Composite World June'19

Carbon fiber
and innovation:
Redefining the
modern pickup
truck bed
Opportunities, challenges for

composites in future aircraft / 20
Composites design and process
engineering form next-gen truck
body panels / 26
Tooling technologies positioned
JUNE 2019 for speed, control / 30
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
JUNE 2019 / Vol: 5 No

–: 6
COLUMNS FEATURES
4 From the Editor 20 Analysis: Opportunities,
CW Editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan advocates challenges for composites
educating the next generation on all levels
of future career opportunities — especially in future aircraft
18
in composites. As the commercial aerospace sector prepares
for a new round of major program launches, the
6 Perspectives & Provocations question of where and how composites will be
How does the infrastructure industry applied weighs heavily on the supply chain.
— and composites in particular — combat CW's staff writers provide their analyses of
more frequent severe weather events and the aerospace market.
tidal flooding in coastal communities? By Jeff Sloan, Ginger Gardiner and
Columnist Dale Brosius documents the
Scott Francis
beginnings of that dialogue.
8 Gardner Business Index 26 Composites design and

The Composites Business Index moved 20
process engineering form
higher in April 2019 due to strong
acceleration in new orders activity. next-generation truck body
panels
18 Work In Progress Glass fiber/foam preform technology is key
Contributing writer Peggy Malnati explores to a series of all-composite refrigerated truck
a new split-tow carbon fiber that boosts body panels.
SMC performance. By Michael LeGault
30 Tooling technologies
26 positioned for speed,
control
Tooling is one of the most rapidly evolving
» DEPARTMENTS segments of the composites industry, as new
technologies and processes like 3D printing,
10 Trends OOA infusion and thermoplastic composites
36 Applications reshape how molds are made.
37 Calendar By Michael LeGault
38 New Products
42 Marketplace
42 Ad Index
30
43 Showcase
» ON THE COVER FOCUS ON DESIGN

The CarbonPro pickup box, which debuted
on 2019 GMC Sierra AT4 and Sierra
44 Chopped carbon fiber,
Denali pickup trucks, features high impact polyamide and innova-
resistance and includes numerous features tion redefine the modern
to enhance both the vehicle and its cargo
pickup truck bed
space. See p. 44.
Source / General Motors Co.
CarbonPro, the first thermoplastic composite
box, boosts damage resistance, reduces
mass by 28 kilograms and scales to high
production volumes.
By Peggy Malnati
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PUBLISHER Ryan Delahanty

rdelahanty@gardnerweb.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Sloan
jeff@compositesworld.com
SENIOR EDITOR Ginger Gardiner
ggardiner@compositesworld.com
SENIOR EDITOR Scott Francis
sfrancis@compositesworld.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Mason
hmason@compositesworld.com
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AND EVENTS sstephenson@compositesworld.com
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skraus@gardnerweb.com
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csaulnier@gardnerweb.com
CW CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Sara Black sara@compositesworld.com

Dale Brosius dale@compositesworld.com
Michael LeGault mlegault@compositesworld.com
Peggy Malnati peggy@compositesworld.com
Karen Mason kmason@compositesworld.com
CW SALES GROUP
MIDWESTERN US & INTERNATIONAL Dale Jackman / regional manager

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FROM THE EDITOR
» My wife is a high school history teacher (U.S. history) who is susceptible to the kind of impulsive, rash, uninformed decision-
highly engaged with her students. One of the things she likes to making that begs for parental guidance. Still, when it comes to
do is organize out-of-school trips to explore local and regional sending our kids to college, we expect them to have a crystal clear
history, and it’s not unusual for me to tag along and provide chap- sense of the major they want to pursue and, by extension, the
erone and general spousal support services, particularly if the career they will have. This is not a reasonable expectation.
group of students is large. If you could talk to your high school self today, what would
Whenever possible, I like to talk to these students about their he or she tell you about his or her interests, abilities or under-
interests, likes, dislikes, extracurricular activities, etc. As you can standing of the working world? What did you think your path
imagine, and as you probably know, the younger the student would be? Did you know then what it meant to be an operator,
is, the less concrete and formed the answers to these questions engineer, quality control manager, operations manager, vice pres-
are. By the time these ident, owner, entrepreneur or designer? Did you even imagine
students hit senior year, that you would be working in an industry that makes composite
During this time of however, thoughts about parts and structures? What, ultimately, was the path that brought
year, I am particularly life beyond high school you to where you are?
evangelical about the become much more real and Possibly one of the best things we can do for students like my
composites industry. urgent. Campuses are visited, wife’s, before we launch them into the abyss that is the college
colleges are applied to, schol- experience, is to first help them see that there is not one post-
arships are pursued. All of this high school path, but myriad paths, many of which don’t pass
activity comes to a head in late April/early May as students make anywhere near a college campus. Second, we should, when
their final decisions about where they will go. It’s a tense time, possible, give them a chance to experience an actual profes-
with many students balancing the prospect of attending their sional work environment, to understand what it means to be
“dream” school against the reality of the cost of that dream. an operator, engineer, designer or vice president — or nurse
During this time of year, I am particularly evangelical about or attorney or journalist, for that matter. We want, ultimately,
the composites industry. If I learn that one of my wife’s students students to come to their avocations — to the composites industry
has an interest in science or engineering, I will make an effort to — as informed as possible about the environment they are
give him or her a speech about the great potential of composite entering. And we want them to come because they see for them-
materials and manufacturing and encourage pursuit of a career in selves the opportunities and challenges that this industry has to
this industry. To paraphrase: “I have just one word to say to you: offer — not just because Mr. Sloan said so.
Composites.” I then launch into my elevator pitch about compos-
ites use in aircraft, spacecraft, cars and trucks, wind turbines,
sporting goods, etc. “The future is bright!,” I say. I figure that
on a very good day, about 10% of what I say to these students is
absorbed, with an even smaller chance that my advice will lead
to action. On a typical day, I figure these students think I’m a little
crazy. “Sure, Mr. Sloan.”
This is an odd time in the life of an 18-year-old. Legally, these JEFF SLOAN — Editor-In- Chief
graduating seniors are adults, in the eyes of the world capable of
making their own decisions and leading their own lives without
parental supervision. The truth, however, is that they are still kids,

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PERSPECTIVES & PROVOCATIONS
Resilient infrastructure: Starting the dialogue

» In 1992, Hurricane Andrew wreaked widespread havoc across Steve Williamson, director of capital improvements for the City
South Florida, with 175-mph winds leveling neighborhoods, of Miami, described the $400 million Miami Forever bond fund
stripping roofs and causing more than $25 billion in damage. (approved by voters two months after Irma), almost half of which
The severity of this Category 5 hurricane led Florida to develop will be directed at sea level rise and flood prevention. While these
the most wind-resistant building codes in the U.S. and was fully funds will be mainly spent elevating roads and adding pumping
implemented for new and renewal construction within 10 years. stations to return flood waters to the sea, later tranches will be
Less than two years ago, Hurricane Irma swept through Florida, directed to more innovative infrastructure solutions. Samantha
causing severe damage in the Florida Keys, yet causing relatively Danchuck, assistant director of environmental planning and
minor wind-related damage to newer roofs, windows and struc- community resilience for Broward County, which is located just
tures elsewhere in the state. Irma did, however, highlight another north of Miami-Dade County and includes Fort Lauderdale, says
major effect of hurricanes: Tidal flooding caused by storm surges, South Florida is already seeing up to 200 days per year of tidal
augmented flooding, and that Broward County has more than 400 miles of
by significant seawall that must be raised to combat future flooding.
Issues such as sea level rise,
rainfall. This What about large buildings erected by private developers? Tyler
storm effects and king tides flooding has Krutzfelt, director of investments at Mont Vista Capital, believes
all require more resilient become another private development is less driven by new codes and standards
infrastructure. issue to address for (although noting they are necessary), and more on how compos-
infrastructure devel- ites can improve a developer’s unique selling proposition: “What
opers, especially with kind of cool, engaging storytelling technology can we do with
continuing forecasts of rising ocean levels and more frequent composites?” In other words, how do we get resiliency and excite-
severe weather events. Is it possible Hurricane Irma will lead to ment in the same package?
new codes aimed at these factors? All the attendees from the composites industry side of the
“South Florida has always lived with issues of water,” noted dialogue commented that we really needed to hear “the voice of
Julie Dick, a Miami-based attorney and advocate for South Flor- the customer” that the event provided. In the afternoon, experts
ida’s water supply. Her remarks were part of a dialogue between from DowAksa, Ashland, Chomarat and Owens Corning showed
government officials, private developers and the composites how composites already rehabilitate roads, bridges and water/
community, held in late April in Miami’s redeveloped Wynwood drainage systems, build corrosion-resistant seawalls, building
neighborhood. The event, titled “Composites Innovation for Resil- walls and other resilient structures, and harden the power grid.
ient and Sustainable Infrastructure,” was organized jointly by While not yet applied widely, we have lots of case studies upon
IACMI and Mont Vista Capital, a Miami investment firm. which to build.
The event featured key individuals from the government infra- Did the event accomplish its aim of stimulating a desire in
structure and investment communities to help clarify pressing local officials to turn South Florida into a testbed for leading-edge
needs for addressing issues such as sea level rise, storm effects and resilient infrastructure where we turn the many tested examples
more frequent “king tides” (tides well above normal levels), all of into a concentrated, large-scale deployment? At this point, it’s too
which require more resilient infrastructure to continue to provide early to tell, but such face-to-face education of both sides needs
a high quality of life in desirable areas of Florida. to continue for composites to be widely commercialized in this
Dick described how the Army Corps of Engineers is working to enormous and critical market.
restore the original water flow patterns of the Florida Everglades to
ameliorate coastal flooding and contamination caused by previous
Corps projects, and that recent Florida statutes for coastal areas
now must consider sea level rise in resiliency planning. Miami
Dale Brosius is the chief commercialization officer for the
architect Reinaldo Borges believes we can take lessons from the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation
Dutch, who have been living with sea level issues for centuries, (IACMI), a DOE-sponsored public-private partnership targeting
albeit without the storms seen in South Florida. He notes that high-volume applications of composites in energy-related
industries including vehicles and wind. He is also head of his
some predictions call for up to 6 to 8 feet of sea level rise over the own consulting company, which serves clients in the global composites industry.
next 100 years, a significant danger for coastal cities everywhere. His career has included positions at US-based firms Dow Chemical Co. (Midland,
“Every dollar invested in building resilience yields six to seven MI), Fiberite (Tempe, AZ) and successor Cytec Industries Inc. (Woodland Park,
NJ), and Bankstown Airport, NSW, Australia-based Quickstep Holdings. He served
dollars back in future savings,” Borges says. “Doing nothing is the as chair of the Society of Plastics Engineers Composites and Thermoset Divisions.
worst solution possible.” Brosius has a BS in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA.

