Hybon 2026 CR for corrosion-resistant and chemical applications. Each is said to exhibit higher modulus than previous E-glass products and is treated with an advanced fi ber sizing that is intended to optimize interfacial adhesion with polyester, vinyl ester and epoxy resin systems. The new fi bers enable rapid resin wetout and demonstrate bet-ter mechanical properties, particularly tensile strength and fatigue, says the company. www.ppgfi berglass.com

Infrared heaters for thermoplastic weldsThermocoax SaS (Paris, France, and Atlanta, Ga.), a fi rst-time exhibitor, introduced its longstanding heating-cable technology to composites pro-cessing. Its infrared heating systems use Inconel or stainless steel wires and cables for noncontact thermoplastic welding in the automotive market. Because the system does not contact the parts, there is no vibration and, therefore, no dust or residue that can contaminate the weld line. Also avail-able are heating systems that reportedly can heat tools to 1000°C/1832°F, regardless of tool complexity. www.thermocoax.com

“Standard” custom resin formulationsGougeon Brothers Inc. (Bay City, Mich.) announced just before the show that it has revamped the chemistry, pricing and marketing of its PRO-SET advanced epoxy products. The decision was made when the company re-alized that PRO-SET custom formulations consistently outsell many of its standard products. Now, products have been enhanced for performance, and customers can select resins by viscosity, and hardeners by speed, for the best process combination. One new system for high-temperature ap-plications, LAM-151-HT, is a high-temperature laminating epoxy with a Tg of 350°F/176°C, best paired with PRO-SET high-temperature laminating hardener LAM-251-HT. Also on the product card is an expand-in-place, two-part epoxy foam that results in a 15 lb/ft3 density closed-cell foam that is useful in industrial applications where urethane foam might not be suit-able. www.prosetepoxy.com

S E P T 1 1 - 1 3 , 2 0 1 3

DIAMOND CENTER, 46100 GRAND RIVER AVE. NOVI, MI 48374 www.speautomotive.com [email protected]

ATTEND THE WORLD’S LEADING AUTOMOTIVE COMPOSITES FORUMThe Automotive and Composites Divisions of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) International invite you to attend the 13th-annual SPEAutomotive Composites Conference and Exhibition (ACCE), September 11-13, 2013. The show – which has become the world’s leading automotive composites forum – will feature technical paper sessions, panel discussions, keynote speakers, networking receptions, & exhibits highlighting advances in materials,

processes, and applications technologies for both thermoset and thermoplastic composites in a wide variety of ground-transportation applications.

PRESENT BEFORE AN ENGAGED, GLOBAL AUDIENCEThe SPE ACCE typically draws nearly 650 attendees from 14 countries on 5 continents who are interested in learning about the latest composites tech-

nologies. Fully a third of attendees work for an automotive, heavy truck, agricultural / off-road equipment, or aerospace OEM, and roughly a fifth work

for a tier integrator. Few conferences of any size offers such an engaged, global audience vitally interested in hearing the latest composites advances.

Interested in presenting your latest research? Abstracts are due no later than March 29, 2013 and Papers no later than May 31, 2013 to allow time

for peer review. E-mail abstracts or papers to [email protected]. Approved papers will be accessible to attendees on a cloud-based

server and later will be available to the general public.

SHOWCASE YOUR PRODUCTS & SERVICES WITH EXHIBIT & SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIESWe’ve moved to a larger venue. A variety of sponsorship packages – including

displays, conference giveaways, advertising and publicity, signage, tickets, and

networking receptions – are available. Companies interested in showcasing their

products and/or services at the SPE ACCE should contact Teri Chouinard of

Intuit Group at [email protected].

Marketplace

Marketplace

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Available in various temperature ranges

Fax Website: http//:www.generalsealants.comE-mail: [email protected]

Used world wide by composite manufacturers

Distributed by:AIRTECH INTERNATIONAL INC.

