From the Sector

At this year's JEC World, STFI will be presenting highlights from carbon fibre recycling as well as a new approach to hemp-based bast fibres, which have promising properties as reinforcement in lightweight construction.

Green Snowboard
At JEC World in Paris from 5 to 7 March 2024, STFI will be showcasing a snowboard from silbaerg GmbH with a patented anisotropic coupling effect made from hemp and recycled carbon fibres with bio-based epoxy resin. In addition to silbaerg and STFI, the partners Circular Saxony - the innovation cluster for the circular economy, FUSE Composite and bto-epoxy GmbH were also involved in the development of the board. The green snowboard was honoured with the JEC Innovation Award 2024 in the “Sport, Leisure and Recreation” category.

VliesComp
The aim of the industrial partners Tenowo GmbH (Hof), Siemens AG (Erlangen), Invent GmbH (Braunschweig) and STFI united in the VliesComp project is to bring recycled materials back onto the market in various lightweight construction solutions. The application fields "Innovative e-machine concepts for the energy transition" and "Innovative e-machine concepts for e-mobility" were considered as examples. On display at JEC World in Paris will be a lightweight end shield for electric motors made from hybrid nonwovens - a mixture of thermoplastic fibre components and recycled reinforcing fibres - as well as nonwovens with 100% recycled reinforcing fibres. The end shield was ultimately manufactured with a 100% recycled fibre content. The tests showed that, compared to the variant made from primary carbon fibres using the RTM process, a 14% reduction in CO₂ equivalent is possible with the same performance. The calculation for the use of the prepreg process using a bio-resin system shows a potential for reducing the CO₂ equivalent by almost 70 %.

Bast fibre reinforcement
To increase stability in the plant stem, bast fibres form in the bark area, which support the stem but, in contrast to the rigid wood, are very flexible and allow slender, tall plants to move in the wind without breaking.A new process extracts the bast bark from hemp by peeling.The resulting characteristic values, such as tensile modulus of elasticity, breaking strength and elongation, are very promising in comparison with the continuous rovings made of flax available on the market.The material could be used as reinforcement in lightweight construction.At JEC World, STFI will be exhibiting reinforcing bars that have been processed into a knitted fabric using a pultrusion process based on bio-based reinforcing fibres made from hemp bast for mineral matrices.

In China, the textile industry is forward-looking and resilient – with a healthy appetite for new technologies and a determination to keep its leading position. Sustainability is increasingly coming into focus, so there is a growing demand for recycling technologies, as well as automated solutions and digitalization. Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association, is clear: “China is the main market for a large number of our association members.” On top of growing consumer demand and technological capabilities, the latest ambitious five-year plan will drive further development of the Chinese textile industry in world markets, and Swiss companies will work with all stakeholders to enable its success.

Market proximity
Swiss companies realized many years ago that geographical proximity is the key to success. Stäubli has started to set up offices in Chinese cities since 1998 and counts 12 locations today, to serve the whole country. In 2002, Itema established a centralized local branch which today has 160 employees in various functions. Loepfe has expanded its presence by creating an independent local business unit to overcome the 9,000 km distance by air, while Uster Technologies has had a Chinese subsidiary since 1982, with offices and service stations in different provinces. Luwa set up its offices and workshop in Shanghai in 1997. Rieter established a presence in mainland China in 2005, driven by a strong commitment to expanding the country’s know-how and expertise – and ten years later opened an advanced research center. All Swiss companies with serious business goals in China have made similar commitments to connect with customers and maintain strong relationships.

Understanding Chinese customers
Swiss companies also understand that Chinese customers require dedicated attention, and that speed is more essential than ever in delivering both machines and services.
Manufacturers in China are seeking cost-effective solutions to remain competitive, while consumers are looking for value in their purchases. Companies need to develop solutions that provide tangible economic benefits to their clients. Furthermore, energy savings have become paramount in China, due to the government's commitment to environmental sustainability and reduced carbon emissions. “Businesses are adopting more energy-efficient processes and technologies to meet stringent energy conservation and emission reduction targets,” says Peter Schnickmann, Managing Director at Luwa Air Engineering (Shanghai). He notes an investment trend for solutions helping Chinese companies cut operational costs and minimize their carbon footprint.

