From the Sector

• Inspired by the health megatrend, the keynote theme for DOMOTEX puts wellbeing, naturalness and sustainability at the top of the agenda  
• Stronger focus on contract business
• Manufacturers invited to creatively frame their products as expressions of the keynote theme

Preparations are already ramping up for the 2020 edition of the world’s leading trade show for carpets and floor coverings DOMOTEX. The upcoming show, to be held from 10 to 13 January 2020, has ATMYSPHERE as its keynote theme, symbolizing its central focus on all those qualities of floors and floor coverings that contribute to wellbeing, naturalness and sustainability.
 
Examples of products from the floor coverings industry that possess these qualities include floors with acoustic properties or sound-insulation components; carpets that bind fine dust particles or have thermal insulation properties; resilient floor coverings that are hypo-allergenic; and natural-wood floorboards that improve the interior climate by capturing excess humidity and releasing it again when the air in the room is dry. Other qualities that enhance positive indoor atmospherics include softness and pleasantness to the touch, sustainability, and aesthetic details that help transform rooms into oases of personal wellbeing.
 
“This year, as indeed in previous years, the lead theme is inspired by a current megatrend,” explains Sonia Wedell-Castellano, Deutsche Messe’s Global Director DOMOTEX. “And that trend is society’s heightened focus on health. Health is synonymous with quality of life and living well – and therefore translates into high expectations of the spaces around us. Alongside this, considerations of sustainability and recycling – and hence natural materials – continue to play a major role in our society. In terms of floor coverings, these are considerations and themes that are currently very much to the fore with our exhibitors and their work, especially given the great importance of floors as elements of creative interior design. With the right materials and design, carpets and floor coverings can be important factors in personal wellbeing and in the design of homes and workplaces that promote it. That is why ATMYSPHERE is of such definitive importance for all our exhibitors and visitor target groups.”

The “Framing Trends” showcase at DOMOTEX 2020 is a unique opportunity for manufacturers, artists and students to stage interior designs inspired by the ATMYSPHERE keynote theme and hence position themselves as trend leaders in innovative products and solutions for today’s modern floors and their positive, lifeaffirming qualities. Applications for participation at the “Framing Trends” showcase  are now open. Interested exhibitors and flooring-industry companies are invited to submit their ideas for displays of indoor oases of wellbeing that are built from the floor up.

Lectra has been awarded by a jury of experts the Texprocess Innovation Award 2019 in the New Process category for its latest ground-breaking offer, Fashion On Demand by Lectra.

Fashion On Demand by Lectra automates the entire personalization process, from order reception and product development to the final cutting stages. Resulting from a four-year research-and-development process, the digital solution for on-demand production was developed based on Industry 4.0 principles.

"We are very proud to receive this prestigious award at Texprocess, the biggest international event for all fashion players. Fashion On Demand by Lectra allows companies to produce personalized clothing at the same speed as ready-to-wear and avoid overstocking by producing in precise quantities,” states Holger Max-Lang, President, Northern & Eastern Europe, Middle East, Lectra.

Fashion On Demand by Lectra is available in the form of two packages, one dedicated to made to measure, with pattern adjustments, and the other to customization, with product characteristic alterations. This turnkey solution automates on-demand production right from order reception to production development stages and the cutting room. Companies can define their desired product personalization criteria for each item depending on the package, and launch production processes right from the get-go, without interfering with their standard workflows.

"This innovative cloud-based platform solution ensures efficient made-to-measure and customization production processes and facilitates nearshoring for companies that offer individualized products. This technology is up and running and can be used by the fashion industry on a plug-and-play basis," say the jury experts. “Since 2011, the Texprocess Innovation Award has been honoring remarkable achievements and new developments in the Texprocess product range under two categories: new technology and new process. The winners are selected based on criteria such as degree of innovation, choice of materials and environmental sustainability."

First showing of game-changing technology at a European tradeshow includes the recently launched Kornit Atlas, Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro and Kornit Presto
Kornit Digital (Nasdaq: KRNT), a worldwide market leader in digital textile printing technology, has announced details of its corporate presence at Fespa 2019 which will take place in Munich, Germany, May 14-17.

