From the Sector

JEC WORLD 2019 is turning Paris into the composites capital of the world.

As well as dozens of conferences, composites circles and live demos, plus hundreds of other events, the first day of the show was marked by the announcement of the three winners of the largest international startup competition in the composites field!

In the last three years, 270 projects have been picked out from over 30 countries, with 30 finalists and a total of nine winners.

THREE WINNERS
Ten finalists selected from 120 entries pitched to an international jury. The pitch session opened with an inspiring speech by Enrico Palermo, President of The Spaceship Company. He introduced the next generation of reusable space vehicles and their impact on costs, safety and the environment during the launch into space.
The programme incited enthusiasm from Peter Hopwood, founder of Hopwood Communications, who encouraged the finalists to develop their stage presence and galvanise their pitches.

At the afternoon’s award ceremony, three competitors were selected for the following prizes:

AIRGO DESIGN (Singapore)
World's first full composite economy class passenger seat developer.
www.airgodesign.com

AREVO (USA)
Delivering the future of composite manufacturing today through breakthrough advancements in software, materials, and robotics. Through enabling the 3D printing of large, mass-produced parts and structures, AREVO is revolutionizing mainstream manufacturing and the global supply chain.
www.arevo.com

WOODOO (France)
Augmented wood.
https://woodoo.fr

The public vote: LAVOISIER COMPOSITES (France)
New generation of material entirely sourced from the French aerospace transformation sector.
www.lavoisier-composites.com

• The Packnatur® reusable cellulose bag wins State Prize in the B2C category
• Bags are made from wood-based fibers of Lenzing AG, which are biodegradeable
• Bags were developed together with VPZ Verpackungszentrum GmbH and are utilized by Coop and REWE for fruits and vegetables

Lenzing/ Vienna – Lenzing AG was granted the Austrian State Prize 2018 for Smart Packaging this year together with its partners. The Federal Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism bestowed the Austrian State Prize this week in the B2C category on the Packnatur® reusable wood-based bag. This reusable bag is made with fibers produced by Lenzing AG and was developed by Lenzing and its partner VPZ Verpackungszentrum GmbH. The bags are utilized in the supermarkets of the Swiss food retailer Coop and the Austrian firm REWE International AG.

The Packnatur® reusable cellulose bag is particularly suited for the packaging of fruit and vegetables and serves as an ideal replacement for plastic bags. The jury provided the following reasons to justify the selection of the winner: The Packnatur® reusable cellulose bag comprises a long-lasting, reusable packaging solution made of a renewable raw material but not at the expense of food. It has very pleasant haptics and supports longer shelf life of food.

LENZING™ fibers are made from the natural and renewable raw material wood. For this reason, they are biodegradable. Moreover, they pollute neither rivers nor seas with microparticles washed out in the process of washing.

The Austrian State Prize for Smart Packaging was granted on the occasion of the 3rd Austrian Packaging Day. This year for the 58th time, the objective of this award is to highlight modern packaging solutions and excellent projects as best practice examples and thus put the national packaging industry in the international limelight.

Twelve companies from eight different countries will receive a JEC Innovation Award at JEC Asia 2018. Asia-Pacific is an innovative region that sets the tone for all other regions of the globe. Once again, the JEC Innovation Awards highlight how composites bring solutions considering the new challenges in terms of efficiency, sustainability and life-cycle analysis.

This year, JEC Group awards innovations in the following categories: aerospace (structural and tooling), automotive, commercial vehicles, e-mobility, marine, railway, sports & leisure, infrastructure & civil engineering, industrial equipment, sustainability and additive manufacturing.

The ceremony will take place on Thursday November 15, 2018 at the COEX Center of Seoul (South Korea). Ida DAUSSY (Seo Hye-na), will host the ceremony in front of officials, manufacturers, scientists and composites professionals.

Category: AEROSPACE – STRUCTURAL
Winner: CSIR National Aerospace Laboratories (India)

Most of the composite structures for aircraft are made of carbon-epoxy composites, which can withstand a maximum service temperature of 130°C. As a consequence, carbon-epoxy materials cannot be used in hot zones like engine vicinity areas. The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and CSIR-NAL took up the challenge of developing high temperature resistant composites for use in hot zones of light combat aircraft, which would result in significant weight and cost savings, as well as a considerable reduction in the meantime between failures (MTBF) due to thermal ageing.

