JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007 - 12

INNOVATIONS INNOVATIONS Cured-in-place pipe saves quintessential smalltown ambiance Collierville, Tennessee has a quaint downtown district with a classic gazebo town square listed on the National Register of Historic Places. So, when underground sewer pipelines showed signs of weakness, tearing up streets to replace the pipe would have been a civic nightmare. The trenchless solution designed by consulting engineers Jordan, Jones & Goulding, Inc. (JJG) had new seamless cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) built inside the old pipe. Insituform Technologies®, Inc. (ITI) installed the CIPP using a felt tube saturated with Vipel® corrosion-resistant resin from North American resin leader AOC. “If this project had been standard open-cut construction, it would have taken six months, instead of the fourand-a-half weeks it took,” said ITI senior project engineer Randy Hansbrough. “By not having to dig trenches, the environment and town ambiance were preserved. Businesses did not have to face shutdowns, and roads stayed open to traffic.” The Insituform process started with a non-woven polyester felt liner, custommade for the host pipe and in predetermined lengths for on-site insertions. Prior to insertion, the felt was impregnated with wet resin at Insituform’s special facility in Jacksonville, Florida, then shipped to the job site under controlled conditions to prevent premature resin cure. To speed installation, minimize disruption and eliminate digging, access to the Collierville sewer pipe was made through existing manholes. As the wet-out tube was inserted, internal water pressure or air pressure was used to invert the tube and move it forward and against the pipe’s inner wall. Depending on the pipe conditions and location for a specific inversion, the water was heated or steam was introduced to raise the temperature of the resin to its curing point. Temperature was then maintained for a specific time to ensure a complete cure. www.insituform.com www.aoc-resins.com Goodyear introduces carbon-fibre ATV drive belt Goodyear Engineered Products is hitting the trail with a “self-healing” carbon-fibre-loaded allterrain vehicle drive belt that can reduce the likelihood of a long walk home. “Goodyear Gatorback Sport” is the first continuously variable transmission or CVT belt with carbon-fibre reinforcement in its body construction, according to Loren Danhauer, Goodyear chief belt engineer. “The fibre alignment in the rubber compound provides added stiffness across the width of the belt. Conventional CVT belt sidewalls can glaze and char from heat build up when engaged with pulleys under extreme loads. Materials from the top width of the belt then turn down and inward, creating vibrations that can quickly destroy the belt. Gatorback Sport regulates itself under extreme events,” said Danhauer. “Its carbon fibre in the rubber compound allows desired edge slippage without losing top width. When extreme demand subsides, the belt self-heals and again picks up the load.” Danhauer added that tests he conducted show significantly improved top width wear and reduced belt weight loss. While Gatorback Sport’s lateral strength comes from carbon fibre, its longitudinal strength comes from Goodyear Flexten aramid cords travelling the circumference of the belt. Flexten minimizes stretch, stabilizes overall length and maximizes horsepower transmission. “It adds up to predictable tension performance,” said Danhauer, “and tension is as important to belts as air pressure is to tyres.” www.goodyearbeltsandhose.com Microwaveheated autoclave On March 29th, the world’s first microwave-heated autoclave was set up at the Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems at the German Aerospace Centre in Braunschweig. This autoclave will be used for the research of advanced microwave-assisted manufacturing methods for the needs of the aerospace industry, especially in the field of preimpregnated carbon-fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP). Unlike conventional facilities, which are based on convective heating and therefore thermally idle, microwave facilities are able to cure efficiently and quickly. Autoclaves are of current interest to manufacture high-quality products out of preimpregnated semifinished parts, especially for the aerospace industry. To show the advantages of the microwave technology, the German Aerospace Centre’s technology marketing department has initiated cooperation, working with Scholz Maschinenbau GmbH and Fricke und Mallah Microwave Technology GmbH to design and build an innovative microwaveheated autoclave. The microwave autoclave is expected to fulfil the aerospace industry demands for fast and effective curing of preimpregnated CFRP. www.dlr.de/fa/en JEC Composites Magazine / No34 July-August 2007

http://www.insituform.com http://www.aoc-resins.com http://www.goodyearbeltsandhose.com http://www.dlr.de/fa/en

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #34 - July/August 2007