Kornit’s exhibit will focus on the game-changing technology that was unveiled in the beginning of the year and will now be on display for the first time in a tradeshow in Europe: the Kornit Atlas and the Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro. The presence will be complemented by a Kornit Storm HD6, a direct-to-fabric sample area featuring prints from Kornit’s upcoming Presto system and an installation of Colorgate’s Textile Production Server for Kornit.

The Kornit Atlas is a heavy-duty system created for super-industrial garment decoration businesses. It is designed to deliver a typical annual production capacity of up to 350,000 impressions, optimizing production efficiency and cost of ownership. The Kornit Atlas is aimed at highly productive garment decorators, mid to large size screen printers and innovative businesses looking to combine state-of-the art technology with lowest cost of ownership, making it easier than ever to address the requirements of leading and mid-sized brands, as well as new generation digital brands. The Kornit Atlas uses water-based Kornit NeoPigmentTM Eco-Rapid Inks which are eco-friendly, GOTS approved and OEKOTX certified, and serve as the main driver of the retail quality prints.

"Beyond Conventional Function" is the exciting special topic at the PERFORMANCE FORUM of the next PERFORMANCE DAYS. Besides the obvious beauty, which is the main topic at the upcoming trade fair, often it is the fabrics that also hide some special added benefit that are of particular interest.

THE BEAUTY OF FUNCTION is the main theme at the next PERFORMANCE DAYS trade fair for functional fabrics and accessories on May 8-9th, 2019 in Munich. Around 300 exhibitors present various interpretations of beauty across all categories in their functional fabrics. Although obviously designed for beauty, these innovative fabrics also promise many hidden benefits at the same time. At the PERFORMANCE FORUM, a special area on the PERFORMANCE WALL is devoted to the most important of these special fabrics, rather than highlighting just one of the fabrics in the context of an award.

The PERFORMANCE JURY selected fabrics from well over 1.100 manufacturer submissions; not only fabrics with an interesting look and feel with essential functions like climate regulation and weather protection for sports, but also fabrics that provide the wearer of the garment with additional benefits and special comfort. These special fabrics represent the motto: "Beyond Conventional Function."

This year, AZL won the JEC AWARD 2019 for the development of the new machine system “Ultra-Fast Consolidator Machine”. This innovative machine system is a result of an 18-months AZL Joint Partner Project, conducted in 2017-2018 by the research partners AZL Aachen and Fraunhofer IPT Aachen, in cooperation with industrial partner companies including Conbility, Covestro, Engel, Evonik, Fagor Arrasate, Faurecia SE, Laserline, Mitsui Chemicals, Mubea Carbo Tech, Philips Photonics, SSDT and Toyota (in alphabetical order).

The new UItra-Fast Consolidator Machine offers both high flexibility and mass production of tailored thermoplastic laminates with reduced scrap. Fully consolidated multi-layer laminates with different fiber directions and minimized scrap (tailored blanks) can be produced in cycle times below 5 seconds with this new scalable machine setup. This individualized mass production is accomplished by a combination of laser-assisted tape placement with in-situ consolidation and a piece-flow principle, which is state of the art in the printing industry but has not been used in such a way within composite production. The achievable productivity is enhanced to more than 500 kg/hour by this piece-flow principle with carriers moved through multiple application stations which are equipped with multiple tape placement applicators. The new machine is scalable: multiple application stations can be added, e.g. for each layer one station for mass production or for each fiber direction one station with a carrier-conveyor carousel: here the carriers are moved multiple times through the application stations.

The system will be commercialized by some of the industrial partners in 2019. The real machine setup has been presented at the AZL booth during the JEC Exhibition in Paris 2019.

The follow-up project has just started and is still open to join for industrial partners. This follow-up project comprises a further upscale of the machine system as well as a preparation of the commercialization by long-term durability tests and further process optimizations using different tape materials.