The first task was to choose a material system with a service temperature of about ~ 200°C. During the material selection process, it was found that BMI resins are a relatively young class of thermosetting polymers. Hence, a carbon-BMI prepreg was selected due to a number of unique features including excellent physical property retention at elevated temperatures and in wet environments.

It was realized that weight savings and performance can be maximized using co-curing technology. This results in a large reduction of fabrication cycle times, costs and weight. Co-cured structures have fewer fasteners, which results in shorter assembly cycle times and also reduces sealing issues.

A prototype engine bay door assembly was built and tested at 180°C for flight certification. The engine bay door consists of an inner skin and co-cured outer skin assembly with eight transverse stiffeners. The stiffeners were designed with ‘J’ sections. The door size was 1.5 m length, 1 m width and 0.4 m overall depth. The co-cured door was developed using autoclave moulding. Two doors were installed in prototype aircraft and successfully flown.

• For the first time @Interfilière New York edition, the award winning Interfeel’Award Sustainability ILUNA Group with ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei
• Interfilière New York, 17th–18th October 2018, booth 113

In line with the powerful global trend towards smarter fashion solutions, Iluna Group launches its Embroidery Division. Specialists in lace since 1985, the new Embroidery Division offers a complete and innovative product match in line with the modern expectations of brands and retailers. Staying true to Iluna’s DNA, the introduction of emb roidery and guipure are all produced with only recycled materials.

In addition to the launch of the Embroidery Division, this season novelties include:

1. Since  September  2018,  Iluna  Group’s  products with the right percentage of transformed content are GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified.

2. Of  major  interest  today,  the  launch  of eco - velvet lace  entirely made  of  sustainable  materials  including ROICA Eco - Smart™  Family, Tencel™ Lyocell and  Q - Nova® .

3. Within  the Black  Label  collection,  the  Ultralight series  is  enriched  with  new  multicolor geometric  and floral galloons and allovers: here Iluna changes the color of  the  thread  not  only  in  the background,  but  also  in  the design,  the  same  article  reinvents  itself  in a  variety  of great visual impact.

4. Green   Label   collection, the   Iluna   dedicated range featuring a new responsible approach in respect of the  planet  and  people, able  to deliver  innovation,  beauty and quality, at 360°. In addition to the all over, jacquard, double jacquard and mesh offer, the line is also featuring new stretch Galloon laces fully made with GRS certified recycled materials,  including  the  stretch  thanks  to the introduction of the  unique ROICA™ sustainable yarn part of the ROICA Eco - Smart™ Family.

5. ILUNA has  strategically  included  in  all  their  stretch  laces  only ROICA Eco- Smart™  Family of sustainable yarns since some time.

6. ILUNA can also boast its new STeP (Sustainable Textile Production) certification by Oeko-Tex, a certification  that  clarifies  and  communicates  the  company’s  sustainable  production  commitment. In
addition to this, all products are Oeko - Tex 100 certified.

7. ILUNA has  created  the  new e- shop offering  its  exclusive  materials  to  smaller companies   looking   for   added   values   as: creativity,   innovation,   made   in   Italy   and responsibility.

8. The  whole  collection  is  also  visible online at  its  web  site,  previous  registration, and   orders   can   be   done   directly   online always aiming to customers care.

Nevertheless, for ILUNA smart innovation is not   just   a   project even,   its   space at Interfilière will  be  the stage  where visitors will have  the  opportunity  to  discover the new  collection and to also  to experience and  touch latest boundaries  of  lace smart innovations.

Today ILUNA represents the largest European lace producer, and thanks to its journey toward the most contemporary  way  to  innovate  that  includes  responsibility,  has  also  become  a  reference  point  in  the
international market for a lace offer that is beautiful, innovative and responsible at the same time.  An  alchemy  of  design  and  sustainable  innovation, the  only  eco-fashion  line  that  includes  lace  and stockings,  capable  of  combining  ethics  and  high  quality  standards  with  a  fashion  image  of  bright  and deep colors.