GARDNER BUSINESS INDEX: COMPOSITES FABRICATING
Index rises on surging new orders activity

April 2019 — 54.4
» The Composites Index moved higher in April to a reading of 54.4, up from 52.6 in March ABOUT THE AUTHOR
2019, thanks to strong acceleration in new orders activity. The latest Index reading is 12.1% lower
Michael Guckes is the chief
compared to the same month one year ago, indicating slowing growth within the industry over economist for Gardner
the past year. Index readings above 50 indicate expanding business activity, while a value of 50 Intelligence, a division of
indicates no change and a reading below 50 indicates contracting business activity. Gardner Gardner Business Media
(Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.). He
Intelligence’s review of the underlying data indicates that the Index was propelled by new orders, has performed economic analysis, modeling
production, supplier deliveries and employment. The Index — calculated as an average — was and forecasting work for nearly 20 years in a
pulled lower by backlogs and exports; however, only exports contracted during the month. wide range of industries. Guckes received his
BA in political science and economics from
April marked the highest reading for new orders activity in a year, while simultaneously, Kenyon College and his MBA from Ohio State
exports posted its lowest reading since mid-2016. The combination of total new orders expansion University. mguckes@gardnerweb.com
and contracting exports implies that domestic demand for fabricated goods more than offset
shrinking global demand, according to the survey data. The surge in new orders during April is
assumed to have aided backlogs that expanded in April after posting a sharp contraction in the
prior month.
GBI: Composites Fabricating New orders lead

expansion
New orders led the Composites Index
higher in April, followed by production
and supplier deliveries. Five of the six
components that constitute the Index
expanded in April.
GBI: Composites Fabricating — New Orders and Exports Total new orders grow
65 (3-month moving average) despite contracting
exports
60
April’s exports reading was the lowest
55 since mid-2016; however, strong expansion
in domestic new orders helped the
50 industry sustain expanding production and
employment.
45
New Orders
40 Exports
1/13 7/13 1/14 7/14 1/15 7/15 1/16 7/16 1/17 7/17 1/18 7/18 1/19
PRESENTED BY
Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence.

Visit the blog at gardnerintelligence.com or e-mail mguckes@gardnerweb.com

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TRENDS
The latest trends in automotive and aerospace composites were on
display at the Society of Plastics Engineers Annual Technical (ANTEC)
conference and the 35th Space Symposium and more.
AEROSPACE
35th Space Symposium puts

emphasis on collaboration,
U.S. leadership in space
In April, CW attended the 35th Space Symposium in
Colorado Springs, Colo., U.S. The event was an exciting
look at what appears to be the very near future of space
exploration. There was an undercurrent of urgency as high-
profile speakers including Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Mock-up of the Gateway crew habitat and
Shanahan, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Air Force Orion crew module. CW photos (all) | Scott Francis
Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein emphasized the impor-
tance of the U.S. working to maintain dominance in space in
terms of both exploration and defense. The speakers high-
lighted the need to increase collaboration with commercial
entities and foreign partners.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA,
Washington, D.C., U.S.) administrator Jim Bridenstine
offered the agency’s response to an address by U.S. Vice
President Mike Pence at a meeting of the National Space
Council on March 26, which called for a return to the Moon
by U.S. astronauts by the year 2024. Bridenstine explained
how the agency plans to achieve such a monumental goal
in the accelerated timeline by moving up programs that
were already in development:
• The Space Launch System (SLS) – NASA’s launch vehicle
aimed at enabling exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. SLS
has a core stage built by the Boeing Co. (Huntsville, Ala.,
Mock-up of the Orion Crew Module on display in the NASA booth at
U.S.) and employs engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne
the 35th Space Symposium.
(Sacramento, Calif., U.S.) and boosters from Northrop
Grumman (Falls Church, Va., U.S.).
•The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle consisting of
a command module manufactured by Lockheed Martin Models of ULA launch vehicles; (from
left to right) Delta IV, Delta II, Atlas
(Bethesda, Md., U.S.) and a service module provided by the
V, Vulcan Centaur. The ULA plans to
European Space Agency (ESA, Paris, France) and being
begin flying Vulcan Centaur hardware
built by Airbus Defence and Space (Ottobrunn, Germany). on Atlas V rockets during 2019.
Orion is planned for use for Moon exploration as well as
missions to Mars and asteroids.
•The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), a lunar-
orbit space station being developed by NASA along with
international partners.
“All of this was already planned for 2028. We’re just going
to accelerate pieces of it,” said Bridenstine.
Bridenstine also referenced the Mars 2020 mission, which
is set to launch in the summer of 2020 with the goal of
putting a new robotic rover as well as a carbon fiber heli-
copter on the red planet.

Space Symposium recap
Walking through the symposium’s exhibition floor, a of the start of the Apollo program as the nation looks to
sense of commercial space’s role in the national space return to the Moon within five years. In the meantime, the
program was palpable. Small satellite launchers like Rocket U.S. is competing with aggressive space programs from rival
Lab (Huntington Beach, Calif., U.S.) had a large presence nations — China reportedly launched one-third of the world’s
in the main exhibit hall. Crew members of Virgin Galactic total space missions during 2018. A whole new race for space
Spaceship Two’s second spaceflight were presented with dominance is clearly on. If competition breeds innovation, the
their Commercial Astronaut Wings by the Federal Aviation stage seems to be set for commercial space’s role to continue
Administration (FAA), and Virgin Galactic founder Richard to grow, offering plenty of opportunity for aerospace manu-
Branson was presented the Space Achievement award at facturers. Carbon fiber and advanced materials obviously have
the event’s closing dinner. a large role to play — it will be exciting to see how composites
Engines and various components enable this next giant leap for humanity.
(including many composite ones
such as payload fairings and pressure
vessels) that play roles in such launch
systems as the SLS and the Vulcan
Centaur rocket were on display. Various
mock-ups of the Orion spacecraft and READY TO SHIP:
the Gateway lunar base were featured composite routers
in booths of companies contributing
technology to the programs. Numerous
companies announced new intiatives
— many of them offering some insight
into the role composites play in today’s
space race.
United Launch Alliance (ULA,
Centennial, Colo., U.S.) reported contin-
ued progress on the manufacture of its
Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle, sched-
uled for launch in 2021. ULA plans to
begin flying Vulcan hardware on Atlas
V rockets during 2019 in order to gain
flight experience before the next-
generation launcher debuts. Out-of-
autoclave manufactured composite
payload fairings from RUAG (Bern,
Switzerland) will be among the first
Vulcan technology to fly on Atlas V.
RUAG also signed a contract with
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI, Tokyo,
Japan) during the Space Symposium.
RUAG will supply composite payload
fairings and supporting stuctures for THE RIGHT TOOL…RIGHT NOW!
Mitsubishi’s H3 launch vehicle for three
resupply missions to the International
Space Station.
An update on the James Webb
Space Telescope was presented by
project manager Bill Ochs, project
head Dr. Massimo Stiavelli and Scott
Willoughby, Northrop Grumman
Aerospace Systems vice president. Some of our most popular designs are now in stock,
The telescope employs carbon fiber ready to ship when you need them.
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This year marks the 50th anniversary
TRENDS
AUTOMOTIVE
ANTEC 2019: Four information-packed

days covering plastics, composites
In addition to extensive technical and business presentations, attendees were

able to visit 71 exhibitors plus six colleges in the “University Row” section of
the exhibit hall. Photo | Peggy Malnati
For the first time since 1992, the Society of Plastics

Engineers (SPE, Bethel, Conn., U.S.) returned to Detroit
for its Annual Technical (ANTEC) conference from March
17-21, 2019. This year’s program was held at the iconic
Renaissance Center (RenCen), which also currently is the
world headquarters of General Motors Co. (GM, Detroit,
Mich., U.S.).
Elevating quality aerospace General Plastics supplies top-flight

parts for more than 75 years. custom-molded flexible polyurethane
products and rigid foam core materials
for aircraft flight decks, interior
cabins and more. And because of our
abundance of value-added services, we
can supply intricate parts fabricated to
customers’ exact specifications.
Here is where high-quality parts
and high-quality services soar.
Where Great Ideas Take Shape

