JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #73 - June 2012 - 21

sandwich
The first expandable adhesive film to meet FST standards TRB Lightweight Structures completes three-year investment programme

versatile, low-density film helps aircraft interior makers save time in production, improve finish and meet increasingly stringent FST regulations. 3M has launched the first adhesive film for aerospace sandwich panels that fulfils stand-alone FST regulations (fire, smoke and toxic gas emission). 3M Scotch-Weld™ AF3070 FST is a thermo-foaming film with an advanced epoxy adhesive. It includes its own built-in halogen-free FST system that allows it to meet FST requirements according to both the Airbus ABD 0031 directive and the FAR 25.853 standard on a «stand-alone» basis and in sandwich panels. 3M Scotch-Weld™ AF3070 FST can be used to finish edges, splice cores and fill gaps in honeycomb sandwich panels. During cure, which can take

place at 120°C or 180°C to match the panel system, the film expands between 35 and 80%, filling gaps and providing a strong, safe bond. The film is co-cured with the panels to deliver a high-quality edge finish and helps to ensure compliance with FST requirements. The product’s foaming characteristics also make it ideal for the filling of complex gaps in sandwich structures. This is the first time that interior manufacturers have been able to obtain both foaming characteristics and FST properties in the same product. Against a background of increasing cost pressures, rising quality demands and ever-tightening safety regulations, this product is going to solve a lot of pressing problems of aircraft interior manufacturers. n
More information: www.3m.com

RB Lightweight Structures recently completed a strategic investment programme, adding capacity and expanding its range of services to better serve its customers in the rail, defence, motorsport and marine industries. The company, long known for its lightweight aluminium panels and bonded composites structures, now offers a complete set of services from design, finite element analysis (FEA) and testing, through manufacturing, assembly and in-field maintenance and support. By purchasing additional land, building new facilities, modernising equipment and establishing continuous training and improvement strategies, capacity has been increased substantially to enable more complex and higher volume projects. The site now covers centimetres. In the driver’s cab, the foam will be laminated with an additional aluminium sheet. The municipal works are able to renovate three vehicles in their workshop each year.

more than 9,000 m² and includes dedicated facilities for inspection, machining, metal treatment, bonding, painting and assembly. New computer-controlled presses can achieve temperatures of 270°C and provide a capacity of over 435 flat panels per shift. Dual walk-in ovens can cure components up to 3 m x 1.8 m x 1.8 m and an all-new painting facility, fully certified by Dupont and Trimite and accredited by Bombardier and Alstom, enables the company to improve both response times and quality levels. The company was recently awarded the stringent IRIS certification (International Rail Industry Standard) and is currently working towards obtaining the aerospace quality standard, AS9100. n
More information: www.trbls.com

Municipal works are modernizing trams with BASF’s specialty foam
tion which is caused by multiple reflection of sound on surfaces. As a result of its low thermal conductivity, the material also guarantees good thermal insulation. Moreover, the lightweight foam, which weighs just nine kilograms per cubic meter, helps to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle. The company Hanno from Hanover, Germany, is supplying Basotect panels to Bonn’s municipal works. Each of the vehicles will be clad with around 150 square meters of the Basotect G grade in a thickness of three

The intention is that the first fully modernized tram is to run in the Rhein-Sieg district in 2012. n
More information: www.basotect.com

asotect ® is going to be used in Bonn’s trams to provide effective sound absorption and thermal insulation. In a large-scale project, the municipal works of the city in Western Germany will be modernizing 25 old trams over the next few years. For the purpose of providing the trams with sound insulation, the municipal works chose Basotect. Thanks to its fine, open-cell structure, the BASF foam is very good at absorbing the reverbera-

Bonn’s trams using Basotect foam

©BASF

No73 June 2012 /

jec composites magazine 21

http://www.3m.com http://www.trbls.com http://www.basotect.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #73 - June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #73 - June 2012