JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009 - 81

oth U72 Visit our Bo ow 2009 at JEC sh Innovation: FILAVATM High performance Volcanic Rock Filament The promise comes true! Volcanic rock’s filaments make their breakthrough on the high performance fiber reinforcements market. ISOMATEX S.A., a Belgium-based advanced fibre manufacturer, has announced the operational start-up in Gembloux of a state of the art manufacturing facility for the production of Volcanic Rock Continuous Fibre, FILAVATM. After four years in development by the ISOMATEX Research and Development team, assisted by a number of leading European research centres, FILAVATM is now in production. FILAVAs’ unique characteristics include exceptionally high levels of stiffness, excellent chemical resistance and a temperature resistance beyond 600°C in permanent operation. This positions FILAVATM as a cost efficient and effective alternative to traditional high-end reinforcement materials such as Carbon, Aramid or S/R/T glass in many applications. ADVERTORIAL The ISOMATEX Way ISOMATEX recognized very early on that the production of volcanic rock fibers would be a complex and expensive process, with very low tolerances in the production processes, particularly during the phase of melting the raw material where extremely consistent chemical composition and the most precise temperature control are required. The primary challenge resides in the management of the basalts chemical composition which is usually characterized by high iron content. ISOMATEX’ original manufacturing process focuses on the precise and consistent monitoring of transforming Fe2+ and Fe3+ valences in order to prevent production issues such as crystal crust forming on the top layer of the melt, unstable hydrostatic pressure or unevenly distributed temperature and viscosity of the melt in the fiber-forming zone of the furnace. During development, product was supplied to independent analysis laboratories across Europe for certification and characterization in accordance with European and American Standards and Norms. The values measured in all benchmark ranges were exceptional and well above competitive performance levels as can be seen in the comparative analysis chart. Whilst ISOMATEX’ team is extremely proud of its R&D successes, it recognizes that, on the high performance composites and technical textiles market, requirements can strongly vary from an application to the other. The fully automated and numerically controlled manufacturing process gives ISOMATEX the capability to adapt the batch composition in a matter of minutes to meet specific customer requirements. ISOMATEX’ aim is to develop long term partnerships with its customers by providing high value, market leading customized product solutions. Young Modulus GPa Tensile Strength MPa For further information, contact us at info@isomatex.com, or visit our website www.isomatex.com
http://www.isomatex.com/ http://www.isomatex.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #47 - March/April 2009