GENERALPLASTICS.COM

ANTEC 2019NEWS
recap
ANTEC attracted a global audience estimated at 1,226 — including packaging, building and construction, and
people to watch 438 regular presentations, keynotes, transportation — whose topics, SPE notes, were designed
plenary talks and panel discussions in 67 technical sessions to focus on big-picture issues and to answer questions
over four days. Additionally, SPE’s sixth-annual Plastics currently being asked within the plastics community.
for Life parts competition displayed novel plastic and The negative impact of news and social media on the
composite parts from a number of industries that already plastics industry over the problem of “mismanaged plas-
had won competitions held by SPE divisions/sections the tic waste,” which tends to end up in bodies of water, was
previous year. Those parts were then voted on by a commit- prominent in the program, including multiple sessions on
tee of judges, with winners announced in six categories: Bioplastics, Sustainability and Ocean Plastics, plus a plenary
Protecting Life, Improving Life, Sustaining Life, Quality talk on Tuesday morning by Steve (continued on p. 14)
of Life, as well as Grand Prize and
People’s Choice awards (the latter
selected by conference attendees). A
student poster competition attracted • Over 40 types of
W yoming
56 students from 43 schools in 24 fixtures in stock,
countries to showcase their latest ready to be shipped.
T est
research and get valuable networking • Expert consultation
experience with industry profession- with Drs. Dan and
als. In addition, a number of special Don Adams
F ixtures
events Sunday through Wednesday • Email or call today to
provided ample networking opportu- discuss your fixture and
nities for students and professionals INC. custom design needs.
alike.
Sessions in the INSPIRE portion
of this year’s ANTEC covered a
PICTURE FRAME SHEAR
variety of technical and business
topics including Applied Rheology,
Technical Entrpreneurship Bootcamp, ASTM D 8067
Product Design and Failure Analysis,
Decorating and Assembly, Color and
Test Fixture for
Appearance, Joining and Moldmaking Composite Laminates
Technology. There were sessions on
Composites, Polymer Modifiers and and Sandwich Panels
Additives, Scratch and Wear Behavior
of Polymers, and four Injection
IN STOCK
Molding tracks covering Product
Design and Development, Simulation,
Materials and Processing. There
were three sessions dealing with
the Structure-Property Relationship,
including one for Composites, one
for Polymers and a final for Blends,
plus a tutorial on Fundamentals of
Custom Fabric
Structure-Property Relationships.”
Two other tutorials — on Additive Test Fixture
Manufacturing/3D Printing and
Polymer Additives — rounded out other custom
the program. Topics involving mobil-
ity were well represented, including
options available
sessions on Automotive Materials
Development, Automotive Process
Developments, Automotive TPO
Materials Development, and a more Dr. Donald F. Adams 2960 E. Millcreek Canyon Road
general Transportation session.
President Salt Lake City, UT 84109
An additional INSIGHT segment
50 years of Phone (801) 484.5055
Composite Testing Experience Fax (801) 484.6008
featured keynotes and panel discus-
sions covering some of the plas-
email: wtf@wyomingtestfixtures.com
tics industry’s largest industries
www.wyomingtestfixtures.com
TRENDS
(continued from p. 13)
The composites track featured

several days’ worth of inter-
esting presentations plus two
excellent and well-attended
Celebrating the 50th keynotes. On Monday morning,
Anniversary of the Lunar Landing Alan Taub, professor-materials
science and engineering at
Before Neil Armstrong’s boot, Hexcel honeycomb University of Michigan-Ann
touched down on the moon attached to the foot- Arbor and a former execu-
pads on the Apollo 11 lunar lander. In fact, every lunar tive at GM and Ford Motor
and Mars lander and orbiter since then has contained Co. (Dearborn, Mich., U.S.),
Hexcel materials. Hexcel advanced composites hold a
spoke about the challenges
rich legacy and an exciting future in space exploration.
and opportunities in light-
Learn more at www.hexcel.com
weighting automobiles.
Photo | Peggy Malnati
Russell, vice-president-Plastics, American Chemistry

Council (ACC, Washington, D.C., U.S.) on the topic of “Can
We End Plastic Waste?” Russell not only covered the
current technical and logistical challenges with plastics
recycling, but also presented updates on ACC’s own
WRAP Recycling Action Program (WRAP) for plastic
film recycling, the Declaration of the Global Plastics
Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter from the
Global Plastics Alliance (combining ACC, PlasticsEurope,
Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, and Asia
Plastics Forum), and what promises to be an innovative
Alliance to End Plastics Waste (AEPW). The non-profit
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ANTEC 2019 NEWS
recap
“We were very pleased with ANTEC overall, including

preliminary attendance numbers,” notes Sue Wojnicki, SPE
director of member experience. “We’re excited that the
changes we’ve made in the technical program — including
the new INSPIRE and INSIGHT tracks — and the network-
ing opportunities were very well received. The response
and energy from the new event features were truly
amazing and the engagement between attendees, staff,
exhibitors∕sponsors and speakers was the best I’ve experi-
enced in the last nine ANTECs.” Next year’s ANTEC will be
held in San Antonio, Texas, March 30 to April 2, 2020.
On day two of the composites track, Mark Voss,
engineering group manager-advanced structural
composites and pickup boxes at GM, discussed Light
Weighting Automobiles with Metals, Composites and
Plastic Materials, where he described the multi-
material approaches and innovations that went into
development of the CarbonPro carbon composite
pickup box on 2019 GMC Sierra Denali pickups (see
story, p. 44). Photo | Peggy Malnati
alliance was launched this January

and is personally led by CEOs from
25+ plastics-industry and consumer-
goods companies who recognize that
if their industries don’t proactively
tackle the plastics waste problem,
plastic materials could easily be
legislated out of existence. AEPW’s
leaders have pledged to spend
$1.5 billion over the next five years
to support infrastructure develop-
ment, public education, cleanup and
recycling innovation in regions with
the highest amount of plastic waste
accumulations.
The issue of plastics sustainabil-
ity carried over to three keynotes
in Thursday’s morning’s INSIGHT
program by Lorraine Justice,
professor-industrial design and
dean emeritus, College of Art &
Design, Rochester Institute of
Technology (Rochester, N.Y., U.S.)
on “Global Product Innovation
for a Complex World”; Albin Kälin,
founder and CEO, EPEA Switzerland
GmbH (Environmental Protection
Encouragement Agency, Bäch,
Switzerland), on “Leveraging Cradle
to Cradle: Design for a More Circular
Economy;” and John Ortiz, global
director-product stewardship at
HP, on the topic of “How Additive
Manufacturing Can Address the
Challenges of Tomorrow.” All three
speakers subsequently participated in
a panel discussion.
TRENDS
MONTH IN REVIEW
Notes about newsworthy events recently covered on the CW website. For more
information about an item, key its link into your browser. Up-to-the-minute news |
www.compositesworld.com/news/list
Mars Helicopter completes flight tests Stratolaunch aircraft completes first flight
NASA plans to send the Mars Helicopter as a technology demonstrator along On April 13, the world’s largest composite aircraft flew for 149 minutes
with the Mars 2020 rover which is planned for launch in July 2020. in its initial flight test.
4/2/19 | short.compositesworld.com/Marsflight 4/14/19 | short.compositesworld.com/SL_flies
Flaris Lar 1 begins flight testing Bye’s Sunflyer rebranded as eFlyer

Constructed of carbon fiber prepreg, Flaris Lar 1 is currently the world’s Bye Aerospace says eFlyer’s (formerly Sun Flyer) new name more
smallest single-engine business jet. accurately represents the aircraft’s all-electric propulsion system.
4/8/19 | short.compositesworld.com/FlarisLar1 4/17/19 | short.compositesworld.com/eFlyer
RUAG Space to supply composite payload fairings for H3 launch vehicle Markforged to build European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland
The contract includes manufacturing of composite payload fairings and payload The Dublin headquarters is expected to hire 100 new employees and serve as
supporting structures for the H3 launch vehicle by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. phase one for the 3D printer manufacturer’s global growth initiative.
4/10/19 | short.compositesworld.com/RUAG_H3 4/17/19 | short.compositesworld.com/3D_Dublin
UAMMI receives federal funds to grow advanced materials cluster
Emery launches 3D-printed eBike frame
The Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative will use the funding
The Emery ONE, the world’s first 3D-printed eBike, was developed in
to support small materials and manufacturing businesses in Utah.
collaboration with Arevo, Franco Bicycles and Bosch.
4/18/19 | short.compositesworld.com/UAMMIfunds
4/10/19 | short.compositesworld.com/3Dbike
Gurit acquires Valplastic PET recycling operation
Turkish Aerospace Industries to build new aircraft composite part plant
Gurit will acquire PET recycling production facilities from Valplastic S.r.l., with the
Turkish Aerospace Industries’ 95,000-square-meter smart factory for structural
goal of securing access to raw material supplies for its PET core products.
aircraft parts will reportedly become the world’s fourth-largest composite plant.
4/18/19 short.compositesworld.com/GuritPET
4/12/19| short.compositesworld.com/TAI_plant
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WORK IN PROGRESS
Split-tow carbon fiber