To enhance the reputation of both companies and products – and boost the image of the entire industry – the environmental impact needs to decrease. Priorities are saving water and waste, as well as reducing, replacing or completely eliminating the use of harmful substances. China has a strong demand for environmental-friendly solutions and sustainable technologies.

Customer-oriented in weaving
The huge number of Chinese fabric producers calls for an immense volume of weaving machinery to be supplied by international and local providers. Swiss machinery manufacturers hold an impressive share of this business.
Chinese weavers require advanced technology, with increasingly higher standards of efficiency. In weaving preparation, latest solutions match the speed, quality and reliability now wanted. Weaving machines too offer the eco-efficiency, performance, and ease of use needed, with innovations that extend the scope of sustainable weaving, and open-platform systems configurable to weavers’ specific operations. A huge increase in demand for technical textiles in recent years has been driven by applications such as carbon fiber, aramid and glass fiber.

Profitable in spinning
China’s competitive advantages come from its large-scale and integrated manufacturing capabilities, along with the use of advanced automation and digitization technologies. Spinners aim to capitalize on extended market opportunities, with more economical production. The latest air-jet spinning machines serve these goals, allowing exceptionally low production costs per kilogram of yarn, coupled with high flexibility and reliability. Sustainable yarns are in great demand.

The automation trend in spinning mills focuses on connecting production processes. Data is used to ensure the highest quality standards, most efficient raw material usage, reduction of waste, and energy savings. To make spinning mills more competitive, latest solutions combine cutting-edge hardware, data-enabled software and renowned textile expertise.

New ideas were exchanged, brainstormed, and discussed freely at members’ booths at the Swiss Textile Machinery Pavilion during the recent Techtextil in Frankfurt. “Customers and researchers met Swiss textile machinery companies to explore the possibility of the not-yet-invented. “We regard our Pavilion as the place where future innovations catch a spark,” says Cornelia Buchwalder, Secretary General of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association. Further developments in the field of hybrid yarns were a hot topic. One example of this involves producing a yarn which has all the typical characteristics and advantages of carbon – but which also prioritizes careful use of resources, combining carbon fibres with thermoplastics.

Technical textiles cover a vast range of applications, and it’s still growing thanks to intensive research by specialist institutes and universities. Many members of the Swiss Textile Machinery Association maintain long-standing partnership with such bodies. Innovations are often joint efforts.

Feel-good technical fabrics
Some technical textiles feel like a second skin. A well-known example is activewear from the ‘sport tech’ field. Activewear includes breathable clothing, usually consisting of a three-layer-laminate: an inner lining, a breathable membrane in the center, and an outer fabric. The challenge is to bond the individual layers without losing breathability or softness, while meeting technical requirements such as resistance to a number of wash cycles.

Bonding solutions meeting top quality requirements, as well as ambitious standards for environmental protection and sustainability, were reinvented by the Cavitec brand from the Santex Rimar Group. This company’s hotmelt technology uses one-component polymers applied to textiles in a hot, molten state. Bonding based on hotmelts is both water- and solvent-free. Drying and exhaust air cleaning are not necessary, which is an ecological advantage. Energy consumption is also significantly lower. Cavitec hotmelt technology is also developed for laminated medical protection fabrics which are safe, high-quality and sustainable. These fabrics can be washed, sterilized, and used again.   

A second skin with added value is the result of Jakob Müller Group’s cooperation with an institute for an established outdoor fashion brand. They have devised a heating mat applied as an inner jacket. Outdoor gear with a heated inlay offers the wearer a comfortable feeling even in a cold climate. The heating mat is particularly light, breathable, flexible and adjustable to three temperature levels.