• Hexcel’s Composite Innovations For Aerospace, Automotive, Energy And Marine Applications At JEC World 2019 Hall 5 - Stand J41

STAMFORD, Conn. – At this year’s JEC World taking place in Paris on March 12-14, Hexcel will promote a wide range of composite innovations for customer applications in aerospace, automotive, energy and marine markets.

Aerospace Innovations

Hexcel’s HiTape® and HiMax™ dry carbon reinforcements were developed to complement a new generation of HiFlow™ resin systems, producing high quality aerospace structures using the resin infusion process. HiTape® was developed for the automated lay-up of preforms and HiMax™ is a range of optimized non-crimp fabrics (NCF). Both products incorporate a toughening veil to enhance mechanical properties, meeting the structural requirements for aerospace parts.

Visitors to JEC will see an Integrated Wing Panel demonstrator and an I-beam, both made with HiTape® reinforcements, and an Opticoms rib made with HiMax™ NCF. The Opticoms rib and I Beam were both manufactured using C-RTM (Compression Resin Transfer Molding). They were injected with Hexcel’s RTM6 resin in a process taking less than 5 minutes. The total manufacturing cycle for both parts was just 4.5 hours.

Also among the Aerospace exhibits, Hexcel will display a composite petal for a satellite antenna, manufactured by Thales Alenia Space Italia. The petal is part of a set of 24 deployable structural elements that form the large area reflector assembly used on board Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observation satellites. Thales Alenia Space Italia selected Hexcel’s HexPly® M18 prepreg for this application, acknowledging the superior mechanical and outgassing properties provided.

Another Hexcel prepreg application on show is a “zero” frame, manufactured by Aerofonctions for the engine area of Daher’s TBM 910/930 single-engine turboprop aircraft. Hexcel’s HexPly® M56 prepreg was selected by Daher for the “zero” frame – a product developed for Out of Autoclave applications that provides the same high quality and performance as autoclave-cured prepregs, from a simple vacuum bag cure in an oven.

With 50 years of experience behind its comprehensive range of high-strength, high-strain PAN-based carbon fibers, Hexcel continues to innovate, and is introducing two new fibers to its portfolio. HexTow® HM50 combines high modulus and high tensile strength, making it ideal for commercial and defense aircraft and engines. HexTow® 85 was developed specifically to replace rayon-based carbon fiber for ablative applications.

HexTow® carbon fiber holds the most qualified carbon fiber positions on aerospace programs in the industry and is the best unsized fiber available on the market. It provides excellent bonding interfacial properties with thermoplastic matrices and is the best-performing fiber for 3D printing applications.

Additive manufacturing is another area of expertise for Hexcel, using PEKK ultra-high performance polymers and HexAM™ technology to manufacture carbon-reinforced 3D printed parts. This
innovative process provides a weight-saving solution for intricate parts in highly demanding aerospace, satellite and defense applications. HexPEKK™ structures offer significant weight, cost and time-to-market reductions, replacing traditional cast or machined metallic parts with a new technology.

Hexcel is well known for its range of weight-saving, stiffness-enhancing honeycombs and the company adds value by providing a range of engineered core solutions to customers from facilities in the USA, Belgium and the newly opened Casablanca plant in Morocco. Hexcel’s engineered core capabilities enable highly contoured parts with precision profiling to be produced to exacting customer specifications. An example of such a part will be on display at JEC. Made from Aluminum FlexCore®, the part is CNC machined on both sides, and formed and stabilized with both peel ply and flyaway layers of stabilization. Aircraft engines benefit from a number of Hexcel core technologies including HexShield™ honeycomb that provides high temperature resistance in aircraft engine nacelles. By inserting a thermally resistant material into honeycomb cells, Hexcel provides a core product with unique heat-shielding capabilities that allows for the potential re-use of material after a fire event.

Hexcel’s Acousti-Cap® broadband noise-reducing honeycomb significantly improves acoustic absorption in aircraft engine nacelles. The acoustic treatment may be positioned at a consistent depth and resistance within the core, or can be placed in a pattern of varying depths and/or resistances (Multi-Degrees of Freedom and 3 Degrees Of Freedom), offering an acoustic liner that is precisely tuned to the engine operating conditions. These technologies have been tested at NASA on a full engine test rig and meet all 16 design conditions without trade-offs.