The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) has awarded two prizes to graduates of the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University - the dissertation prize and the creativity prize of the Walter Reiners Foundation of German Textile Machinery 2018. ITA alumnus Dr Benjamin Weise was awarded the dissertation prize for the development of novel fibres for textile charge storage devices. For their work on a guide to 4D product design, Jan Merlin Abram and Aalon Tal (both ITA students) were honoured with the creativity prize. The dissertation prize is endowed with €5,000 whilst the creativity prize contains a one-year scholarship of €250 per month. Peter D. Dornier, President of the Walter Reiners Foundation and Chairman of the Management Board of Lindauer DORNIER, presented the awards on the 18 September 2018 at the 18th Textile Machinery Forum in the Digital Capability Center in Aachen, Germany.

Graphene revolutionizes all-in-one - supercaps, reduction of terahertz radiation and antistatics

In his dissertation "Development of graphene-modified multifilament yarns for the production of textile charge storage devices", laureate Dr Benjamin Weise developed novel fibres made of polyamide and graphene and further processed them into textile surfaces. The newly developed polyamide graphene fibres are featuring a multitude of advantages:

• Due to their high performance in the charge storage area, they are predestined for use in double-layer capacitors, so-called super capacitors, or supercaps in short. Compared to lithium-ion batteries, supercaps offer significantly higher power density and a longer lifetime as no chemical reactions are taking place. towing to the graphene platelets in the filaments, it is now possible for the first time to integrate a charge storage device directly into a textile without having to sew in a rechargeable battery. This new fibre is therefore suitable for prospective use in smart textiles, for instance in a textile defibrillator.
• The new graphene-modified polyamide fibres can attenuate inident terahertz radiation up to 25 % of their original intensity. Terahertz radiation, for example, offers transmission rates of 100 Mbit/sec and is therefore of high interest for high-performance wireless communication. However, the radiation could damage sensible electronics as in aircrafts if this technology will be used widespread. Consequently, the shielding of the radiation is of high importance, e.g. in the form of fibre composite components in the aircraft, which protect the on-board electronics.
• As the fibres are showcasing a dissipative electrical conductivity, personal protective equipment is another prospective field of application.  

The development of a pilot process for graphene-modified fibres and the production of textile demonstrators are novel and disruptive attainments of Dr Weise’s PhD thesis and the reason for the award ceremony to him. Due to its outstanding properties, the European Union is funding research on graphene within the frame of the "Graphene Flagship" with an overall budget of one billion Euro (source: http://graphene-flagship.eu/project/Pages/About-Graphene-Flagship.aspx).

Modular product design of 4D products is now possible in simplified form

How can three-dimensional products change their shape over time and thus become "four-dimensional"? The students Jan Merlin Abram and Aalon Tal provide answers to this question in their project work "Leitfaden zur Auslegung hybrider morphender Textilien am Beispiel eines Scharniers" (Guidelines for the Design of Hybrid Morphing Textiles Using the Example of a Hinge), for which they were awarded the creativity prize. In their work, the students offer a guideline for the development of a four-dimensional textile from the idea to the demonstrator. Four-dimensional textiles, for example, consist of a hybrid material of elastic textile on which three-dimensional structures are printed. The fourth dimension describes the change in shape and/or a property over a defined period of time (= morphing).  This change is caused by external influences such as light and heat.

Every year, the Foundation of the German Textile Machinery awards prizes for the best dissertation, diploma or master's thesis and the creativity prize for the smartest student research project. Further prizes were awarded to Eric Otto, ITM Dresden, and Susanne Fischer, Reutlingen University.

Peter D. Dornier, member of the Executive Board of the VDMA Textile Machinery Federation and Chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation for the Promotion of Young Engineers, honours five young talents. Numerous entrepreneurs and managers from the German textile machinery industry took part in the award ceremony at the Digital Capability Center (DCC) in Aachen, Germany.

The prizewinner in the dissertation category, Dr.- Ing. Benjamin Weise, comes from the Institute of Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University (ITA). He has dealt with a complex production process for the manufacture of modified multifilament yarns, which offers new perspectives for the development and manufacture of textile charge carriers.