Tel: (714) Website: http//:www.airtechintl.com

Manufactured by:®

PO Box 3855, City of Industry, CA 91744

MANUFACTURING SUPPLIES |

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contact: Becky Helton

[email protected] 513.527.8800 x224

RECRUITMENT |www.forcomposites.com

Composites Industry Recruiting and Placement

COMPOSITES SOURCES

Workholding Solutions for Metal, Composites, Ceramic and Glass.

800-810-2482 • www.northfield.com

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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

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Showcase

Product & LiteratureSHOWCASE

The Companies of North CoastNorth Coast Tool & Mold Corp.North Coast Composites, Inc.

www.northcoastcomposites.com216.398.8550

ms

ReleaseAgent

Dry Lubricant

MS-122AD

PERFORMANCE PTFE RELEASE AGENTS/DRY LUBRICANTS FOR COMPOSITES

MILLER-STEPHENSON CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC.

www.miller-stephenson.com 800.992.2424

A&P Technology Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

AkzoNobel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Amerimold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Ashland Performance Materials . . . . Inside Cover

Baltek Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

BASF Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CCP Composites US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Composites One LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

DIAB International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Eastman Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Interplastic Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

JRL Ventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Magnum Venus Plastech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

McClean Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

McLube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Mektech Composites Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

North Coast Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Pro-Set Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Ross, Charles & Son Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Saertex USA LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover

SAMPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

SPE Automotive Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

TenCate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Tricel Honeycomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

U.S. Polychemical Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Wisconsin Oven Corp. . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover

Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Engineering Insights

D

GM and partners engineer composites for this complex

assembly with an strong accent on repeatability.

espite lower-than-expected sales and a few production glitches, the Chevy Volt is one of General Motors’ (GM, Detroit, Mich.) marquee brands, emblematic of the company’s

eff orts to turn the corner fi nancially and design and produce high-quality, fuel-effi cient cars of the future. At the engineering heart of the Volt is a lithium-ion battery system that posed a serious challenge to those charged with designing its composite components.

Th e battery features 288 individual battery cells housed in a light-weight glass fi ber-reinforced thermoplastic battery pack that incorpo-rates an integral thermal management system. Enclosing the cells are 135 repeating frames, each approximately 250 mm wide and tall by 15 mm thick (9.8 inches square by 0.60 inch thick), and 18 similarly sized end frames (see diagram, p. 47). Each repeating frame holds two lithium-ion cells, one on each side, separated by a layer of insulating foam. Th e end frames each hold one cell, and a metal plate is inserted into the center of the frame to fi ll and seal its open area.

Th e assembled battery pack is T-shaped: 1,600 mm long by 900 mm wide at the top of the T (63 inches by 35.4 inches); it narrows to 400 mm/15.75 inches wide to fi t within the Volt’s underbody tun-

RUGGED BUT PRECISE

Chevy Volt Battery

Pack

nel, with a height throughout of about 300 mm/11.81 inches. It is grouped into three subsections. Each is built up from a fundamen-tal unit called a cell group, which comprises three lithium-ion cells connected in parallel. Section 1 is made up of one six-cell group module plus two 12-cell gro up modules, for a total of 90 cells. Sec-tion 2 contains two 12-cell group modules, totaling 72 cells. Section 3 features one six-cell group module plus three 12-cell group mod-ules, for a total of 126 cells.

COLLABORATION VS. COMPLEXITY

Craig Kollar, General Motors’ engineering group manager for cell release, says the complex battery pack — essentially an underbody part — had to meet exacting requirements for dimensional stability and robust durability. Th is dual demand tested the skill sets of GM’s partners in the project, material supplier BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany), molder MANN+HUMMEL (Portage, Mich.) and Cana-dian toolmaker Omega Corp. (Old Castle, Ontario). “Th is was a design that pushed the edge, and we needed buy-in from everyone to get there,” Kollar recalls. “We put a team together committed to

best practices and system solutions.”Th e key engineering challenge was to

design and produce composite frames that, when stacked in the pack assembly, would form a fi nished structure within acceptable dimensional tolerances. Each frame’s dimensional precision would have to approach that of a machined part, yet it needed to be achieved in an injection molding process. Another challenge was

The hybrid-electric Chevy Volt (inset)

is powered by this lithium-ion battery

with a rechargeable energy storage

system housed in a glass fiber-

reinforced thermoplastic battery pack

with integrated thermal management

system. Comprising 135 repeating

frames and 18 end frames, each

molded from a composite, the pack is

aligned, as shown, in the car: The front

section rides inside the car’s center

tunnel, with the top of the “T” beneath

the back seats.46

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Illustration | Karl Reque

ENGINEERING CHALLENGE:

Design and build a battery pack with an integrated heating and cooling system that will be dimensionally precise and stable at a wide range of operating temperatures, yet rugged enough to withstand car underbody bumps and vibration.