HexBond™ – the new name in Adhesives

Hexcel’s range of high performance adhesives has expanded considerably following the company’s acquisition of Structil. The company has now decided to unite the range by marketing all of its adhesive products using HexBond™ branding. The comprehensive range of HexBond™ structural film adhesives, foaming adhesive films, paste adhesives, liquid shims, epoxy fillets and Chromium free liquid primers is suitable for a wide range of applications in combination with Hexcel’s prepreg and honeycomb products.

Automotive Innovations

Hexcel’s carbon prepreg patch technology provides an innovative way of locally stiffening and reinforcing metal parts, providing noise and vibration management functionality. HexPly® prepreg patches consist of unidirectional carbon fiber impregnated with a fast curing epoxy matrix that has self-adhesive properties, enabling it to bond to metal in a highly efficient one-step process. These key technology properties are demonstrated in an 18.5kg aluminum subframe (that is 50% lighter than steel equivalents), which was reinforced with 500 grams of HexPly® prepreg and tested by Saint Jean Industries. The part demonstrates a significant reduction in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Other benefits include lower production costs, energy savings, increased driver comfort, production flexibility and part count reduction. With this technology Hexcel is a finalist in the JEC Innovation Awards 2019 in the Automotive Applications category.

HexPly® prepreg patch technology was also applied to a hybrid side sill demonstrator developed with Volkswagen and Dresden University to address future crash test requirements, specifically for electric cars. Combining fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) with metal, the hybrid construction allows for optimum performance including weight savings, enhanced safety, increased energy absorption, battery protection in a crash situation and production flexibility.

Hexcel will also display a lightweight CFRP transmission crossmember produced from Hexcel’s high performance HexMC®-i 2000 molding compound. The transmission crossmember was developed in partnership with the Institute of Polymer Product Engineering (at Linz University), Engel and Alpex. As the part connects the chassis together and supports transmission it has to be stiff and strong, resisting fatigue and corrosion. Hexcel’s HexMC®-i 2000 was selected as the best-performing molding compound on the market, curing in as little as two minutes to produce lightweight, strong and stiff parts.
To produce the transmission crossmember HexMC®-i 2000 preforms are laid up in Alpex molds and compression-molded in a v-duo press that was tailored for the application by Engel. Ribs, aluminum inserts and other functions can be molded into the part using the single-stage process, reducing component-count. Any offcuts from the preforms can be interleaved between the plies of material to provide additional reinforcement in key areas - meaning that the process generates no waste.

Other Automotive promotions on Hexcel’s stand at JEC World include a composite leaf spring manufactured by ZF using HexPly® M901 prepreg. In contrast to steel leaf springs, composite versions offer many advantages including weight savings of up to 70%, high corrosion resistance, optimized system integration and superior performance. HexPly® M901 prepreg reduces the cure cycle to below 15 minutes and provides 15% higher mechanical performance, with enhanced fatigue properties. It also operates at high temperatures, providing a Tg of up to 200°C following a post cure.

Marine Innovations

Hexcel has a comprehensive range of products aimed at racing yacht and luxury boat builders that include America’s Cup, IMOCA class and DNV GL-approved prepregs, woven reinforcements and multiaxial fabrics for hull and deck structures, masts and appendages.

At JEC World Hexcel will display an IMOCA yacht mast manufactured by Lorima using HexPly® high modulus and high strength carbon fiber prepreg from Hexcel Vert-Le-Petit. Lorima is the exclusive official supplier of masts for IMOCA 60 class racing boats.

Hexcel’s HexTow® IM8 carbon fiber has been selected as the highest performing industrial carbon fiber on the market and will be used by spar and rigging manufacturer Future Fibres to manufacture their AEROrazr solid carbon rigging for all the teams in the 36th America’s Cup.

