JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015 - 53

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Innovations report 2015:
France, country guest of honor

> Booth D67
Flaxpreg: a composite
reinforced with very long flax fibres

Flaxpreg is a green and lightweight
thermoset sandwich material
reinforced with very long flax fibres that
can be effectively used as a multi-position
trunk loadfloor or structural floor in the
passenger compartment of a vehicle. The
prepreg FlaxTapes of about 120 g/m²
that form the skins of the sandwich are unidirectionally-aligned flax
fibre tapes, with acrylic resin in the example shown, easily handled
without requiring any spinning or weaving step and thus without any
negative out-of-plane crimping of the almost-continuous flax fibres.
The Flaxpreg project, developed by Faurecia together with PSA,
Lineo and the University of Reims, aims to design structural trim
parts following three objectives: a drastic weight reduction, the use
of renewable resources and a process in line with automotive cycle
times and material cost constraints. Thanks to the material's very low
density (1.45), combined with an adaptative 0°/90°/0° orientation
of the FlaxTapes depending on the loading boundary conditions,
the resulting excellent mechanical properties allow a 35% weight
reduction compared to petro-sourced glass mat/PUR sandwich
solutions (such as Baypreg). The vibro-acoustic damping properties

of FlaxTape skins are remarkable, with a damping loss factor close
to 2%. Correlations between static experimental measurements
and mechanical simulation using the finite element method with a
homogenized honeycomb model will be presented besides the first
results for creep and vibro-acoustic sandwich properties.
www.flaxtape.com
Multi sectors

Automotive

Raw materials

Invar-type alloy -
FERRYNOX N29K

> Booth R17

Ferry Capitain has registered a patent (FR 1458657) for a
new Invar (IMPHY alloy registered trademark)-type alloy
- FERRYNOX N29K - which extends the low coefficient
thermal expansion (CTE) range from 250°C to 400°C. The alloy
has been designed to be used in cast form. Presently, there are no
cast tooling materials that offer the low expansion characteristics of
this alloy up to 400°C with added benefits of strength and durability.
Furthermore, the casting process enables the possibility of highly
complex 3D designs, complex-shape thermoplastics manufacturing,
as well as the optimization of weight and casts. The machinability
of FERRYNOX N29K is also much better than current wrought
products due to its isotropic properties, and this alloy has a long life
duration (most often > 10 years). FERRYNOX N29K also allows
high-rate production, and requires nearly no maintenance in service.
This technology will have a broad application range in the aerospace
and automotive markets for composite thermoplastic materials.
www.ferrycapitain.fr

No95 March 2015 / jec

composites magazine 53

http://www.flaxtape.com http://www.ferrycapitain.fr http://www.emeraldmaterials.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015