Fabrics with these advantages are now possible thanks to multi direct weaving (MDW) technology from the Jakob Müller Group. A lacquer-insulated heating strand is inserted into the base textile as a ‘meander’ using MDW technology. The technology is offered with both label weaving machines and the latest generation of ribbon weaving machines. The textile pocket calculator is another MDW based future-oriented application developed in cooperation with a textile research institute.

Safety and health
Life-saving reliability is a must for vehicle airbags. They have to fulfil high security aspects, and must remain inflated for several seconds when an accident occurs. Airbags made of flat-woven fabric – cut and seamed – can show weakness at seams during the inflation phase. Latest Jacquard technology by Stäubli enables one-piece-woven (OPW) airbags to be produced, creating shape and structure in a single process. The final product is an airbag consisting of a sealed cushion with woven seams. OPW airbag weaving reduces the number of production steps, and increases the security aspects.
Another big advantage of Stäubli’s new weaving technology is the flexibility in formats required in today’s mid- and upper-range cars, where lateral protection (in the seat or in the roof over the door) has become standard and is designed in line with the car shape. Safe airbags are woven on modern high-speed weaving machines. The warp material, the variety of fabric patterns, and the importance of precisely shaped airbags require the use of a robust and reliable Jacquard machine.

A revolution for orthopaedic patients is a knitting machine from Steiger Participations, which uses compressive yarns developed to meet the needs of the specific health market. This machine model was exclusively designed for production with inlaid elastic yarns and offers optimum performance with guaranteed final product quality.

In the orthopaedic field, many Steiger flat knitting machines have already been operating as automatic, custom-made production systems. For example, the dimensions of an injured limb are taken by the doctor and fed into a web-based application. The doctor selects the compression class in the various sections of the item and a data file created by the software automatically applies a preconfigured program. With no human intervention required, the program is generated and produced on the machine, precisely matching the patient’s dimensions. Each product is different, and generally available within 48 hours.

• Hexcel Composite Innovations for Aerospace Applications on Display at JEC World 2022: Hall 5, Stand J41

In late 2021, Hexcel announced an agreement with Fairmat, a deep technology startup, to build the capability to recycle carbon fiber prepreg from Hexcel European operations for reuse in composite panels sold into commercial markets, giving a second life to recovered carbon fiber. To do so, Fairmat has developed a virtuous recycling process, and a sample of its newly recycled material will be available to view at JEC World 2022. Hexcel will present an array of product innovations for aerospace and urban air mobility customer applications during JEC World 2022 in Paris on May3-5. These latest innovations demonstrate the company’s leadership in developing advanced composites technology for the aerospace market.

• Sustainability Focus on Recycling and Reuse
• HiTape® and HiMax® Reinforcements for OoA Processing
• Innovative HiFlow™ Resins for Continuous and Shorter Cycle Injection Processes
• HexPly® Prepregs for Primary Structure and Engine Applications
• HexTow® High Modulus Fibers HM63 and HM54
• Thermoplastics and Processing Innovations for Primary and Secondary Structures
• Lightweight PrimeTex® Reinforcements Solutions for Urban Air Mobility (UAM)

Cobra International, a leading manufacturer of advanced composite products for the watersports, automotive, marine, and industrial sectors, will highlight recent diversification into new composite markets at JEC World 2022, with exhibits ranging from VTOL drones to carbon fibre prosthetics.  Cobra will also demonstrate how it is working alongside automotive and water sports customers to further enhance the sustainability of products in these sectors.

High Volume Production Capacity for the UAV sector
Cobra will display a wing from the Swiftlet UAV. This compact tactical fixed wing UAV platform has a 5.5m wingspan and was developed by the Royal Thai Air Force and National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) for survey, monitoring and search and rescue operations. Cobra manufactured the 32kg Swiftlet composite airframe using a combination of CNC cut carbon sandwich internal structure and PVC foam sandwich skins using both high grade glass fibre and carbon fibre reinforcements.  