boosts SMC performance
Pre-spread, pre-scored tow band provides better
fiber dispersion, wetout, molding properties.
By Peggy Malnati / Contributing Writer
» A novel carbon fiber product designed and sized to improve the performance of
sheet molding compound (SMC) has been commercialized by Zoltek Corp., a Toray
Group company (Bridgeton, Mo., U.S.). The patented, pre-spread fiber, called
PX35 KS, is scored as the tow band is produced, converting a 50K tow product
into 3K sub-bundles, which, in turn, are spooled and supplied as a multi-end
tow. Once the pre-scored tow is fed into a chopper unit and the tow’s fiber
length is cut, it falls apart into the 3K sub-bundles as it is compounded into the
SMC dough. Reportedly this improves fiber handling, dispersion and wetout,
and provides a more uniform fiber bed that improves the flow of the composite
during compression molding.
“The benefit of improved dispersion is that it allows manufacturers to use a
lower-cost carbon fiber while achieving the higher properties typically seen by a
smaller tow,” notes Christopher Thomas, Zoltek automotive business director-Americas.
“You essentially pay for the cost of 50K [automotive-quality tow], but you get the perfor-
mance of 3K [aerospace-quality tow],” adds Tobias Potyra, Zoltek automotive business
director-Europe.
Zoltek, which is known for its large-tow, low-cost carbon fiber, developed the new
product in Japan to address the challenge of dispersing large fiber bundles, especially in
thixotropic polymer systems like SMC. “The concept was that separating the large tow into
smaller tow sizes would provide for better dispersion at the cutter,” continues Thomas.
He adds that sampling to select customers in Europe and North America has ramped up
over the last year-and-a-half to two years, where it’s being evaluated for both structural
and appearance parts. “The customers who’ve trialed the product have seen its benefits
firsthand,” he adds. Not surprisingly, the primary market for which the split-tow product
was developed is automotive, although reportedly any SMC compounder or molder could
benefit from the approach taken with PX35 KS.
In terms of SMC resin materials, the new split-tow
Pre-splitting for product has been tested in three single-resin systems:
SMC reinforcement vinyl ester, epoxy and urethane matrices. Unsaturated
Zoltek is taking its popular PX35 polyester matrices were not investigated, since the
50K tow carbon fiber product presence of carbon fiber reinforcement already indi-
and pre-splitting it into 3K tow
cated the formulations would be used in higher temper-
sub-bundles as the tow band is
made. The product is then spooled ature environments and/or in applications whose load
and supplied as a multi-end tow to cases required higher mechanical performance. The
reinforce SMC (top photo). There’s vinyl ester formulations were described as solvated (as
a dramatic difference in the size opposed to hot-melt) systems, although they ranged
of fiber bundles after chopping
from conventionally styrenated, to reduced styrene/
PX35 50K tow product (middle) vs.
the new split-tow PX35 KS grade volatile-organic compound (VOC), to no styrene/VOC
(bottom), which falls apart into systems. Reportedly, the same dispersion improve-
finer, less clumpy 3K bundles. ments were seen in each of the resin systems.
Source (all photos) | Zoltek Corp. The product has not yet been evaluated in any other

NEWS
Split-tow carbon fiber
Tensile strength (MPa) for regular vs. split-tow carbon fiber in epoxy SMC Tensile strength (MPa) for regular vs. split-tow carbon fiber in vinyl ester SMC
(FVF normalized to 45%) (FVF normalized to 45%)
300 283 290
282
250 280
224
270
200
260
150 250
238
100 240
230
50 220
0 210
PX35 50K regular-tow PX35 50K split-tow PX35 50K regular-tow PX35 KS split-tow
PX35O5015T-13 PX35O5015T-13 PX35Q5015T-17 PX3505015T-72
Epoxy Epoxy Vinyl ester Vinyl ester
Tensile modulus (GPa) for regular vs. split-tow carbon fiber in epoxy SMC
(FVF normalized to 45%) Tensile modulus (GPa) for regular vs. split-tow carbon fiber in vinyl ester SMC
33 33 (FVF normalized to 45%)
35
30 38 37.8
25 37.5
20 37
15 36.5 36.2
10 36
5 35.5
0 35
PX35 50K regular-tow PX35KS split-tow PX35 50K regular-tow PX35 50K regular-tow
PX35Q5015T-13 PX35Q5015K-13 PX3505015T-72 PX35O5015K-72
Epoxy Epoxy Vinyl ester Vinyl ester
Comparing properties of regular and split-tow Comparing properties of regular and split-tow
carbon fiber with epoxy SMC matrix carbon fiber with vinyl ester SMC matrix
The new split-tow product (PX35KS) was tested against the baseline (PX35 The same procedure used to test the epoxy matrix was followed with a vinyl
50K) product from which it is made in an epoxy SMC matrix (FVF normalized to ester matrix (FVF normalized to 45%). In this case, tensile strength for the split-
45%). Then test plaques were molded, specimens were cut, and tensile strength tow product increased from 238 to 282, a 44 MPa increase. In the case of tensile
and modulus values were measured and compared for both materials. The split- modulus, the split-tow product saw an increase from 36.2 to 37.8 GPa.
tow product saw an increase in tensile strength of almost 59 MPa (from 224 to
283 MPa) — likely owing to better wetout — although tensile modulus did not
change (staying at 33 GPa), since FVF did not change.
thermoset or thermoplastic chemistries, nor has it been tried in PX35 KS is based on Zoltek’s popular PX35 50K fiber. “PX35 KS is
other forming systems beyond compression molding. “Although addressing and matching industrial needs in terms of availability
the fiber was developed for SMC and is available with a sizing for and pricing but we, of course, also offer our standard 50K product
SMC resins, we see a potential for applying the technology to other for some applications at a slightly lower price,” notes Potyra. “In the
processing technologies and resin types — possibly even thermo- end, we will let the market decide.”
plastics,” explains Potyra. Zoltek officials did not say whether there would be other variants
“However, we have not on the product with either finer or coarser tow sizes, although
yet tested it in those they did add that further evaluations would continue. Unofficially,
Read this article online |
short.compositesworld.com/splittowCF systems because we first the “KS” in the product’s name is reportedly an abbreviation for
wanted to implement “kassen,” the Japanese word for “split.”
this fiber type in SMC
successfully before we expanded its use to other technologies.”
No significant changes to the chopper are said to be needed
with the new product, although some other process modifications
Contributing writer Peggy Malnati covers the automotive and
might optimize the dispersion. “The design of SMC lines can vary, infrastructure beats for CW and provides communications
so technical assistance is available from Zoltek to help with fiber services for plastics- and composites-industry clients.
handling, dispersion, sizings and the like,” adds Thomas. peggy@compositesworld.com
Analysis:
Opportunities,
challenges for
composites
in future aircraft
As the commercial aerospace sector
prepares for a new round of major
program launches, the question of where
and how composites will be applied
weighs heavily on the supply chain.
» Accompanying this issue of CompositesWorld is a supple- Next-Gen aerospace

ment developed with CW’s sister publications Additive Manufac- The accompanying supplement to this issue, developed in collaboration with CW
turing and Modern Machine Shop, titled “Next-Gen Aerospace: sister publications Modern Machine Shop and Additive Manufacturing, features
Advanced Materials and Processes.” In it you will find reports on what’s next in aerospace materials and processes.
a variety of materials and processes targeted toward the coming
wave of commercial aircraft programs expected to be announced
by Boeing, Airbus and others. Topics include resin infusion of wing and business cases established for the NMA as a model for a new
structures, resin transfer molding of door surrounds, advances 737, which is the company’s highest volume and most profit-
in thermoplastic composites and more. During our research and able aircraft. The big unknown is how close to each other these
reporting of these stories, CW editors developed some insights two announcements will be. They could be coincident, or several
about how the commercial aerospace end market is evolving, and months or years apart.
some sense of what the future might bring. Herewith is our take on The dark cloud hanging over the NMA is the 737 MAX, which
what we learned. suffered two fatal crashes — one in late 2018 and the other in early
2019 — that grounded the entire fleet and has consumed Boeing’s
Boeing vs. Airbus: Imminent decisions on the next business and technical attention for several months. How quickly
high-volume aircraft the 737 MAX problems will be fixed, and how quickly the planes
Jeff Sloan, editor-in-chief will be back in the air, likely will affect the timing of an NMA offer —
The next 24 months are likely to be pivotal for the commercial meaning NMA could slip several months.
aerospace industry. There is a chess match afoot between Boeing Watching all of this will be Airbus. Conventional wisdom says
and Airbus, with each carefully eyeing the other, the marketplace, that if and when Boeing announces a 737 replacement, Airbus will
its balance sheets and its supply chains. The first aircraft on the follow, soonish, with a new aircraft announcement of its own, most
horizon almost certainly will be the long-awaited Boeing NMA likely a replacement for the A320, another high-volume, high-profit
(New Midsize Airplane, or 797), a twin-aisle, 200-270-seat, 4,000- aircraft, and one that competes most directly with the Boeing 737.
5,000-nautical miles plane that would fit between the 737 MAX 10 If you are a supplier of composite materials or a fabricator of parts
and the 787-8 in the company’s lineup. for the aerospace industry, all of this begs a couple of questions:
Boeing says it will decide this year whether to “offer” the plane, Where and how will composites be used on these aircraft? How
followed by an official “launch” in 2020, followed by entry into likely are non-traditional materials and processes to be used?
service in 2025. The “offer” phase, ostensibly, allows Boeing to line Opinions offered during my reporting for the Next-Gen Aerospace
up NMA customers and suppliers ahead of launch. Call it a soft supplement varied, but on one matter there was universal agree-
launch. In any case, according to several reports, the NMA likely ment: Wings and fuselage for the Boeing NMA will almost certainly
will be a table-setter of sorts for what would follow: A 737 replace- use autoclave-cured prepregs. Boeing just stood up a massive
ment. The thinking seems to be that Boeing will use manufacturing manufacturing plant in Everett, Wash., U.S., to fabricate carbon fiber