M.Sc. Susanne Fischer, winner of the Master's thesis category, has systematically and comprehensively solved the challenging task of integrating motion sensors into a finger glove at Reutlingen University.
The 2018 creativity award winners are team Mr. Jan Merlin Abram and Mr. Alon Tal from ITA Aachen as well as Mr. Eric Otto from the Institute for Textile Machinery and High-Performance Textile Materials Technology (ITM) in Dresden. The students Abram and Tal have developed a guideline for the design of hybrid morphing textiles. In addition to the classic functions in conventional and, in particular, composite applications, locally defined, functionally effective joint, torsion, expansion and compression mechanisms can be integrated into the textile.

The prizewinner Otto is awarded for a concept study for the development of a circular knitting machine with a variable diameter needle cylinder, which can lead to further flexibility in the circular knitting process.

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, will be presenting its innovative denim solutions for manufacturers and brands at DenimsandJeans India 2018, on August 1 & 2, in Bangalore, India.

Just two months after the DenimsandJeans Vietnam show, Archroma will again showcase its unique combination of technologies for denim effects and colors, from fiber to finish, from the authentic roots of indigo to the most innovative and eco-advanced solutions.

At the India show, Archroma’s expert team will also present its coatings and washing solutions aiming at bringing denim creativity to a whole new dimension.
Visitors at the booth will be able to see an “illustration collection” of exciting indigo casts.

DENISOL®, BRINGING INDIGO BACK TO ITS ROOTS - NOW ANILINE-FREE*
Archroma’s Denisol® range is a newly developed pre-reduced liquid indigo solution that is manufactured in Archroma’s award winning ‘zero liquid discharge’ manufacturing plant in Pakistan. Denisol® Indigo 30 liq is compliant with major official eco-standards and requirements from retailers, brands and fashion leading companies and helps to produce fabrics suitable for current eco-labeling such as bluesign® and GOTS.

Responding to demands for a non-toxic alternative to the dyes that are used for the iconic and traditional indigo blue that consumers associate with denim and jeans, Archroma just announced the upcoming new Denisol® Pure Indigo 30.

ADVANCED DENIM, TOWARDS WATERLESS DENIM DYEING
Consider this: The water needed to produce one pair of jeans is said to be ~ 11'000 liters(1). With approximately 167 million pairs of jeans produced monthly(2), that is 1,837,000,000,000 liters of water consumed every month in the process!
Based on the Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing processes, Archroma’s multi-awarded ADVANCED DENIM, dyeing technology allows savings of up to 92% in water, 87% in cotton waste and 30% in energy, compared to a conventional denim dyeing process.

The technology has been adopted by brands like Patagonia and received the prestigious 2012 ICIS Innovation Award and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit Award.

• Optisul® C, “soft colors” made easy
  With Optisul® C dyes, denim manufacturers can produce soft denim colors in continuous dyeing processes, as well as on coating and printing. Optisul® C affinity-free, sulfide-free dyes can easily be combined with each other to create garments suitable for wash-down treatments in a wide array of easily achievable and reproducible soft colors.
  They are suitable for GOTS and bluesign® approval.
• Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes
  Archroma’s Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues are a collection of vibrant, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes. These best-in-class dyes and their auxiliaries bring out the best of indigo, improve workability, dyeing consistency and process safety.
  They can be combined with Denisol® Indigo 30 liq in bottoming/topping manufacturing routes for avant-garde blue styles.
• Diresul® blacks & greys, a cosmos of greys and deep black and navies
  Archroma’s dye portfolio of conventional and black Diresul® specialties allow to create a universe of greys and deep black and navies. From superficial to solid blacks for both extreme wash-down and stay black effects.

EARTHCOLORS, TRACEABLE FROM NATURE TO FASHION
The EarthColors patented range of “biosynthetic” dyes for cotton and cellulose-based fabrics, which are made from waste left over by the agricultural and herbal industry after extraction, such as almond shells, saw palmetto, or rosemary leaves. The latest NFC technology used on the end-product hangtags enables transparency and traceability through the supply chain to consumers.
The EarthColors allow to produce the earth tones that are coming strong: red, brown and green colors. They have been adopted by brands such as Patagonia, Kathmandu and G-Star, and won an OutDoor Industry Award 2017.

