From the Sector

• Hightech textiles for future-oriented construction projects

Building shells, bridges, staircases, façades ... construction projects are exposed to enormous mechanical loads. Often there are also considerable climatic or environmental influences. This has prompted the increasing use of fibre-reinforced materials in construction projects. After all, besides many other exciting properties, they offer high mechanical rigidity, low weight and excellent corrosion resistance.

Tapes, tubulars, sections and 3D woven textiles by vombaur form the perfect basis for these innovative building materials. The seamless round or shaped woven narrow textiles made of high-performance fibres are extremely loadable because they have neither seams nor welds – and therefore no undesirable breaking points. Their surface properties are identical over the entire length. In challenging tasks, composite textiles by vombaur offer a lightweight solution that is as reliable as it is durable.

Safe and durable solutions for challenging applications
The potential applications for lightweight components in the construction industry are as numerous as the project ideas of the planning and construction teams.
•    Ropes and tensioning elements made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP)
•    Reinforcement of building structures made of concrete, steel, wood or other materials
•    Sustainable restructuring of constructions and urban districts for bridges and buildings
•    CFC slats as reinforcements in case of repairs
•    (Filled) GRP pipes made of seamless round woven tubes by vombaur as columns/pillars
•    CFRP sections as steel girder substitutes
•    Hollow profiles with individually designed cross-sections
•    Glass fibre reinforced connecting elements for glazing to minimise expansion differences between the connecting element and the glass
•    Individual light wells

Implementing visions – with composite textiles by vombaur
As your development partner, vombaur facilitates innovative composites projects for challenging applications. In innovative and safety-sensitive industries such as automotive and aviation, chemical and plant engineering.  The composites experts at vombaur develop, create samples of and manufacture woven tapes and seamless round or shaped woven textiles by vombaur – in collaboration with the customer's enterprise development teams and individually for the respective projects. This is how novel and unique lightweight components made of high-performance textiles are created for visionary lightweight construction projects.

"Fibre-reinforced composites are the ideal material for future-oriented construction projects," explains Dr.-Ing. Sven Schöfer, Head of Development and Innovation at vombaur. "Their outstanding technical properties and design possibilities open up new and fascinating perspectives for construction projects. From building construction to civil engineering, from bridge construction to interior design. As an experienced development partner for sophisticated lightweight components, we at vombaur contribute our seamless solutions to these kinds of future-oriented projects."

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, and SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, announced a collaboration to create recycled-based Dyneema®. Through a joint pilot with multiple CirculariTeam® members, the manufacturing and usage of Dyneema® using mixed plastic waste as feedstock (via mass balance approach) will be successfully demonstrated. It is an important step toward the future goal of fully closing the loop by delivering Dyneema® made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMwPE) waste. This collaboration underlines DSM’s and SABIC’s efforts to accelerate a circular economy for materials.

By working together with members of CirculariTeam®, DSM will produce recycled-based Dyneema® made using SABIC’s certified circular ethylene as a pilot project in both a sailing rope and a pelagic trawl net application. The circular ethylene, from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio, uses mixed plastic waste as feedstock (mass balance approach), which not only contributes to preventing valuable plastic from becoming waste and the avoidance of carbon emissions compared to incineration, but it will also help preserve fossil resources. These pilots are an important early-stage milestone in the journey toward making fully circular Dyneema® from HMPE post-production and post-consumer waste.

Jon Mitchell, Managing Director at Marlow Ropes: “We’re proud to be one of the first manufacturers to integrate recycled-based Dyneema® within our products and demonstrate the material’s feasibility. By collaborating with materials science pioneers such as DSM and SABIC, we are able to create products that not only deliver superlative functional performance but also have a lower environmental impact. Our products are trialed and tested by professional offshore sailing teams including 11th Hour Racing Team, a proud partner of ours at Marlow, with whom we share a progressive approach to seeking sustainable solutions: no more business as usual."

Klaus Walther, Managing Director at Gleistein: “Warm congratulations to DSM and SABIC for pushing the boundaries of science to deliver a truly unique product. We’re proud that our ropes can be produced from what once was typical household plastic waste. This is an important stepping stone towards becoming circular. It will enable our customer Maritiem BV to further develop high-tech fishing gear whilst contributing to the circular economy. Not to forget Cornelis Vrolijk Fishing Company, who again illustrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility by introducing this concept in fishery.”