Sustainability Options for Automotive and Watersports
Sustainability has a been a key focus for the Cobra Waterports division and CAC, the Cobra automotive business unit. At JEC World 2022, Cobra will showcase the increasing material and process options it has developed with both bio-resin and natural fibre reinforcements variants presented alongside more traditional carbon fibre parts.

Visitors will be able to get up close to a new Bio SUP Wingfoil board featuring a basalt, flax, bamboo and GreenPoxy bio-epoxy construction created for partners NSP, as well as state-of-the-art compression moulded prepreg foils. Cobra’s first fully recyclable surfboard incorporating the Recyclamine® resin technology that Cobra was recognised for in the 2020 JEC Innovation Awards will also be on display alongside a new Audi e-tron foil by Aerofoils – the world’s safest electric hydrofoil board.

The CAC team (Automotive Business Unit of Cobra) will present a set of OEM mirror cap parts that showcase a range of carbon SMC, woven visual carbon, pure woven visual flax, hybrid flax-carbon and painted flax construction options for the same component.  Clear carbon aesthetic and structural parts including CAC made M-carbon components for the BMW S 1000 RR Motorcycle will furthermore underline the high quality and eye-for-detail for which CAC is renowned.

Carbon Prosthetics
An entirely new composite application for the company, Cobra will also show two composite prosthetic devices at JEC which were productionised by the in-house design and development team. Working alongside a leading Thai university and a medical device OEM, Cobra created a rapid and cost effective series production process for a lightweight carbon fibre prosthetic foot. In another example of lightweight composites creating major quality of life improvements, Cobra has also designed and manufactured a carbon and glass fibre prepreg foot support for Elysium Industries.

• Hypetex® to Showcase Coloured Carbon and Flax Fibre Solutions
• Hypetex, London, April 20 2022, Booth R52, Hall 6

Hypetex, the market leaders in colouring carbon and natural fibre materials, will demonstrate both the processing and sustainability benefits of its patented colourisation technology when it exhibits for the first time at JEC World 2022.

Exhibiting as part of the Composites UK stand (Booth R52), Hypetex will display its portfolio of uniquely coloured carbon fibre materials including 3K woven styles, ultra-lightweight spread tow fabrics, UD, and 3D materials. Hypetex will also present details of its latest eco-friendly coloured flax materials  which combine sustainably grown natural flax with sustainable colouring technologies. Hypetex patented colouring technology, available in an extensive palette of standard and bespoke colours and shades, can be applied to traditional woven fabric constructions, non-woven UDs, spread tow and bespoke fabric designs. The technology replaces a traditional coloured painted finish, providing an exceptional depth of colour to any composite part, improving thermal conductivity and reducing heat absorption ,whilst reducing the overall weight and processing time with no compromise to the mechanical performance of the composite structure.

By removing the need for painting, and the associated preparation steps, Hypetex technology provides manufacturers with a repeatable straight out of the mould coloured finish, that is not only easy to integrate into all composite processes, but also takes additional materials, consumables, and process time out of the component cost. As part of its continued commitment to leading the drive for more sustainable composite solutions, and its focus on improvements based on the ESG framework. Hypetex will also display its new range of coloured flax fibre textiles. The advanced colouring technology used protects the natural flax fibres throughout the high temperature processes required for composite production, avoiding burning or any discolouration issues common to natural fibres. In addition, Hypetex colouring solution is an ecofriendly sustainable alternative to traditional dyeing processes which are a significant cause of global water pollution.

The Hypetex team will be on hand throughout the show to provide additional details on Hypetex materials and their integration into the manufacturing process. Visitors to the Hypetex stand will be able see Hypetex carbon and flax products in raw fabric, and how its unique colour palette translates into the most distinctive finished moulded components. Hypetex partners SHD Composites, Textreme, Sigmatex and Angeloni will also have materials and components on display at JEC World 2022, including sporting equipment such as racquets, sticks, and skateboards, which highlight the massive range of processing options and potential applications for this novel technology. One such application, the adidas Kromaskin field hockey stick, with a unique Hypetex coloured Textreme spread tow carbon finish, will also be part of the JEC Innovation Planets feature.