Aerospace analysis
NEWS
Large, high-volume
infused composite
structures
CW Editor-in-chief Jeff Sloan writes
about the future of using infusion for
large aircraft structures in commercial
aircraft. Shown here, the wing of the
single-aisle Airbus A220, infused
and consolidated by Bombardier
Aerostructures and Engineering
Services in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Source | Teijin
composite wings for the 777X using the latest fiber and tape place- New processes, hybrid materials
ment technology from Electroimpact (Mukilteo, Wash., U.S.), as Ginger Gardiner, senior editor
well as the world’s largest autoclaves (from ASC Process Systems, The majority of composites production in the aerospace industry
Valencia, Calif., U.S.). That much capital equipment investment today involves carbon fiber-reinforced thermoset epoxy prepreg
almost demands application to more than one aircraft program. made with hand layup for smaller, secondary structures (shown in
Further, Boeing has in Charleston, S.C., U.S., substantial composite CW’s July 2018 Aerospace Tours supplement) or automated fiber
fuselage manufacturing capability (automated fiber/tape place- and tape placement (AFP, ATL) for larger, primary structures. The
ment), which could be expanded to the NMA. latter was highlighted in my tour of STELIA Aerospace (Méaulte,
Our biggest clue, however, might be the timeline: With a poten- France) and its production of Airbus A350 fuselage panels (see p.
tial launch in 2020 and a planned entry into service in 2025, and 14 of the supplement). For the next generation of aircraft, at least
assuming substantial composites use, Boeing does not have time in Europe, this preponderance of prepreg is already changing. The
to qualify new materials or processes. The fully qualified and advance is on multiple fronts, including resin transfer molding
in-service prepregs used on the 787 and the 777X from Toray (RTM), thermoplastic composites, hybrid metal-composite struc-
Composite Materials America (Tacoma, Wash., U.S.) will serve tures and 3D-printed parts in metal, plastic and composites.
the NMA just fine. And it might serve a 737 replacement just fine RTM is already flying via the main fitting for Airbus A330/A340
as well, particularly if Boeing does, in fact, leverage manufac- spoilers. FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) developed the process
turing and supply chain advantages from NMA production for a and then refined it for the A350 spoilers (see Learn More). The A350
cleansheet 737. On the other hand, a 737 replacement in develop- passenger doors and surrounding door frames (in the fuselage) are
ment in the early to mid 2020s could benefit substantially from
innovation in composite material and fabrication technology,
thereby opening the door for thermoplastic composites and out-
of-autoclave (OOA) manufacturing processes.
Airbus, meanwhile, is moving aggressively to evolve several
composites technologies, including resin infusion and ther-
moplastic composites fabrication. This effort is being directed
by Airbus through its Composites Technology Center (CTC) in
Stade, Germany, with some of the infusion work being done at the
National Composites Centre in Bristol, U.K.
Regardless of the material or technology that wins the day on
replacements of the 737 or A320, one major hurdle to be cleared
will be rate. The production volumes being quoted by Boeing and
Airbus for these planes is 60-100 per month. That’s two planes
per day, at minimum. Can composites manufacturing processes
be matured quickly enough to meet this rate affordably and effi-
ciently? Consensus seems to be that, if given three or so years,
HP-RTM for serial production of CFRP aerostructures
infusion has a fighting chance, enabled mainly by the component
CW Senior Editor Ginger Gardiner writes about how manufacturers of aerospace
integration it enables. In any case, the next decade is shaping up parts are using automotive best practices to produce higher-volume, cost-effec-
to be among the most active and interesting for the aerocompos- tive parts. Shown here, this HP-RTM tooling for an aerospace demonstrator door
ites industry. frame was designed and built by Alpex Technologies. Source | Alpex Technologies
FEATURE / Next-Gen Aerospace
also made using RTM by Airbus Helicopters in Donauworth, Germany. This technology
has now been advanced via a high-pressure RTM (HP-RTM) A350 door frame, demon-
strated by Airbus Helicopter and Alpex Technologies (Mils, Austria), achieving a 30%
cost reduction and using a two-part resin as well as in-mold cure sensors (see p. 48 of
the supplement). Airbus’ Composites Technology Center (CTC) has also demonstrated
HP-RTM parts sized 1-2 meters with 60% fiber volume, less than 2% voids and a cycle
time of 20 minutes. CTC has worked with Airbus suppliers to identify a number of parts
— many including numerous carbon fiber composite components per shipset — that
are being transitioned to HP-RTM this year to meet higher A320 production rates. A lot
of these parts are produced manually, so the more automated HP-RTM process offers
significant efficiency improvements.
STELIA Aerospace also has developed resin infusion and RTM, pursuing industrial-
ized production of large, closed-box structures such as wing components, horizontal
tail planes and vertical tail planes. Though its current production of A350 fuselage
shells involves autoclave-cured prepreg, the process is highly automated. STELIA’s
Factory of the Future initiative, started five years ago to meet ramps in A320 and A350
production, focused on eliminating waste in labor, movement, materials and process.
STELIA also achieved a 10-20% increase in production on its A320 line and devotes a
large portion of its STELIALAB R&T efforts to more efficient assembly methods using
robotics, additive manufacturing and thermoplastics.
Note the conjunction of more efficient assembly — in other words, reduced assembly
Big additive machines tackle
— with liquid molding and additive manufacturing (for single-piece, integrated struc-
large molds
tures) as well as thermoplastics (for highly automated, welded structures). STELIA
This 3D-printed tool created via Ingersoll Machine Tools’
large-format additive manufacturing (AM) system
demonstrated the latter via the all-thermoplastic composite helicopter fuselage/
represents the rising role of AM to make fast, affordable tailboom developed in the ARCHES TP program. Lightning strike protection (LSP) was
aerocomposite molds. Source | Ingersoll Machine Tools integrated during layup using AFP carbon fiber/polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) tape
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Aerospace analysis
NEWS
and laser heating. Frames and stringers were stamp-formed, with the and development to improve materials and processes. Aerospace
latter attached using automated, dynamic induction welding. suppliers and OEMs say it usually takes about 25 years for technology
A final summary-view is provided by the Clean Sky 2 program’s to work its way into full adoption. That said, a tipping point seems
next-generation Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD). imminent for thermoplastic composites (TPCs) in commercial aero-
Clean Sky 2 is a joint effort of the European Commission and the space (see p. 40 in the supplement). Currently, the industry is seeing
European aeronautics industry to develop technologies for the increased adoption of TPCs for larger parts and structural compo-
next generation of aircraft, from 2025 onward. Drastic reductions in nents. In January, Teijin (Tokyo, Japan) announced that Boeing
assembly time and components, elimination of fasteners and “dust- (Chicago, Ill., U.S.) added its TENAX carbon fiber and carbon fiber/
less” joining — no drilling of holes — are the mantra for the MFFD thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape (TENAX TPUD)
project, which aims to produce an 8-meter-long thermoplastic to its qualified products list. The case for TPCs seems to have been
composite fuselage barrel by 2022. Led by Airbus with partners made, and the current focus is on ramping up production rates.
GKN Fokker (Hoogeveen, Netherlands),
DLR (Stuttgart, Germany), TU Delft (Delft,
Netherlands), NLR (Amsterdam, Nether-
lands), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Munich,
Germany) and others, this project’s goals
include enabling production of 60 aircraft/
month while reducing recurring costs and
fuselage weight by 1 ton.
As explained in the latest MFFD updates
(Learn More), although thermoplastics
are more expensive, they enable automa-
tion and greater integration of structure,
systems and interior elements to reduce the
amount of successive assembly steps. Using
thermoplastic joining technologies — such
as overmolding and welding — molded
elements can be combined into larger
components/system modules, reducing
overall aircraft manufacturing costs and
recurring costs. “Airframers outside Europe
are also looking at similar opportunities,
but if we are successful this will be a big
step forward for European aeronautics,”
says Ralf Herrmann, project manager for
airframe research & technology typical
fuselage at Airbus Operations GmbH.
There are dozens of Clean Sky 2 projects
demonstrating novel composites technolo-
gies for next-gen aircraft. The preponder-
ance now is for liquid resin infusion/RTM
and thermoplastics. The race for the future
is on, and whichever technologies win, the
ultimate goal is a sustainable future for the
aircraft industry and our planet.
Next-gen automation leading

inspection and thermoplastics
Scott Francis, senior editor
The nature of forecasting is to look for the
next big thing. The aerospace industry
seems constantly on the brink of some
new breakthrough in innovation. The
need for stronger, stiffer, yet lighter mate-
rials never ends, nor does the research
FEATURE / Next-Gen Aerospace
Waiting on what’s next

Major players like Boeing and Airbus are expected to
make big decisions regarding new planes soon. Shown
here, production facilities for Boeing’s 787. Source | Boeing
The processes used to fabricate parts are also

more mature. Automation, such as AFP and
ATL, is moving the needle on the ability to meet
the needed production rates. To that end, ther-
moplastic polymers continue to evolve in the
quest for faster processing. The latest example is
Victrex’s (Lancashire, U.K.) low-melt polyaryle-
therketone (PAEK), which is said to work well
in AFP, as well as welding and stampforming.
Solvay (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) is also working
to develop tailored polymers customized for
different fabrication processes. improvements in production (see p. 60 in the supplement). While
When it comes to process technologies, we’re likely to see AFP technology has the ability to rapidly produce larger parts, much
increased collaboration between aerospace and automotive of the inspection is still manual and can cause a productivity bottle-
markets to achieve high-volume production of composite parts. The neck. New in-situ inspection technologies are in development that
IRG CosiMo consortium, which includes Solvay, Premium Aerotec will likely play a big role in production ramp-ups. A recent example
(Augsburg, Germany) and Faurecia Clean Mobility (Columbus, is a next-generation sensor for in-process inspection developed by
Ohio, U.S.), is aimed at just that. The project focuses on developing Fives (Hebron, Ky., U.S.) and the National Research Council Canada
synergies between companies and organizations along the thermo- (NRC, Ottawa). Based on optical technology that uses infrared light
plastic composites process chain. waves to precisely measure distance, the In-Process Inspection (IPI)
Inspection technology is another area where OEMs are seeking technology is said to reduce processing time by up to 30% compared
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Aerospace analysis
NEWS
to layup operations using manual inspection. Ohio, U.S.) for its carbon fiber wing tips, as well as a large, single-
Meanwhile, joining and welding of TPCs offer the potential to piece tool created by Thermwood Corp. (Dale, Ind., U.S.) using its
cut costs and improve the reliability of parts by reducing the need Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) machine and Vertical
for rivets and fasteners, contributing to weight reduction and Layer Print (VLP) 3D printing technology.
cutting down on production time and material costs. Companies Of course, with the growing need for more planes — and the
like GKN Fokker have been leading the charge in developing TPC increased use of composites on them — comes an increased
welding. At JEC World 2019, GKN Fokker unveiled an area-ruled demand for small and interior components, airline seating solutions
thermoplastic composite panel it developed with Gulfstream and composite repair technology. Plenty of challenges remain to
Aerospace (Savannah, Ga., U.S.), featuring fully welded frames and meet the need for higher-volume production, but there is also plenty
a butt-jointed grid system of opportunity for the composites world to rise to the challenge.
to provide stiffness.
Read more about FACC | Earlier this year, ABOUT THE AUTHORS
short.compositesworld.com/FACC_AG Aeronova (Álava, Spain),
Learn more about Clean Sky 2 | Grupo Antolin-Inge-
cleansky.eu nieria (Burgos, Spain)
and Airbus, working as
partners in the European
Union-funded Graphene Flagship (Gothenburg, Sweden) consor-
tium, produced a leading edge for an Airbus A350 horizontal tail
plane using graphene-enhanced composites. The material report- Jeff Sloan is CW senior editor CW senior editor Scott
edly increases the mechanical properties of the leading edge, editor-in-chief of Ginger Gardiner has an Francis has worked in
allowing for a thinner construction, decreasing its weight while CompositesWorld, and engineering/materi- media since 2001. He’s
has been engaged als background and edited for numerous
maintaining its functions. in plastics- and more than 20 years publications including
Additive manufacturing is playing an increasing role in aero- composites-industry of experience in the Writer’s Digest and
space composites as well (see p. 62 in the supplement). Boeing’s journalism for 24 years. composites industry. Popular Woodworking.
jeff@ ginger@ sfrancis@
777X uses a 3D-printed layup tool from Cincinnati Inc. (Harrison, compositesworld.com compositesworld.com compositesworld.com
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Composites design and process
engineering form next-generation
truck body panels
Glass fiber/foam » With an improved thermal efficiency of up The Wabash facility