Hexcel’s HiMax™ DPA (Dot Pattern Adhesive) reinforcements are non-crimp fabrics supplied pre-tacked, allowing multiple fabrics to be laid-up more easily in preparation for resin infusion. Providing an optimal, consistent level of adhesion, they allow a faster and more consistent resin flow, as well as eliminating the use of spray adhesive for a healthier working environment and lower risk of contamination. Simply unrolled and applied to the mold or core layer before the introduction of resin, HiMax™ DPA fabrics are widely used in boat building, where lay-up times can be reduced by up to 50%.

Wind Energy Innovations

Hexcel has developed a range of HexPly® surface finishing prepregs and semi-pregs for wind turbine blades and marine applications. Providing a tough, durable and ready-to-paint surface without using in-mold coats, these products shorten the manufacturing cycle and reduce material costs. HexPly® XF2(P) prepreg is optimized for wind blades and has a ready-to-paint surface, straight from the mold, saving at least 2 hours of takt time.

Polyspeed® pultruded carbon laminates were developed for load-carrying elements in a blade structure and are manufactured with a polyurethane matrix that provides outstanding mechanical performance in terms of stiffness and durability. The blade manufacturing process is optimized, with increased throughput. The pultruded laminates are supplied in coils as continuous cross section profiles.
HiMax™ non-crimp fabrics using E-glass, high modulus glass and carbon fibers are also available in a wide range of unidirectional, biaxial and triaxial constructions. HiMax™ fabrics have applications throughout the turbine, from the stitched carbon fiber UDs used in the main structural elements, to glass fabrics and hybrids for blade shells and nacelles. There are also specialist applications such as lightweight fabrics for heated leading edge de-icing zones.

At the joint stand of the Aachen Centre for Integrative Lightweight Construction (AZL) in Hall 5A, booth D17, the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University (ITA) will demonstrate its expertise in the field of glass fibres, preforms and textile concrete 12-14 March 2019 in Paris.
The exhibits come from various fields of application and address the automotive, aerospace and mechanical engineering sectors.

1. Innovative glass fibre research at ITA
   The newly constructed induction heated glass fibre production line enables increased flexibility in research. For the first time, glass fibres will be produced live at the ITA booth at JEC World. One of the innovations of the system is the inductively heated bushing. It features a flexible design and consists of a platinum/rhodium alloy (Pt/Rh20) for use in high-temperature glasses.
   The glass fibre production line was designed in such a way that new concepts and ideas can be tested quickly. The modular design allows a high flexibility, the induction system a significantly faster operability.
   Research and development projects can therefore be carried out faster and more cost-effectively.
    
2. DrapeCube - Forming of textile semi-finished products
   The DrapeCube offers a cost-effective design for the production of fibre preforms from textile semi-finished products. It is used in the production of preforms for prototypes and in small series and is suit-able for companies active in the production of fibre-reinforced plas-tics (FRP).
   In the production of FRP components, the preforming process de-fines a large part of the subsequent component costs. In small- and medium-sized enterprises, this process step is often still carried out manually. This results in high quality fluctuations and component prices. Especially in the case of highly stressed structural components, the fluctuation in quality leads to oversizing of the components.
   Thus, the lightweight construction potential of fiber-reinforced plastics is underused. One solution is offered by the stamp forming process adapted from the sheet metal forming industry for shaping rein-forcing textiles. The textile is inserted between two mould halves (male and female) and automatically formed. Due to high plant and tooling costs, this process is used almost exclusively in large-scale production.
   The ITA has developed the DrapeCube forming station which offers a cost-effective alternative and is able to completely reproduce the current state of the art for forming textile half branches. The process steps will be demonstrated in a video at the booth.
    
3. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) preform
   The CFRP preform consists of carbon multiaxial fabrics formed by expanded polystyrene (EPS) to optimise draping quality. Preforms of increased quality can be produced by gentle, textile-compatible forming with foam expansion. For the first time, foam expansion was used to form preforms in such a way that the draping quality is improved compared to classic stamp forming.
   The advantages of the CFRP preform lie in the savings in plant costs, as the investment is much lower. In addition, the proportion of waste is reduced because near-net-shape production is possible. In addition, rejects are reduced, as fewer faults occur in the textile.
    