International technology group ANDRITZ will be presenting its special-purpose machines for needlepunch production (including its portfolio for carbon applications) at JEC World 2022 in Paris, France, from May 3 to 5.

Experience and Know-How
ANDRITZ designs, develops, and engineers special-purpose machines for very specific and sensitive applications, like aerospace, railway, and military needs. Therefore, it can provide the market with customized machines offering perfect solutions, whether they are needed for prototypes or for industrial production.

Skilled Engineers
In increasingly demanding markets, the skilled ANDRITZ engineers and technicians help customers get the most out of their investments. The variety of cases they face every day enables them to optimize both output and quality depending on the fibers used, the challenge, and the customer’s final application.

Carbon Expertise
Experience with conductive fibers enables ANDRITZ to overcome challenges and provide access to new product developments. The company’s expertise lies in textile know-how as well as a deep understanding of related constraints. It includes carded/crosslapped processes for nonwovens made from recycled carbon fibers, which can be delivered in rolls or die-cut shapes.

Unconventional Needling for End-Uses
ANDRITZ addresses customers’ challenges by offering solutions and expertise in terms of straight and multi-axial needling, enabling the consolidation of fibers on flat or non-flat surfaces (such as rounded shapes) and even of layers up to 350 mm thick. New developments are made possible thanks to the outstanding ANDRITZ testing facility.

Support and Development
The ANDRITZ needlepunch technical center in Elbeuf, France, is open to visitors. Innovative strength and adaptability are the characteristics that make ANDRITZ the preferred partner in the search for genuine, efficient, and reliable solutions in the interests of productivity and premium, state-of-the-art consolidation. Secrecy being key in such sensitive development work, ANDRITZ naturally always guarantees the utmost confidentiality.

Composites Evolution exhibited at the Advanced Engineering 2021 show on 3rd - 4th November highlighting its range of prepreg and introducing a new thermoplastic tape manufacturing capability.

Composites Evolution is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of prepregs for the production of lightweight structures from composite materials. A flexible approach allows Composites Evolution to offer short lead times and low minimum order quantities, while decades of combined expertise ensure that in-depth technical support is on-hand when customers need it.

Showcased was a battery box from a high-performance luxury electric vehicle manufactured from Evopreg® PFC bio-based, fire-resistant prepreg, a rear wing from a Ginetta G56 GTA GT4 race car utilising Evopreg® ampliTex™ natural fibre prepreg, and parts fabricated from the company’s newly-launched Evopreg® PA thermoplastic tape range.

Composites Evolution has a family of specialist prepregs for various applications, including Evopreg® EPC epoxy component prepregs which are a range of pre-impregnated fabrics suitable for moulding into high-performance, lightweight, structural components; Evopreg® EPT epoxy tooling prepregs which have been designed to help composite tooling manufacturers improve the flexibility and efficiency of their tooling manufacturing processes; and Evopreg® PFC fire-retardant prepregs a 100% bio-derived alternative to phenolics for applications where fire performance is a critical requirement.

Evopreg® ampliTex™ combines Composite Evolution’s high-performance Evopreg® epoxy resin systems with Bcomp’s award-winning ampliTex™ flax reinforcements, to deliver a family of materials which offer outstanding performance for component applications.

Composites Evolution launched their new range of Evopreg® PA Thermoplastic Tapes at Advanced Engineering; these are manufactured from polyamide-6 (PA6) polymer with unidirectional carbon fibre and are suitable for automated tape laying, winding and compression moulding into high-performance, lightweight components.

Hexcel’s Leading Position in Aerospace and Automotive Makes Hexcel a Trusted Partner for Urban Air Mobility

At this year’s JEC World in Paris on March 3-5, Hexcel will highlight the growing need for innovations in composite materials to support the emerging Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market.