COATING, A WHOLE UNIVERSE OF COLORS AND EFFECTS
Archroma’s dye and chemical specialties portfolio allows to create exciting colors and effects using coating applications, from exclusive sulfur dyes and pigment specialties that help highlighting the indigo look, to functional finishes that give performance to denim garments - using water-based, formaldehyde-free or ultra-low formaldehyde polymers.

SOLUTION PACKAGES FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Archroma recently introduced the ONE WAY Process Simulator, the last update of a calculation tool that supports its ONE WAY Sustainability Service introduced back in 2012. The new, online software can be used to mimic and compare products and processes, and thus calculate the ecological and economical profile of the final end-product.
Archroma’s portfolio of ZDHC MRSL-compliant chemicals and dyes is integrated into the ONE WAY calculation tool since 2013.
“It is time to make denim in a whole different way; denim that brings together innovation, sustainability and creativity,” says Anjani Prasad, Head of Sales India, Archroma. “Brands around the globe are exploring how to make fashion in a cleaner and safer way, and Archroma has the solutions to do just that, to create denim with a soul.”
Visit Archroma at DenimsandJeans India 2018 at t at Hotel Lalit, Bangalore, India, on August 1 & 2, 2018.
* Below limits of detection

(1) Arjen Y. Hoekstra, The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society
(2) American Chemical Society, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619123753.htm.
Denisol®, Optisul®, Diresul® are trademarks of Archroma registered in many countries.
© 2018 Archroma

Idéal Fibres & Fabrics Comines received the Textile Industry Award during the award ceremony of the “Trophées de l’Industrie des Hauts-de-France” (Trophies of the Industries of Hauts-de-France) which is hosted each year by the Société Industrielle du Nord. These trophies reward companies who are selected by trade and pooling associations based on their exemplary performance, innovations and achievements in an area of specialty which is different each year.

Idéal Fibres & Fabrics Comines (IFFC), a subsidiary of the Belgian Beaulieu International Group of companies, announced today that it was awarded the Textile Industry Award, which is one of the Trophies of the Industries of Hauts-de-France. The award ceremony took place on the 29th of March of this year at the Cité des Échanges of Marcq en Baroeul, France. Michiel Leys, Manufacturing Manager for Europe and General Manager of the production site, and Loïc Derôme, Operations Manager at IFCC, attended the ceremony and received the prize in person.

As part of the Industry Week, the ceremony is each year a time of exchange, optimism and encouragement to flagship companies of the industrial trades.
Idéal Fibres & Fabrics Comines’ production site has been based in the North since 1993 and manufactures high quality polypropylene and polyamid based textured yarns for applications in the automotive, and commercial and residential building sectors. “We regularly invest in technology on the one hand, and in safety, security and working conditions on the other”, says Loïc Derôme, Operations Manager at IFCC. “For the past two years, we have invested around for million euros and, this year, we are in the on-going process of further developing our manufacturing resources to meet the technical needs of the market and to increase the safety of our site.”

“We have selected IFCC because of its significant surface, but also because it is a French company belonging to a Belgian group, who decided to build on France as a country”, adds Eric Mezin, Délégué Général UIT Nord. Such attributes as open-mindedness, strong focus on sustainable development and effective communication efforts in view of attracting new talents, including among older, more experienced people, are but a few of the multiple aspects that accounts for the election of IFFC as an award-winner.

Asahi Kasei ROICA™ premium stretch fibre has received the prestigious Senken Shimbun Synthetic Fiber Prize with the sustainable GRS certified yarn.
ROICA™ specialties captured the attention of Senken Shimbun, a daily Japanese fashion newspaper, based in Tokyo, Japan.  Founded in 1956, today provides news, research data and new business ideas, and has a great influence over the fashion business in Japan. It helps fashion products throughout Japan to be distributed in Japan's domestic market, and serves as a platform targeting overseas markets.
The award is limited to Japanese companies. This year ROICA™ GRS certified yarn was selected in the Sustainable category thanks to its unique sustainable characteristics.

