JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #122 - July 2018 - 5

bringing expertise on board OPlNlON
authorization of chemicals (REACH),
and end-of-life for parts (upgrading and
recycling).

As for product development and R&D,
we have a staff of 25 engineers, technicians
and PhDs at our Technoforme Technical
Centre, which is based at our main Bersée
facility near Lille. The centre has resources that include 3D design, stress analysis,
dynamic calculation, simulation, reverse
engineering, 3D printing and mechanical,
material and fire/smoke testing. Its mission
is to serve the Group units and to develop
products and technologies for the future
and solutions for our railway, military and
aerospace customers, among others.

How do you organize the different
business lines linked to the production of
composite materials?

G.L.: Our Technical Centre Technoforme regroups activities like engineering
(specifications, design, analysis), laboratory, R&D, training, technology transfer, etc.
The production sites cover the supply
chain: purchasing, quality, methods,
workshop processes, tooling, logistics, etc.
The processes used include HLU (hand
layup), RTM, infusion and SMC, along
with the associated processes, finishing,
assembly, wiring, and various tests. Support services are made available to all of
the Group's entities, including for commercial and marketing aspects.

Stratiforme also has a long tradition of
working with schools, universities and technical centres through partnerships or consortium projects, enabling us to flesh out
our own resources.
With your 50 years of experience, what is
your analysis on how composite materials
are impacting the field of railway transportation? How have they helped that field
to keep its promises in terms of reliability,
maintenance and performance?

What kind of production and research
resources does Stratiforme dedicate to
composites?

G.L.: Stratiforme has five production facilities, including two in France, one in Poland, one in Morocco and one in India. We
also have a technology transfer agreement
for the production of our products in Canada or in the USA.
Our different facilities are specialized as a
function of part or process type, in order to
optimize our investment in skills and manufacturing capabilities. To be able to adjust
to the fluctuations in capacity that are inherent to our industry, we try as much as
possible to match skills.

G.L.: Composites gained a strong foothold during the period from 1990 to 2010.
Since then, the growth of their share in rolling stock has slowed down, notably because
you'd need to start including structural parts
for it to pick up again.
Composites gained a strong foothold during the period from
1990 to 2010.

Weight reduction is often presented as an
important feature, but we have to admit
that there is not enough pressure to shift
the decisions in a "conservative" industrial
environment that is very metal oriented.
The passenger transportation market is
turning more to geographical regions that
appear to be more on board with saving energy, and therefore with reducing weight,
and this should be to the advantage of our
business.
Functional integration is certainly a line of
development, as it enables composite materials to meet multiple needs simultaneously (one part).
Driver cab
3D rendition

G.L.: The main advances have been

the introduction of new manufacturing
processes and their industrialization, the
development of more reliable computer
models, studies on multi-material bonding, and also thirty years of feedback -
which is the minimum duration required
for the service life of railway equipment.
The work done on raw materials, resins,
gelcoats and fibres has made it possible to
adapt to the changing technical requirements and standards.

Interurban travel in in the megalopolises
is under pressure from traffic, growing user
populations, and wear and tear on the
equipment. How does this phenomenon
play out at your level? What solutions
can you propose for operators in terms of
things like retrofitting railway vehicles or
infrastructure?

G.L.: Composites can provide many solutions, for railway vehicles just for example:
- The focus is increasingly on comfort.
Due to their inherent potential for
adapting to the most complex of shapes,
composites are ideal and competitive, in
particular for small and medium-sized
series.
- Energy consumption is a major concern
in Asia and will lead to a growing inclination to reduce weight.
- Anti-graffiti solutions and interchangeable modular concepts will make it possible to revamp interiors at lower cost
and more often than just the traditional
"half-life" renovations after 15-20 years.
How do you imagine the future of composites in the railway sector?

G.L.: I remain very optimistic about

composites and the railway industry. If
you draw a parallel with the aerospace
industry - even if the weight saving concerns are not the same - there is still a lot
of room to progress.
The players in the composite industry
need to show some imagination, and the
builders and operators need to be receptive if we are going to make progress on
the vehicles of the future.

Which technical and material advances
have helped to further the integration of
composite materials in the transportation
sector?

N°122 July 2018 /

More information:
www.stratiforme.fr/en/

jec composites magazine

http://www.stratiforme.fr/en/

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