Urban air mobility – urban transportation systems that move people by air or enable cargo deliveries – is the next big transportation innovation. Similar to taxis or ride sharing today, UAM will help remove congestion from our streets and provide a convenient, rapid method for travel in urban centers as well as in remote areas.

Advanced composite materials will be at the heart of UAM vehicles by providing lightweight, efficient, reliable, and cost-competitive options for manufacturing. “Materials have been a key driver of efficiency for aircraft today, and they will be even more important for the emerging UAM marketplace,” said Imad Atallah, Director of Strategic Marketing for Aerospace and Urban Air Mobility at Hexcel.

Already, Hexcel is a leader in advanced composite materials for the aerospace market and is a key supplier of composite materials to the automotive industry. So, the company is well positioned to offer solutions to meet the critical needs of high-rate and quick-part manufacturing cycles, in addition to low-cost needs for this space. Hexcel’s materials solutions approach for UAM is to make it greener and more sustainable, safer, more comfortable, and more affordable.

Hexcel’s broad range of carbon fiber and HexPly® prepreg solutions, including snap cure thermosets and thermoplastics, coupled with the most qualified positions on aerospace programs in the industry make the company a trusted partner for UAM. In addition to offering composite materials from carbon fibers, prepregs, honeycomb and reinforcements, Hexcel’s best-performing market solution in noise absorption on aircraft jet engines, Acousti-Cap®, provides a strong position of innovation to solve one of the most critical problems in the UAM space – community noise. “We are applying our technologies to the unique needs of urban air mobility vehicles,” Atallah said.

Hexcel’s ability to bring materials technology from the aerospace and automotive industries represents a unique strength in solving the critical challenges of UAM, especially around high-rate manufacturing, low-cost materials, light weighting, and noise. “Both thermoplastics and quick-cure thermoset materials are expected to have applications on UAM vehicles,” Atallah said. Furthermore, Hexcel’s broad product portfolio including unsized carbon fiber has proven to be the most compatible with thermoplastic resins from a consolidation perspective.

At this year’s JEC World, the largest trade fair for composites held from March 3-5, 2020 in Paris, SGL Carbon will focus on the topic of serial production for the automotive, aerospace and industrial sectors. The key is customized solutions with individual component designs combined with tailored materials and production processes ready for large scale production. Under the motto “The Solution Provider,” the company will present selective innovative component solutions from all three areas in Hall 6, Booth D25. Furthermore, as an example for industrial applications, SGL Carbon will showcase at the JEC world a crossbeam made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) used in automated Schuler press lines.

•    Composite battery enclosures for e-mobility
•    Flexible new leaf spring generation for rear axles
•    Innovative component designs for passenger airplanes, helicopters and air taxis
•    Extremely lightweight and stable transfer beam for mechanical engineering

Selective applications with focus on serial production
In the field of automotive applications, SGL Carbon will present at the JEC World composite battery enclosures as a promising new application driven by increasing demand for electric vehicles and the resulting new flexible chassis platforms. The company demonstrates a prototype of a battery enclosure based on carbon fibers. However, hybrid composites with a mixture of glass and carbon fibers are also possible.

In the aerospace sector, SGL Carbon is also expanding its portfolio of realized projects and expertise relying on the trend to use more efficient materials and processes in this industry too.
In the area of primary structure components, the company will present a demo exhibit for the door frame of a passenger airplane realized in collaboration with external partners and based on 50k carbon fiber from the SGL Carbon, which is suitable for serial production.

Live simulations and intense exchange at the booth
Visitors can experience live how their ideas can be implemented both sustainably and cost-effectively in composites thanks to simulations. Experts from the company’s own Lightweight and Application Center demonstrate the path from the concept to virtual prototypes using simulation software, with the result visible either to the entire audience or just individual visitors. To prepare, interested parties can contact the team now at the following link: https://www.sglcarbon.com/anmeldung-jec.

On March 4, 2020, the SGL Carbon stand will host its traditional get-together for customers and friends starting at 4 p.m. – no registration necessary.