On March 14th, 2018 Senken Shimbun organized an event to conferee the awards and in this occasion ROICA™ displayed unique fabrics and garments created with this awarded ROICA™ yarn by premium producers as Iluna Group S.p.A (IT), M.I.T.I. (IT), Tessitura Colombo Antonio(IT), Tintex Textiles(PT)  and international top level brands as Cosabella (US), Maloja (DE) and Triumph (CH.
 
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS AWARD WINNING PRODUCT
The Senken Award winning ROICA™ yarn is part of the ROICA™ Eco-Smart family, a world-first range of unique innovative and responsible made premium stretch fibers, that today can offer 2 real sustainable solutions. For time, one of the two types was awarded! The ROICA™ yarn certified GRS (Global Recycled Standard by TEXTILE EXCHANGE) version 3 certified yarn with more than 50% pre-consumer recycled content.

Two of the companies above: M.I.T.I. and TINTEX already garnered a huge recognition at ISPO last February also thanks to the uniqueness of this smart ROICA™ yarn:
M.I.T.I. Spa presented at ISPO Green Soul, a new fabric line made with fully recycled fibers. Ten different fabrics belong to this products line whose composition is both polyamide/ROICA™ Eco-Smart family and Polyester/ROICA™ Eco-Smart family offering a 100% recycled fiber warp knitted stretch fabrics. The winning Bluesign certified fabric is called Thermal Green and is a high-end brush back warpknit fabric, made with recycled Polyamide and ROICA™ Eco-Smart family.Tintex Textiles Garnered Its Second ‘ISPO Best Product Award’ In TexTrends in the SOFT EQUIPMENT category with a circular economy centric material, branded B.Cork™, a unique technology that sources certified pre-consumer cork waste.  Following a patent pending hi-tech lamination of a water based, formaldehyde and solvent free coating, a breathable, natural and waterproof supersoft touch is achieved. And last but not least is using ROICA™ Eco-Smart family premium stretch qualities  to fulfil fit and comfort needs.
 
 AWARD WINNING ROICA YARN IN BRANDS COLLECTIONS

• Maloja, an outdoor speciality brand with its roots in nature and  wellbeing, Maloja is presenting  many lines using ROICA™, and  here we present a new mid layer  technical x-country ski set with  fabrics from MITI, using the GRS  certified yarn part of the ROICA™ Eco- Smart family of responsible Stretch.
   
• COSABELLA produced by Collezioni SRL: The brand sells in over 100 countries, with a premium collection of 2000 styles for every sector of lingerie and leisurewear. Latest styles use the Eco-Lace by Tessitura Colombo Antonio fabrics made with ROICA™ Eco Smart family for their more luxurious upscaled lines.
   
• TRIUMPH LINGERIE: whose latest designs use the new stretch lace from ILUNA Group and the GRS certified yarn part of the ROICA™ Eco Smart family, slips and lingerie sets for the Essence by Triumph collection.

• JEC Group pays tribute to the winners at JEC World 2018

The 2018 session of JEC World, the reference trade show organized by JEC Group, is in full swing and the focus is on innovation!
The JEC Innovation Awards ceremony, which took place on the Agora stage on Wednesday, March 7 at 5 pm, opened with a presentation by Yves Rossy, aircraft pilot and inventor of the first jet-powered wingpack. Then the jury revealed the names of the composite champions up for a JEC Innovation Award. Eleven winning innovations were chosen, out of the thirty finalists that had been previously selected from more than 100 applications from all over the world.

“JEC Group supports innovation. In 1998, it created the first award dedicated to composites, as a way to promote and reward the sector’s champions. Thanks to the work of JEC Group’s teams, the program has become an international benchmark. Each year, we receive more than a hundred applications from all over the world. Selection is now based on criteria like the level of involvement of the innovation’s partners in the value chain, the technical nature of the innovation, or its commercial applications,” explains JEC Group President & CEO Frédérique Mutel.
A new feature this year is that the jury revealed the winners during the ceremony, and the public could choose their favorite innovation before, during, and after the ceremony. So there is still time to vote! Votes are opened until Thursday March 8th, 5pm http://innovationawards.jec-world.events
Did you miss the ceremony?

