JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #119 - Supplement lnnovation report - 54

JEC WORLD 2018

Automotive

Hybrid roof bow made by
> Booth:
laser-based processes
Hall 5 - C55
The roof bow consists of a fibre-reinforced plastic bar connected to two metal connecting plates that can be spot-welded to the
car body. The connection between the composite and the metal
is achieved using an innovative laser-based joining approach instead of adhesive joining and riveting. Therefore, the metal connecting
plates are pretreated with ultrafast lasers in
order to create a spongy surface topography. The joining process itself takes place
during the compression moulding process
of the plastic bar. The molten polymer is
pressed into the generated structures,
hardens and creates a strong and reliable
joint based on mechanical interlocking between the two materials. The
joining process takes advantage of a special variothermal mould that
allows preheating of the metal connection plates and process control
via integrated sensors during the process. In order to save costs, the
carbon fibre-reinforced thermoset material used in the original part is
replaced by a thermoplastic PA6 matrix with a glass fibre reinforcement. To maintain the stiffness and strength of the part, the roof bow is
partially reinforced with carbon fibre UD tapes. The process cycle time
is about 75 seconds. Then, the roof bow is trimmed with a single-mode
fibre laser using a novel high-speed scanning system. A multi-pass cutting approach is used to cut the multi-material mix in a single process
step with minimized heat input.
www.ilt.fraunhofer.de

SERVICE
Multi-sector

Rhode Island Composites Alliance
> Booth:
takes the lead
Hall 6 - P50b
Rhode Island boatbuilders were early pioneers in
composites building, and the tradition of innovation and excellence they established has attracted a diverse cluster of composites
companies to Rhode Island.
Today, the state's sector of nearly 70
companies represents all aspects of the
industry - from manufacturers to products weavers, mould builders, suppliers,
and education & training providers. The
state is strategically located inside the US
Northeast corridor, between New York
City and Boston.
The Composites Alliance of Rhode Island
works to grow this key sector and ensure purchasers of composites
technology around the world know about the strong capabilities resident in the state. The Composites Alliance also provides a nexus where
these Rhode Island companies can share expertise and ideas and focus on workforce-development programmes to ensure a skilled labour
pool. With all aspects of the composites spectrum covered, Rhode
Island is a leader in the industry.

Advertorial
Kautschuk-Group expands epoxy accelerator production

The international specialty chemicals producer KautschukGroup is expanding its range and ramping up the production of
hardeners and latent accelerators for epoxy systems designed
for the composites market.

With tight quality controls and the ability to provide specialty chemicals the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified
group members Isochem USA, Europe, and China, are poised
to expand its reach to more composite manufacturers on a
world-wide scale as they develop new products for demanding
applications, such as mid- and large-scale prepreg production
in automotive, aerospace, and wind energy.
Kautschuk Group's portfolio in specialty adhesives, adhesion
promoters, and coupling agents has long been the basis for a
variety of bonding and composite manufacturing processes in
the automotive and tire industries.

With the 2018 production line-up in place, Kautschuk-Group is
set up to become one of the world's largest producers of latent
urone accelerators, and to explore new applications and processes with research-heavy composite manufacturers in mind.

www.ricomposites.com

jec composites magazine / N° 119 supplement - Innovation Report

More information
www.kautschuk.com

Booth:
Hall6 - G85

http://www.kautschuk.com http://www.ilt.fraunhofer.de http://www.ricomposites.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #119 - Supplement lnnovation report