to 28%, and 10% less overall weight compared Wabash manufactures Molded
preform technology is to conventional truck body wall materials, the Structural Composite panels for
all-composite Cold Chain refrigerated truck body refrigerated trucks and trailers
key to the all-composite series, designed and built by Wabash National
at its facility in Little Falls, Minn.,
U.S. The company purchased the
refrigerated truck Corp. (Lafayette, Ind., U.S.), has now been on the
market a little more than three years. Wabash
plant from a boat manufacturer
in 2017 and retained most of
body panels. introduced the new line with a series of 14- to the employees, who came with
26-foot trucks — often called box or straight trucks valuable composites experience.
— made from molded structural composite (MSC) Source (all images) | Wabash National Corp.
By Michael LeGault / Contributing Writer

panels mounted directly on the chassis. According
to Robert Lane, vice president of engineering for
commercial trailer products, Wabash has built more than 100 of these MSC trucks,
and they are now produced at its 500,000-square-foot facility in Little Falls, Minn.,
U.S., which the company purchased from a boatbuilder in 2017. The plant is dedi-
cated solely to the manufacture of the Cold Chain MSC panels, as well as the final
assembly of the panels into truck and trailer units.
In 2018, Wabash also began manufacturing a 53-foot refrigerated trailer, also called
a “reefer.” It has sold a little more than 100 of these as well. The trailer incorporates an
MSC nose, sidewalls and roof, as well as a hybrid metal-composite flooring system
with a 24,000-pound dynamic load rating. Rather than doing a general commercial
launch of the new trailer, the company elected to run a smaller, controlled launch
and supply the trailer to three customers in the logistics industry, as well as a distrib-
utor, who in turn agreed to participate in the product rollout, says Lane.

Next-gen truck bodyNEWS
panels
In controlling the launch this way, Wabash

is able to track and collect data on the perfor-
mance of the trailer, enabling monitoring of its
thermal efficiency, the most critical parameter
of the new product’s value proposition. Wabash
records how much fuel is consumed by the diesel-
powered refrigeration units on a Cold Chain trailer
compared to a trailer with conventional wall
construction. For the assessment to be accurate,
Wabash compares trailers and tractors of roughly
the same age, running the same routes, under
the same or similar conditions, eliminating, as
much as is feasible, variables that would skew the
data. According to Lane, the first seven months of
testing confirms an improvement in thermal effi-
ciency in the range of 20 to 31%, which translates
to the overall goal of reduced fuel consumption.
The MSC process was originally developed by
Structural Composites Inc. (W. Melbourne, Fla.,
U.S.). The company worked closely with Wabash in
the development of the unique MSC panel system,
which comprises fabric, Structural Composites’
laminated knit glass and foam Prisma preforms,
Moving the panels into position
resin and CoCure advanced coatings. The design
An MSC panel is moved into position via vacuum hoist for assembly into the trailer. Dimensions
of the composite laminate components and layup
of the molded 53-foot trailer panels are up to 114 inches by 52.5 feet, while the smaller straight
were derived from the modeling of multiple, truck panels are up to 108 inches by 26 feet, with a panel thickness (for either truck) ranging
intricate loading cases run in the finite elemental between 1.5 and 4 inches.
analysis (FEA) software ANSYS (Canonsburg, Pa.,
U.S.) combined with extensive testing at Wabash’s
in-house laboratory. The software modeled forces
induced by highway speeds as well as fork truck
and freight loads. Lane says Structural Composites
remains an ongoing partner in the manufacture of
the MSC panels.
Manufacturing process
While all the components comprising the Cold
Chain truck body and trailer MSC laminate play a
critical role in overall properties and performance,
the Prisma preforms are key to the superior struc-
tural properties required for the application. The
first Prisma preforms, introduced in 1995, were
custom-built stringers and bulkheads for recre-
ational watercraft. Today, Structural Composites’
Prisma line encompasses beams, lumber, fillets,
planks and hull stiffeners, as well as the original
stringers and bulkheads.
At Wabash, the Prisma technology is used to
build a series of foam-cored glass fiber panels 4-36
inches wide and 0.75-4.0 inches thick. Length of
the panels can be adjusted to application speci-
fication. The exterior height of a standard 53-foot
trailer is 114 inches; the exterior height of a 26-foot Prepping for assembly
trailer is 108 inches. Several of these panels are The MSC panels are prepped prior to assembly.
FEATURE / All-composite truck panels
Finalizing the trailer

Once the sidewalls, roof, floor and
nose of the trailer are attached and
bonded in place, the trailer is moved
to the final assembly station. Here,
the steel rear frame is fitted to the
truck loading portal. Trailer doors
are attached to the frame and other
final assembly details, such as the
fabrication of the auxiliary electrical,
hydraulic and mechanical systems, are
carried out.
subsequently co-molded in a compression process to build the manufactured by Wabash is a standard 2-lb./ft.3 flotation-grade PU
foam. However, in other applications the foam used to make the
final MSC structures, which form the walls and floors of a Cold
Chain truck. beams can range from 2- to 40-lb./ft.3
The MSC panels are fabricated in Wabash’s Minnesota facility. Kyle Kraus, vice president sales and marketing at Saertex (Hunt-
ersvilles, N.C., U.S.), a manufacturer of the glass fiber fabric used by
In an automated processing line, a two-part polyurethane foam is
Wabash, says the company supplies Wabash with non-crimp fabrics
injected into a woven glass fiber preform held in the shape of the
ranging from unidirectional to biaxial, in a variety of aerial weights.
panel. The foam fills the fabric-enclosed space and adheres to the
“We have worked with the Wabash engineering staff to align the
inner glass fibers, creating the foam-filled glass fiber fabric panel.
This is the key building block for walls and floors. fabric design to their resin flow and performance level of the Cold
After injection, the foam beams are cured at room tempera- Chain trailer application,” he explains, noting in general the stitching
ture (72°F) for 60 to 90 minutes. The foam used in the panels parameters support fast processing of the panels. “The company likes
the way our fabrics handle, as they elimi-
nate unsightly gaps they’ve experienced with
competitive materials,” Kraus adds.
Lane says the width of the panels varies
up to 6 inches for floor panels, and up
to 36 inches for wall panels. Some of the
panels will include metal plates to support
refrigeration units or trailer landing gear.
Biaxial orientation of the panel’s fabrics
can comprise either 0/90-degree layup or
a ±45 degree layup, depending on panel
application. The panels are designed with
four critical dimensions that can be tailored
according to the application: height, base
width, top width and the width of the tabs
plus the base. Typical panel thickness
ranges from 1.5 to 4 inches.
While the specific details of the resin and
the coating used to make the MSC panels
are proprietary, the technology origi-
nally developed by Structural Composites
CARBON/EPOXY PARTS PARTS WITH CORE PRODUCTION TOOLING Inc. incorporates the company’s CoCure
strain-tunable resins, in which a certain
Engineering Services Complex Shapes 5 Axis NC Milling
percentage of a toughened urethane resin
Large Facilities High-Precision Equipment
is added to a generic commodity resin in
specific areas of the composite structure to
www.janicki.com improve performance and properties. Lane
360.856.5143 says the resins Wabash uses are custom-
made and designed to meet mechanical

