JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009 - 80

SPECIAL jec composites show 2009 TRANSPORTATION Winner: Profile Composites Inc. (Canada) Partnership network: National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (USA), A&P Technology (USA), Bayer Materials Science (USA), Mag Cincinnati Automation (USA), Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing (Japan) Name of product or process: High-pressure hydrogen storage tanks for vehicles, manufactured using a new, highly productive process. Description: For faster production, resin transfer moulding into a dry fibre preform is used in place of filament winding. Bayer developed the resin specifically for this application. A significant and successfully achieved goal was to develop an improved failure mode for the tanks under high-pressure burst. Advantages or salient features: Tank production currently takes 20 minutes instead of 6 hours when using filament winding. The process lowers production costs through automation and improved equipment productivity. The possibility for increasing the production rate capability means that high-pressure hydrogen and gas storage could become commercially feasible. As continuous process improvements are applied and more advanced equipment is developed, the production cycle time for this highly robust and repeatable process could be reduced to under 10 minutes. The process production rate would then be 24 times higher than with filament winding, so there is a huge market potential in the transportation field. Provides a unique process technology base applicable to many other types of composite pressure vessels and applications. State of development: The tanks have been in development with sub-scale articles for process parameters and systems development. As the methods were proven with basic control, they were implemented in semi-automated systems developed by Profile and MAG. This approach led to full-scale tanks produced with the complete process approach. Testing/approvals are on-going for the higherpressure versions (5,000 psi). Final development of automation systems and equipment are now in progress, and commercial launch is planned for the coming year. Product development is ongoing for 10,000-psi tanks and larger tank sizes as per the Toyota requirements. More information: www.profilescomposites.com from the environment. State of development: Already in production. Competing company: Deltatech (Italy) Name of product or process: KordoTM: Net-shape components with rounded edges, directly off the mould. Description: The fabrication of composite parts often involves edge trimming and finishing after the curing process. This implies additional work, which is normally done in a separate room equipped with an efficient dust-filtration system. The trimming process also leaves cut fibres exposed at the edges, where infiltration by environmental agents may occur with detrimental effects on laminate properties. Another critical factor with trimmed composite components can be the presence of sharp edges. These might cause personal injury and, in certain specific applications, are prohibited by law. The Kordo™ system, developed by Delta-Tech, offers a practical solution to all these inconveniences. Advantages or salient features: Kordo™ is made of a strip of pliable prepreg, wrapped around a braid in such a way as to be easily placed around the part contour, with the round braid shape pointing outwards and the folded prepreg strip pointing inwards to be incorporated within the laminate plies. A little barrier is built in the mould to define the exact part contour. A well-shaped rounded edge, in compliance with automotive safety regulations, can be obtained by using a rubber caul-pad around the edges. The caul-pad is kept in place by creating a positioning groove in the tool, about 10 mm from the part edge. The caul-pad can easily be made with curable rubber and stiffened with a ply of carbon or glass prepreg fabric within the section. The edge obtained with Kordo™ will not show cut fibres on the surface. These will instead fold back towards the laminate, creating a sealed edge which is resistant to infiltrations Competing company: Porsche AG (Germany) Partnership network: Secar Technology GmbH (Germany) Name of product or process: Pultruded carbon roof reinforcement. Description: Pultrusion of a three-chamber profile with constant radius. Materials used: woven carbon material, biaxial non-woven carbon, unidirectional carbon fibre. The replacement of biaxial carbon by inline braiding is currently under evaluation. The matrix material is always a thermoset resin. Completely new is the continuous manufacturing process for a highly loaded composite part, combining different fibre orientations (0°, 0/90°) and different semi-finished products (woven, UD, noncrimp) with a thermoset matrix and a production speed >1m/min. No post-processing necessary, just cutting off the continuous output. Advantages or salient features: Weight reduction in a car’s upper structure, resulting in a fleeter, better balanced vehicle and reduced fuel consumption. Cost reduction compared to a standard composite manufactu-ring process (faster, higher output, fully automated, no post-processing, etc.). All carbon components are cost driven. A cheaper process means a cheaper component. The potential to reduce the weight of the car’s upper structure means big market potential, especially in sport cars. State of development: The development phase is near completion. This new approach would need to be integrated into vehicle designs. The process is also suitable for other transport and non-transport applications. 80 jec composites magazine / No47 March-April 2009

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009

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