4. Embroidered preform with integrated metal insert
   The 12k carbon fibre rovings are shaped into a preform using Tai-lored Fibre Placement (TFP) which is a technical embroidery pro-cess. For the further layer build-up, a fastener is not only integrated under the roving layers but also fixed by additional loops. The highly integrative preforming approach offers the possibility of reducing weight and process steps as well as increasing mechanical perfor-mance.
   Until now, inserts were glued or holes had to be drilled in the com-ponent. Bonded fasteners are limited by the adhesive surface. The bonding of fasteners into drilled holes results in high drill abrasion and thus high tool wear.
   The advantages of the embroidered preform with integrated metal fasteners are the reduction of scrap due to TFP preforming and the increase in the specific pull-out force. In addition, it is possible to automatize the production of integrative preforms. This makes the preform with integrated metal fasteners interesting for the automotive and aerospace industries.

• Innovative BCF S8 platform technology opens up new carpet yarn industry markets for Oerlikon Neumag customers

World premiere at the DOMOTEX World Trade Fair for Carpets and Floor Coverings in Hanover: between January 11 bis 14, 2019‎, Oerlikon Neumag will be showcasing its innovative new development, the BCF S8, to a wide audience for the very first time in Hall 11, Stand B36. Whether commodities or niche products – the new BCF S8 platform technology offers manufacturers of BCF carpet yarns decisive arguments for responding to constantly rising cost pressures and the trend for greater efficiency and quality in fiercely-competitive markets. World record: the system achieves never-seen-before spinning speeds and is able to simultaneously spin up to 700 filaments and produce fine titers of up to 2.5 dpf. This superlative performance is guaranteed by numerous individual innovations in the new platform and, for the first time, also in a new human-machine interface (HMI)-based control system, which opens the door to the digital age of smart carpet yarn manufacturing wide. At the ITMA ASIA 2018, the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment had already announced that it would be presenting revolutionary solutions in 2019 – both in hardware and software. And the DOMOTEX marks only the start.

According to manufacturer information, the new BCF S8 is the most efficient Oerlikon Neumag BCF system of all times. “We have succeeded in achieving a new level of greater productivity and even broader product diversity. These allow our clientèle to better cater to changing market requirements and achieve a competitive edge in tough market conditions”, explains Martin Rademacher, Vice President Sales Oerlikon Neumag. As a pre-taste, the machine specialists from Neumünster are serving up performance figures and results from comprehensive trials conducted at their own BCF technology center as well as from two pilot systems which have been tried and tested within the market for months now.

BCF S8 performance in numbers
With up to 700 potential filaments per yarn end, the BCF S8 is raising the benchmark considerably compared to the Oerlikon Neumag S+ BCF system (400 filaments) that has dominated the global market to date. Oerlikon Neumag guarantees fine titers of up to 2.5 dpf. Furthermore, the process speed is higher than ever before – 3,700 m/min (winder speed). This permits throughputs of up to 15 percent greater compared to predecessor technologies. Overall, system efficiency is 99 percent – almost unbeatable. True to the Oerlikon Segments Manmade Fibers segment e-save philosophy, energy savings of up to 5 percent per kilogram of yarn are achievable.

BCF S8 innovations – from straight yarn paths to large cooling drums

This comprehensive progress has been achieved with numerous smart innovations. To this end, one key element above all has been optimized. The yarn path from the spinning system to the new, large cooling drum has now been almost completely straightened. This yarn path, unique to the BCF market to date, ensures that the individual filaments are subjected to minimum friction, hence once again considerably reducing yarn breaks and optimizing the overall production process. Especially noteworthy here are the, for the first time, straight yarn inlet in the texturing head – guaranteeing superior yarn quality.

And the considerably reduced distance between the heating godet duo and the texturing head also has a positive impact on the texturing process. It ensures a more even twist to the yarn and reduces the compressed air consumption. Furthermore, the texturing chambers can be removed individually, which additionally shortens servicing times. The now closed units also provide the best possible protection for the texturing jets and lamellar chambers.

The 800-mm diameter cooling drum optimally and gently cools the filaments. And this has a positive influence on the yarn quality. The new cooling drum is now equipped with a V groove for all polymers (PET, PA6 and PP) as standard.