Next-gen truck bodyNEWS
panels
load requirements of the MSC system. Lane says the gel coat, also is no reason to think the product will not be successful. “Anyone
developed by Structural Composites, is distinctive in that, unlike can launch a technology that will provide the improvements we’re
other gel coats, it is flexible, highly resistant to cracking and imparts talking about,” Lane says. “The key to our approach is to provide
a superior level of water resistance to the panels that preserves the these improvements and make it affordable.”
thermal performance and also lengthens the life of the trailer — a
benefit that is one of the chief selling points of the Cold Chain line.
After cure, the panels are placed adjacent to one another in an
aluminum or composite tool lined top and bottom with CoCure
Michael R. LeGault is a freelance writer located in Seattle, Wash.,
inmold coating. Lane describes the panel molding method as a U.S., and the former editor of Canadian Plastics magazine
“modified open-closed mold process.” Once the panels are posi- (Toronto, ON, Canada). mlegault@compositesworld.com
tioned in the mold, the mold is closed and compressed with a combi-
nation of liquid resin and chopped glass
fiber using a vacuum-compression process.
The glass-on-glass contact between Prisma
panels forms an internal shear that obviates
the need for the metal frames found in
a typical trailer structure. The molding
process, combined with the CoCure coating,
produces panels ready, out of the tool, for
assembly into the final trailer structures.
Assembly of the panels into a box-
Your Composite Curing Oven Specialists
shaped trailer is accomplished via a set of
fixtures that facilitate systematic fabrica-
tion and attachment of the trailer compo-
nents to one another. In the first step of this
process, the side walls are loaded into an

short.compositesworld.com/truckpanels Interior Supply and Return Interior Thermocouple Pressure Transducer
Ducts with Interior Lighting Jack Panel & Vacuum Stubs Monitoring Lines
automated clamping fixture and aluminum

top and bottom rails are bonded in place
with an adhesive developed to bond the
composite panels to metal. The walls are
held in the fixture to allow the adhesive to Vacuum Piping System
cure, after which the walls are moved to a w/ Pressure Transducer &
larger, hydraulically operated fixture that Thermocouple Jack Panel
lifts, aligns and attaches the walls to the
floor via the same adhesive. In a similar
way, the fixture operates to attach the nose,
stainless steel rear frame (which forms the
opening to the trailer loading portal and
Wisconsin Oven
provides support for the trailer door) and
Premium Data Acquisition
the roof. From this point, final assembly and Control System
details largely mirror a conventional trailer,
with the attachment of electrical, pneu-
matic, mechanical and other auxiliaries 2675 Main Street • PO Box 873 • East Troy, WI 53120 USA
and systems. www.wisoven.com • sales@wisoven.com • 262-642-3938
There are still challenges ahead for full
commercialization and market acceptance Wisconsin Oven is a brand of
of all-composite trucks and trailers. The Thermal Product Solutions, LLC
Cold Chain line, however, is off to as good
a start as could be anticipated, and there
Reaping the benefits: Composites
Tooling technologies
use grows in
positioned agricultural
for equipment
speed, control
New technologies and »Tooling is one of the most rapidly evolving Continuous compression
molding
processes like 3D print- segments of composites manufacturing across
industries, as materials suppliers, service ATC Manufacturing purchases UD
ing, OOA infusion and providers, toolbuilders and manufacturers carbon and glass fiber prepreg
thermoplastic composites develop, adopt and adapt new technologies tapes from several suppliers and
manufactures its laminates in-house
reshape how molds are and processes to cut costs and speed deliveries. using a continuous compression
New technologies reshaping composites tooling molding process. The laminates are
made. design include 3D printing, out-of-autoclave heated above 700°F and formed in a
(OOA) infusion and thermoplastic composites rapid-closing press comprising steel
or aluminum tooling, which both
for automotive and aerospace applications.
By Michael LeGault / Contributing Writer forms and cools the parts. Proprietary
thermal modeling software is
3D printing composite tooling employed in the design of the tooling
Thermwood Corp. (Dale, Ind., U.S.), a manu- to account for the differences in
facturer of CNC machinery and large-scale the rates of thermal expansion of
thermoplastic materials.
additive manufacturing (LSAM) technology,
Source | ATC Manufacturing
recently introduced a higher-capacity LSAM
print head with an output of up to 570 lb./hr. of
composite material. The principle component
of the higher capacity unit is a 60-millimeter melt core, which is interchangeable
with the standard 40-millimeter print head melt core with a maximum output of 210
lb./hr. The higher capacity print head can print up to 100 feet of bead per minute,
compared to about 50 ft./min. with the standard head.
Thermwood employed the larger melt core to print half of a test tool for a Bell
Helicopter Textron (Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.) helicopter blade. For this application,
the high print rate facilitates orienting the print bead along the length of the tool, a

NEWS
crucial processing parameter for a large carbon fiber-reinforced

part as thermal expansion is significantly lower in this direc-
tion. The tool, measuring 20 feet long by 14 inches wide by 17
inches high, was built from Techmer PM’s (Clinton, Tenn., U.S.)
25% carbon fiber-reinforced polyethersulfone (PESU) in a single
continuous run requiring a total print time of only 3 hours, 9
minutes, with a final “as printed” weight of 542 pounds.
The carbon fiber-filled PESU material from Techmer PM, has
a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 205°C and was specified to
meet Bell’s autoclave requirements for curing the part at 182°C
and 90 psi. Thermwood’s LSAM machine is equipped with a CNC
router, which provided a seamless transition to machining and
trimming the printed tool, an operation that required an addi- Thermoplastic aerospace parts
tional 40 hours of machine time. The surface finish requirement ATC Manufacturing makes a variety of aerospace parts from carbon and glass
for the tool was 32 RMS or better. Bell required tight tolerances to fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resins such as PEI, PEEK and PEKK. The parts
ensure the vacuum integrity required for autoclave cure. include both secondary and primary parts, the latter comprising ribs and stiff-
Jason Susnjara, vice president of marketing at Thermwood, eners, some as long 25 feet requiring ±1 degree angular and/or 0.010 inch surface
tolerance. Source | ATC Manufacturing
says after machining the tool, the vacuum integrity of the tool
was physically checked and confirmed by bagging the tool
and applying a vacuum. “We will be printing the second half developed and patented by Radius Engineering Inc. (Salt Lake
of the tool shortly,” Susnjara says, reporting that Bell will use City, Utah, U.S.), is a closed mold, out-of-autoclave (OOA) manu-
the complete tool to manufacture a test part in an autoclave, facturing method that provides an alternative to resin transfer
then debrief Thermwood on the results and discuss the next molding (RTM) in an autoclave for production of high-tolerance
steps in applying the technology. “This is a game changer,” says aerospace parts. With SQRTM, the same resin used to prepreg
James Cordell, manager of manufacturing engineering at Bell. the fiber is injected into the mold and provides the hydrostatic
“Being able to print, machine and utilize tools in weeks in lieu of pressure required to consolidate the laminate. “Same Qualified”
months will revolutionize the look at tooling going forward.” refers to SQRTM’s use of prepreg, which can be same qualified for
Thermwood also recently announced full commercializa- program-specific parts and applications, versus RTM’s use of a
tion of a new feature of its LSAM technology, called vertical layer dry preform requiring resin infusion.
printing (VLP), in which beads of resin are laid vertically, side by Sonaca Engineering (Gosselies, Belgium) recently applied the
side, rather than horizontally. VLP, which is restricted to the print SQRTM process in the manufacture of a demonstration wing slat
head paired with a 40-millimeter melt core, is accomplished
through the addition of a second moving table, mounted
perpendicular to the main, fixed horizontal table.
While the layers are being printed, the vertical
table indexes, moving after each vertical layer of
the part is completed, growing the part along the
length of the machine.
The main benefit provided by VLP is the printing
of certain types of long parts — for example, a tool
for a boat hull can be printed in a single piece.
By contrast, with horizontal layer printing, a boat
hull is printed “upwards,” meaning standing on
its transom. As the print envelope in this direction
is only about 5 feet, the hull tool must be printed
in sections that are then bonded together. This
method not only adds considerable production
time and cost, but can be problematic for higher-
temperature materials, which are generally too
resistant to chemicals and solvents to bond with
Automated tooling transport
enough integrity for use in an autoclave.
Radius Engineering is developing a PATH transportation
system incorporating automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to transport
Out-of-autoclave molding its SQRTM tooling. Operators can direct a tool to be transported from the press
Now on the market for about 10 years, Same Qual- to a demolding, cleaning or layup station. The automated system provides a safer method
ified Resin Transfer Molding (SQRTM), a process of securing and transporting tool components, compared to manual means. Source | Radius Engineering
FEATURE / TOOLING
integrated with electrical deicing. The net-shaped part features

a titanium skin that is integrated directly into the mold and cure
cycle. It is designed to reduce parasitic wing drag and cost via
parts consolidation. Chad Frazier, product manager of composite
tooling and development, says the project highlights the capa-
bilities of SQRTM by producing a part that would be difficult and
costly to make in an autoclave. “It’s a fairly complicated structure
with stringent tolerances, which benefits from our closed, matched
tooling, process control and ability to integrate many features in a
multi-tiered structure,” he says.
SQRTM tools are made from steel or aluminum and are usually
incorporated into a turnkey work cell. Radius is currently working
on incorporating more sophisticated automation into the work
cells, specifically in the areas of tool handling and setup. Jeff
Perkins, workcell product manager, says new tool designs feature
fully automated removal of the tool half and coupling of integral
fluid packages. “We are working with suppliers and taking some
of the lessons learned from the injection molding industry and
applying them to closed mold tooling,” he says.
Airtech (Huntington Beach, Calif., U.S.) is a composite molding
materials supplier offering customers a full line of materials and
3D-printed tooling
accessories for tooling used for autoclave molding at tempera-
Thermwood Corp. printed one half of a 20-foot-long tool using a new high-output
print head capable of printing 100 feet of bead a minute and up to 570 lb./hr. The tures in the range of 400 to 425°C, primarily for its core aerospace
tool was built from 25% carbon fiber-reinforced polyethersulfone in a continuous market. Technical service manager Jerry Jackson says the success
run requiring only 3 hours and 9 minutes. The tool was built to meet Bell of the Airbus A220 aircraft, which features wings manufactured
Helicopter’s autoclave requirements for curing the part, including high vacuum by Bombardier using dry fiber composites and a patented resin
integrity and a cure temperature of 360°F at 90 psi. Source | Thermwood
infusion process, is driving interest in transferring use of infusion
to other high-volume commercial aircraft platforms. “There is
still doubt if it will be adapted at that level, but the technology is
growing and will be disseminated,” Jackson says. A switch to OOA
resin infusion, at least for aerospace parts, should not change
much in the way of current tooling requirements, he says. “The
infusion and cure of the parts is taking place at elevated tempera-
tures, so the same materials are relevant,” noting the design of this
tooling is driven by CTE and the glass transition temperature of
the tooling materials.
Tooling technology for thermoplastics