DESIGN SOLUTION:

A system of glass-fi lled polyamide repeating frames, precision-molded to ±0.1-mm (±0.004-inch) tolerance, that when stacked and compressed form two continuous, leak-free coolant channels, one on each side of the stack, and support and fully enclose individual lithium-ion cells.

the design of an integrated cooling and heating system that would keep the battery operating safely and at peak effi ciency. Attaining these goals was no small feat.

Toward those ends, a team headed by GM account manager Steven Van Loozen evaluated the structural performance of several molding materials, based on GM’s battery pack CAD model. Based on results obtained with Dassault Systèmes’ (Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) Abaqus FEA simulation tools, BASF recommended that end and repeating frames be injection molded from its Ultramid 1503-2F, a hydrolysis-resistant, 33 percent glass-fi lled polyamide 6/6. Van Loozen says the Ultramid grade selected for the battery pack “is not exceedingly exotic,” noting that the material has been used in radiator end tank and other auto applications for some time. Th e 1503-2F’s most crucial properties are its dimensional stability and compression strength, says Van Loozen: “To understand how the material respond-ed dimensionally across the operating temperature range was critical to ensuring the material would perform [its] role … in the stack ups.” Further, the compound demonstrated lot-to-lot consistency, a prereq-uisite to dimensional repeatability. And its demonstrated compressive strength would be key when, during pack assembly, four clamping bolts were inserted through the bottom sections of the end and re-

peating frames and were tightened, locking the frames together.Th ese resin characteristics also were critical to the proper opera-

tion of the thermal management system’s two coolant channels. Th e channels are approximately 50 mm by 30 mm (1.97 inches by 1.18 inches) and are molded into opposite sides of each frame. Two press-in-place EPDM seals, front and back, provide a sealing surface for each channel. In operation, a 50/50 mix of ethylene glycol and deion-ized water is distributed from the outlet of the coolant manifold (also made from Ultramid 1503-2F) into the coolant channels. Th e coolant system, along with an internal heater for winter driving, is designed to maintain the temperature between -13°F and 122°F (-25°C and 50°C), the range within which the battery is optimally effi cient. (Although the battery can perform outside the range, it does so with decreased effi ciency, which results in fewer miles travelled between battery charges.) Any “give” in the molded compound could cause, among other problems, leaks in the sealed areas of the coolant channels.

To optimize the compound’s molded performance, Mike Ternes, MANN+HUMMEL’s director of business development, reports that his team used Moldfl ow soft ware (Moldfl ow Corp., Wayland, Mass.) to run multiple mold-fi ll simulations in an eff ort to eliminate poten-tial knit lines and optimize gate locations. Th e part’s wall thick-

CELL GROUPS

12-cell group

Each frame is precision molded from 33 percent glass-fi lled polyamide 6/6 to within ±0.1-mm/±0.004-inch tolerance

250 mm/9.8 inches

Coolant channel profi le: 50 mm by 30 mm (1.97 inches by 1.18 inches)

REPEATING FRAME (with lithium-ion cell installed)

COOLANT MANIFOLD

REPEATING FRAME (empty)

Coolant channel profi le

6-cell group

Repeating frame thickness: 15 mm/0.60 inch

THE CHEVY VOLT LITHIUM-ION BATTERY PACK

250 mm/9.8 inches

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ness varies, so the challenge was to ensure a uniform fi ll rate. Th is was especially important because uniform fi lling and cooling are essential to the part’s dimensional stability. Th e molder also worked with GM engineers, using a variety of analytical tools to tweak fi nal part specifi cations and identify areas where strict adherence to tolerances was necessary and other areas where they could be slightly looser.