The RoTac3 tangling unit, already established within the market, once again reduces the compressed air consumption by around 50%, while the newly-developed Witras III-37 winder achieves production process speeds of 3,700 m/min.

First intuitively-operable human-machine interface (HMI)
The new BCF S8 is the first Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment system equipped with the innovative human-machine interface (HMI) for intelligent controlling and monitoring. In this case, the interface between man and machine has been oriented on the daily requirements of users in BCF production. With its new ‘look and feel’, it supports intuitive operation and offers direct access to important information as well as actual and target values at each take-up position by means of a touch screen. A completely new ‘alarm philosophy’ also simplifies troubleshooting and malfunction analysis. “This smart HMI system is a logical step in the digitalization of our products”, explains Dr. Friedrich Lennemann, Vice President R&D Oerlikon Neumag.

As the tradition goes, twice a year the functional fabric fair Performance Days selects the most innovative fabrics, accessories and finishes for their Performance Forum. This year, two functional finishes from textile innovator Devan Chemicals (Moov&Cool® & R-Vital™) were chosen. R-Vital™ was awarded with the ‘100% Jury Like’ stamp, meaning all the members of the Jury selected the sample, a recognition only granted to a handful of the 1400 applications.

R-Vital™ – ‘100% Jury Like’
R-Vital™ is a range of microencapsulated active ingredients that boost textiles with anti-oxidative effects. The microcapsules, attached to the fibre, deliver antioxidants to the body upon friction. The ‘100% Jury Like’ sample is treated with a well-chosen blend of Ubiquinol (Q10), Sea kelp and Thyme oil, which enhances recovery after sports performances. As R-Vital™ is also suitable for other market segments, such as bedding textiles, Devan enables its customers to compose their own blend, allowing them to create truly unique products and hence properties.
Marleen Van der Auwera, BU Manager Health & Wellness is happy to see that R-Vital™ is getting some more attention. “When the technology was first launched about a year ago, we noticed people had some difficulties understanding the concept because it was so revolutionary to them”, she says. “But this recognition really indicates more and more people are seeing its potential.”

Moov&Cool®
Moov&Cool® is a patented polymer technology, providing a cool comfort feel through a combination of durable heat absorption capacity and a unique, balanced moisture transfer system. By lowering the body core temperature, the finishing treatment helps professional athletes to take their performance to the next level. Furthermore, the technology is also designed to enhance comfort during physical activities of recreational athletes.
Moov&Cool® was first launched at Performance Days in April and will be presented in full detail at the upcoming edition, which will take place on November 28^th & 29^th in Munich, Germany.

At the Composites Europe in Stuttgart /06 - 08 November 2018), the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, short ITA, will be showing products, components and machines along the fibre composite process chain. The ITA will present itself at the booth of the Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Construction (AZL) in hall 9, booth E70. Various demonstrators will be used to present selected innovative processes and products over the individual steps. The exhibits come from different fields of application: From mobility applications to the construction sector. Here is an example from the field of "construction composites":

With the concrete bar stool with hybrid carbon reinforcement, the ITA demonstrates that textiles as reinforcement structures for concrete elements allow a enormous geometrical freedom of Design. So far, manual positioning of the textile reinforcement used to be time-consuming and complex, as permitted tolerances are in the millimetre range. Thus the production mainly contributed to the high costs of textile concrete.

At the ITA, the two industrial partners Albani Group GmbH & Co. KG and DuraPact 2.0 Kompetenzzentrum Faserbeton GmbH developed a new hybrid reinforcement with integrated spacer. This hybrid reinforcement reduces the time required to position the reinforcement by up to 60 percent and thus makes the material significantly more

The new, cost-effective hybrid reinforcement contains an integrated spacer and thus faciliates the positioning of dry and coated reinforcements. The integrated spacer allows several layers of reinforcement to be stacked quickly, allowing the desired degree of reinforcement to be set. The hybrid reinforcement consists of a carbon or glass fibre grid joined with a permeable polyamide mat and will be available in roll form from industrial partners in the near future.