JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #111 - March 2017 - Special JEC World - 76

JEC WORLD 2017

www.nafen.eu

Multi-sector

Composite tube manufacturing and autosport ThinPreg > Booth:
NTPT's new composite tube manufacturing process effects a
Hall 5A - F5
unique fibre placement capability that has enabled the first major technological development in golf shaft manufacturing since the adoption of graphite golf shafts in
the 80's.
The fully-automated tube winding process produces perfectly concentric carbon golf
shafts that are set to take the golfing world by storm. The shafts were recently launched at
the Evian 2016 Championship by professional Lydia Ko, who used a TPT Golf™ driver
shaft to win her silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. This novel composite tube production
method sees its first commercial application on the golf course but the potential of this
technology for tubular structures in other markets is massive.
NTPT will also launch ThinPreg™ TP135 for autosport, a unique epoxy prepreg system
delivering an unparalleled set of properties, previously unavailable in ultra-low fibre weight
prepreg materials (30 gsm upwards).
Developed in collaboration with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, TP135 provides a powerful combination of market-leading compression after impact (approximately
300 MPa on a quasi-isotropic intermediate-modulus laminate) and exceptional strength
properties (1st ply failure at >900 MPa for UD ThinPreg™ TP135 QI laminates with IM
fibre). It is specifically tailored for highly-loaded applications such as aerospace, F1 and autosport structural parts.
www.thinplytechnology.com
Automotive

Multi-sector

NAFEN: the next genera- > Booth:
tion of nano-enhancement Hall 5A - L64
NAFEN Dynamic Enhancers, based on ANF
Technology's NAFEN alumina nano-fibres,
have made it easy to improve the performance
of polymer-based products and materials. They
are produced in co-aligned fibre blocks (fibre diameters of 10-20 nm) with a patented production process, which is scalable to meet the production needs
of industrial customers. The material boasts an active
surface area of more than 150 m2/g, a tensile strength
of 12 GPa and a tensile modulus of over 400 GPa. The
surface is faceted with vacant aluminium bonds, which
provide incredible mechanical bonding strength.
NAFEN fibres are resistant to fire, chemicals and
radiation, and
maintain gamma-phase stability at temperatures up to
1200°C.
NAFEN is provided in dispersion form
for most applications. It effortlessly replaces other nano-materials like CNTs,
nano-silica and nano-clays because it comes pre-dispersed in base materials and has none of the unfortunate trade-offs that have plagued these first-generation nano-materials. It is an effective solution that
needs only a very low loading level (0.4-1%). Best of
all, NAFEN Dynamic Enhancers can be seamlessly
added to standard production processes for most
polymer-based manufacturing, without changing a
thing. The NAFEN dispersions blend in with normal production materials without process changes.

Assembly carrier produced by Part
> Booth:
via Preform technology
Hall 6 - G28
The serial production of the first automotive part based on a preform produced with
the Tenax® Part via Preform technology started at the end of 2016. The assembly
carrier is produced based on a preform made with
random fibre spraying. A specially treated carbon fibre is
sprayed, consolidated and trimmed automatically by a
robotic system developed at Toho Tenax Europe GmbH.
Compared to the current state-of-the-art process - using a fabric-based raw material draped manually in the
mould - the PvP process produces preforms without
internal cuts and draping effects. This way, a homogenous preform leads to a perfect load
behaviour. At the same time, labour costs are significantly reduced due to the automatisation of the whole preforming process and its reduced number of intermediate steps. The
injection process uses the HP-RTM technology including an in-mould coating step providing easy-to-paint surfaces. The assembly carrier is exhibited at the Teijin booth at JEC
World in Paris.
www.tohotenax.com

Multi-sector

BÜFA expands its portfolio of conductive products
BÜFA Composite Systems, Germany, is introducing new conductive and antistatic products
for the composite market. The new technology, supplied by the OCSiAl company, is based on
Tuball™ single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). In a close cooperation between the two companies, several unique properties were discovered such as the pigmentability and very easy application of the final product. Special processing and the very high efficiency of SWCNT made
it possible to produce gelcoats and resin formulations that can be pigmented or even be translucent.
These properties cannot be achieved with other raw materials such as carbon black, graphene or even
MWCNT (multi-wall carbon nanotubes) used for the conductivity of thermosets. BÜFA is working
on several projects to create customer-specific solutions specifically for markets where easy processing
of the material is very important. The new technology should help create new markets for thermoset
materials where conductive or antistatic properties combined with pigmentability or translucency are
essential. Other applications with UV curing and electrostatic coating are further development goals.
BÜFA Composite Systems is a specialist for the development, production and sale of innovative specialities for the composite industry.
www.buefacompositesystems.de

jec composites magazine / No111 March 2017

> Booth: 5A, E56

http://www.thinplytechnology.com http://www.nafen.eu http://www.tohotenax.com http://www.buefacompositesystems.de

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #111 - March 2017 - Special JEC World