CONSISTENT,

REPEATABLE FRAMES

Armed with a design and a compat-ible molding compound, the collab-orators found that the transition from design to prototype to produc-tion also posed challenges.

During the prototype devel-opment phase, all parts were made with a single two-cavity tool, and the stack assembly process was “tuned” to the variation within these two parts. Dimensional analysis of the prototype molds was conducted with the aid of an ATOS Triple Scan optical 3-D digi-tizing scanner equipped for blue light scanning (blue light permits accurate measurements regardless of ambient light conditions), supplied by Capture 3D (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and developed by GOM mbH (Braunschweig, Germany). Scanner feedback guided development of the multicavity production molds, optimizing dimensional results while eliminating tuning loops.

Ternes says that as production tools were scaled up, the potential for part-to-part variation grew as their numbers increased. Although each tool cavity’s shape was produced within the required tolerance (±0.1 mm/±0.004 inch), a stack of frames from tools whose dimen-sions skewed toward either limit of the tolerance range could result in undesirable variation in the assembled pack. In one case, a pack was assembled from frames sized at the low end of the range, result-ing in enough extra space between frames that the assembly could not be compressed properly by the through bolts. Consequently, as addi-tional tooling was phased in, tooling qualifi cation results were melded with production procedures to ensure each battery pack assembly’s combined frames resulted in an acceptable overall stack length.

“Th e way the stack is built, we may have 24 diff erent cavities that produce the same part,” Ternes notes. “Holding these tight toler-ances is critical for ensuring all the coolant channels line up and maintaining proper compression. To do that we have to be totally consistent in the way we make the part.”

Ternes reports that several design of experiment (DOE) trials were conducted during development. One involved brass compres-sion limiters that are inserted at several locations along the frame edges to serve as solid, metallic compression surfaces when the frames are stacked and compressed. Prior to insertion, the limit-

Pictured here, one of the three

sections of the Volt battery pack

(which can be recharged, as shown in the inset)

showing the assembled repeating frames and

individually (left to right) an empty repeating

frame, the coolant manifold and a repeating

frame loaded with a lithium-ion battery cell.

Both the repeating frames and coolant manifold

are injection molded from a hydrolysis-resistant

grade of 33 percent glass-fi lled Ultramid

polyamide 6/6 from BASF.

Read this article online | http://short.compositesworld.com/p5WnTrVQ.

ers are preheated to a specifi ed range, which melts the plastic and allows the part to be inserted into the frame quickly. During bat-tery pack build, however, some of the limiters were compressed and caused unacceptable variation in overall pack length. Th e DOE uncovered the problem: during the preheat, the inserts were being annealed, which reduced their hardness values. Th e team subse-quently discovered that maintaining preheat temperature within a tighter range would prevent the problem.

Another DOE, during MANN+HUMMEL’s injection molding trials for the frames, revealed part-to-part variation that could im-pact overall pack length. Th e trial measured dimensional stability as a function of a number of injection molding variables and found that variations in mold cavity pressure were the culprit. “It is related to the packing pressure,” Ternes notes, “and the DOE showed if we were under or over pressure even a tiny amount, we’d have issues.”

As a corrective measure, closed-loop cavity pressure process controls were installed in all MANN+HUMMEL injection molds, with closed loop feedback to the injection molding machines. Th e system now monitors the cavity pressure of each shot, compares it to the specifi cation and shuts down the press if an unacceptable variation is measured.

GOING FORWARD

Designed and produced on a learning curve that should be appli-cable to future car lines, the Chevy Volt battery pack represents an all-out engineering blitz on product and process variation. Getting there required a blend of skilled up-front design and planning and on-the-fl y problem solving. And the result? It certainly impressed other engineers. Th e design topped all contenders in the Powertrain category at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) 2011 Automotive Innovation Awards competition. | CT |

Contributing WriterMichael R. LeGault is a freelance writer lo-cated in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the former editor of Canadian Plastics magazine (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). [email protected]

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BASF

Source | General Motors

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