11 AWARD WINNERS:
AEROSPACE APPLICATION
Winner:
AeroComposit, JSC (Russia) and its partner Solvay (United Kingdom)

• Infusion technology for an aircraft wing

The use of infusion technology to manufacture primary structural components for an aircraft wing. The technology makes it possible to create extra-long, integrated composite structures with complex aerodynamic shapes.

AEROSPACE PROCESS 
2 tied winners!
Winner: Airbus (Germany) and its partners, BMW Group (Germany), Technical University of Munich (TUM) (Germany), Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH (Germany), Werkzeugbau Siegfried Hofmann GmbH (Germany), BASF SE (Germany), Foldcore GmbH (Germany), Neenah Filtration (Germany) and SGL Carbon GmbH (Germany)

• Complex structural applications for MAI sandwich technology

Cost-effective production of a complex 2.5D structure made of thermoplastic composite sandwich, with very short cycle times: under 5 minutes for aerospace materials and 2.5 minutes for automotive materials.

Winner: M. Torres Diseños Industriales SAU (Spain)
Moldless process to manufacture one-piece parts
A new manufacturing process for oversized one-piece reinforced composite structures, without requiring the use of complete molds.

AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATION
Winner: Ford Werke GmbH (Germany) and its partners, Gestamp (United Kingdom), GRM Consulting (United Kingdom) and University of Warwick (United Kingdom)

• Lightweight composite automotive suspension part

Structural suspension part made of lightweight composite, using a brand-new patented process for prepreg/SMC/steel overmolding that was designed using a new computer-aided engineering (CAE) technology.

AUTOMOTIVE PROCESS
Winner: Audi AG (Germany) and its partners, Voith Composites GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Dow Automotive (Switzerland), and Zoltek Corp. (United States)

• Series production of a rear panel module made of carbon composite

For the first time, the potential of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) is used to full advantage in series production with a new rear panel module and cost-effective production technologies.

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Winner: Komatsu Seiren Co., Ltd. (Japan) and its partners, Kanazawa Institute of Technology (Japan) and Nagase ChemteX Corporation (Japan)

• Cabkoma cable made of CFRTP

Komatsu Seiren has developed a cable made of molded carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP), using a very cost-effective process that consists in polymerizing a thermoplastic epoxy resin in situ.

MARINE
Winner: Uljanik JSC (Croatia)

• Composite cargo decks for a vehicle carrier

On the SIEM Cicero, a vehicle carrier with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles, glass-fiber reinforced composites are used for a number of the structures for the cargo decks, thereby considerably reducing the ship’s weight, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

RAILWAY
Winner: ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. (United Kingdom) and its partners, Alstom Transport (United Kingdom), Magma Structures (United Kingdom), the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom), and the University of Huddersfield (United Kingdom)

• A bogie frame made of optimized lightweight carbon fiber

This project has developed the very first carbon-fiber bogie frame that uses a recycled material, making it possible to overcome the obstacles to a commercial adoption of this type of structure.

SPORTS & LEISURE
Winner: BMW Group (Germany) and its partners EDAG Engineering GmbH (Germany), KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH (Germany), Chr. Karl Siebenwurst GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), TUM-LCC (Germany), Automation W + R GmbH (Germany), and FHG-IGCV (Germany)

• A modular construction system for the rear swing arm suspension of a motorcycle

A modular system to produce a complex-shape swing arm suspension reinforced with carbon fiber. The system can adjust the mechanical properties on a case-by-case basis, for a competitive cost and weight compared to metal solutions.

SMART CITIES
Winner: MC Materiales Compuestos (Argentina) and its partners, Plaquimet (Argentina), Purcom (Brazil), IS Groupe - Composite Integrity (France), and G12 Innovation (Brazil)

• The Wet Core Pod composite housing module

The Wet Core Pod is a composite housing module with an industrialization potential that can facilitate the most complex, costly and difficult step in a construction project.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Winner: Cetim-Cermat (France) and its partner, CETIM (France)

• “3-in-1” line for producing recycled composites

A modular line that uses an innovative thermomechanical process to make large panels from recycled composites or plastics. The panels are then thermoformed into parts.