As the automotive and aerospace industries use thermoplastic
composites for more and larger applications, tooling design and
control technologies are being adapted to meet the needs of these
materials.
One of the holy grails of composites manufacturing is to
supply structural parts for high-volume commercial automo-
biles to replace materials such as steel and aluminum. Surface
Generation (Rutland, U.K.) is using its Production to Functional
Specification (PtFS) thermal control processing technology in a
demonstration/assessment project with Jaguar Land Rover Ltd.
Vertical layer printing as part of an Innovate UK-funded research program — formally
Thermwood used its new vertical layer printing (VLP) technology to print this called the Thermoplastic Overmolding for Structural Automo-
trim-fixture tool for Boeing’s 777X program. VLP is facilitated by the addition of tive Applications (TOSCAA) — to manufacture a large thermo-
a second moving table mounted perpendicular to the fixed horizontal table. The plastic composite reinforcing panel by overmolding discontin-
main benefit of VLP is that certain types of long parts, such as this fixture tool,
uous carbon fiber/PA6 onto unidirectional(UD) carbon fiber/PA6
can be printed in a single piece, rather than in sections, which then have to be
bonded together. The initial part printed with the system is a 12-foot carbon fiber- prepreg inserts.
reinforced ABS trim fixture for the Boeing 777X. Source | Thermwood Surface Generation’s PtFS technology is aimed at addressing a

NEWS
fundamental problem for all composites molding, and perhaps that competing suppliers also offer thermal mold control
plastics processing in general: Differential heating and cooling of processing, Halford claims PtFS is distinguished by the scale of
the part during melt and consolidation. This inherent thermody- “tens to hundreds of thermally-controlled zones versus the control
namic instability of composites molding processing not only can of two or three.” (See Learn More.)
create deformations in part dimensions and properties, but can For the TOSCAA structural reinforcing panel project, Surface
also wreak havoc on production costs, as one of the workarounds Generation partnered with a consortium of suppliers (See Learn
is to over-engineer the part by adding extra material. The problem More). The existing part being assessed for replacement is a
is especially acute, says Ben Halford, Surface Generation CEO, for 3-millimeter thick, rear C-pillar structural reinforcement panel,
parts designed with various thicknesses, multiple materials or with approximately 1 meter long and between 0.5 and 0.25 meter in
complex geometry. That said, Halford notes, even a component as width, weighing 1.081 kilograms, formed from aluminum alloy
simple as a flat, two-dimensional part, such as a laptop cover, has sheet. The replacement composite part, technically a demon-
corners, a middle and edges that heat and cool at different rates. strator article (DA), comprises four, 4.5-millimeter-thick rein-
PtFS, which Halford describes as “rapid heat/cool with highly forcing inserts made from Sigrafil C T50 prepreg tape in a PA6
localized thermal control,” uses what he calls “pixels” of energy matrix, supplied by SGL Group (Wiesbaden, Germany), over-
formed by jets of heated or cooled air arranged behind the mold molded with short (0.3 millimeter), carbon fiber-filled PA6. The
surface. This pixelated architecture is then manipulated by thickness of the part varies from 2 millimeters in the unreinforced
software that incorporates Boolean logic to give precise heating sections to 6 millimeters. The part was molded on an Engel Duo
and cooling rates — for example, a command might be: “To elimi- 1,700-ton injection molding machine at the National Compos-
nate residual stress, I need all the part’s various areas and thick- ites Centre (NCC; Bristol, U.K.). Unlike many metal-to-composite
nesses (“zones”) to be within X degrees Fahrenheit for Y seconds, demonstration projects, the principal objective was not weight
then I will compress the part and eject.” Ideally, the technology is reduction — the final carbon fiber-reinforced part weight approxi-
integrated during the tool build, but it can also be retrofitted on mately the same as the aluminum part. Instead, the project objec-
existing hardware to improve quality. “Once this pixelated archi- tive was to prove improved structural performance. Weight may be
tecture is in place, you can drop your project-specific mold face reduced at a later stage with higher-performing materials.
forms on it for either single-sided vacuum processes or match- A 192-channel (96-zone) thermal-control PtFS system was inte-
tooling compression molding,” says Halford. While acknowledging grated into the steel overmolding tool used to make the parts. Each
FEATURE / TOOLING
Thermal control
technology
U.K.-based Surface Generation
is employing its thermal control
technology to make several large,
composite structural body panels for a
European automotive OEM. The panels
are overmolded and comprise PA6,
short carbon fiber and four, carbon
fiber prepreg reinforcing inserts. The
parts have been installed in vehicles
and are currently being road tested
as part of a demonstration project to
prove the structural and commercial
capabilities of composites to replace
metal in high-volume automotive
automobile applications.
Source | Surface Generation
of the carbon fiber inserts was designed with a “scarf” joint around force of 1,700 tons was needed to mold the parts for the TOSCAA
the periphery to enhance bonding between it and the filled PA6 project. Halford says an economic analysis performed concurrently
overmolding matrix. Halford says the zonal temperature control with the project validates the commercial viability of PtFS-enhanced
facilitated by PtFS was exploited to ensure optimum bond strength overmolding used here. If, as anticipated, the ongoing assessment
between continuous fiber reinforcement and the overmolding is successful, he says the supply chain comprising the project is
material. The thermal control system also keeps the average tool positioned to ramp up and address any remaining barriers to full
temperature higher during injection, permitting a reduction of commercialization, with potential volumes as large as 10,000 to
clamping force and injection pressures required to fill the mold. 100,000 parts per year.
Halford estimates that less than a quarter of the total clamping In the aerospace industry, ATC Manufacturing (Post Falls, Idaho,
U.S.) makes a variety of thermoplastic
composite parts for the aerospace industry
using its in-house continuous compression
molding (CCM) process. ATC’s inventory
of parts includes various types of clips and
brackets for hydraulic and electrical lines, to
larger structural ribs and C-channel parts,
some as long as 25 feet, used for joining
even larger structural components such as
wing skins. The primary factor driving the
adoption of thermoplastic composites, says
David Leach, ATC director of business devel-
opment, is cost reduction, primarily on the
labor side. “If you can get the materials into
a laminate or sheet then you can form it into
parts very quickly,” he says. This is compared
to thermoset composites processing, which
normally involves time-consuming layup,
bagging and autoclave cycles.
The parts, which comprise both
secondary and primary structures, are
formed from laminates made from UD
carbon fiber prepreg tape, as well as glass
and carbon fabrics impregnated with
polymers such as PEI and PPS (secondary)
and PEEK and PEKK (primary). ATC buys
the UD prepreg tapes and fabric lami-
nates from several suppliers, such as Solvay
(Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.), Toray Advanced

NEWS
Composites (Tokyo, Japan) and Teijin (Tokyo). Because of the resins’ of the material,” Leach reports. Some thermoplastic materials can
high melting temperatures, the forming takes place at tempera- have up to three coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) — one at
tures well above those used for thermosets, at 370°C and higher, crystallization, another above the polymer glass transition temper-
which requires the use of steel or aluminum tooling. Typically, the ature, and one more as the material cools to room temperature.
laminate is heated above its melt temperature, quickly transferred The ability to accurately model and predict the shrinkage proper-
to a rapid-closing press and kept at a constant temperature in the ties of the materials became even more critical as the company
range of 205 to 260°C, which forms and cools the part at the same began making structural parts with more stringent tolerances.
time. While the Leach says there was much trial and error required to develop
part is still hot, it is proprietary thermal modeling software the company now uses
stable enough to to account for all thermally induced dimensional changes and
short.compositesworld.com/tooling remove from the achieve the required angular and dimensional tolerances. “We can
Read more about the PtFS process | tool and enable typically achieve ±1 degree angular and 0.010 inch surface toler-
short.compositesworld.com/PtFS molding of the next ance requirements,” Leach says.
Read more on the TOSCAA project | part. Time is also It is clear that suppliers of tooling materials, tooling equipment
short.compositesworld.com/TOSCAA saved by avoiding and the tools themselves are under increasing pressure to help
cycling the tool speed composites throughput, reduce costs and tighten dimen-
temperature and sional control. This pressure will only increase as OOA and ther-
having to wait for the tool to recover to its processing temperature. moplastic technologies continue to evolve. Suppliers, it appears,
ATC designs the tooling but outsources tool fabrication. One of are poised to answer the call.
the trickier elements in building tooling for high-temperature TPC
molding is compensating for the different rates of thermal expan-
sion, in both the tooling and the composite materials.
“You have such a large difference from the temperature of the Michael R. LeGault is a freelance writer located in Seattle, Wash.,
laminate blank to the tool temperature to the part service temper- U.S., and the former editor of Canadian Plastics magazine
ature that you have to put in a lot of thermal compensation design (Toronto, ON, Canada). mlegault@compositesworld.com
into the tooling components in order to allow for the contraction
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APPLICATIONS
First Article Additive manufacturing speeds

wind tunnel model creation
Inspection A new composite material was developed to 3D-print
in Minutes a helicopter model that met structural needs while
providing flexibility for fast reproduction.
On the shop floor or
in the quality lab › Wind tunnel testing is a longstanding technique used by aerodynamicists to directly
measure forces, moments and pressures — and to visualize air flows — of aircraft designs.
Typically, small-scale models of the proposed designs are built for the tunnel test.
However, producing scale models can be laborious, as aerospace companies can attest.
Leonardo SpA (Rome, Italy, formerly known as Finmeccanica) had in the past made
models from wood and metals, and later, traditional composites, which took considerable
time and effort, particularly when engineers wanted to make changes to the design during
the tunnel testing process.
See the
Difference Source | Leonardo SpA
Verisurf Software lets you see the

difference between nominal CAD Leonardo’s helicopter division (formerly known as AgustaWestland) needed a 1:8.5
and finished parts, in real-time. scale model of its new AW609 tiltrotor aircraft for a series of dedicated low-speed tests
at standard flight attitudes, to be performed at the company’s own wind tunnel as well as
• Supports ALL CAD file formats at a facility at the Politecnical di Milano. Further, engineers wanted the freedom to quickly
• Works with ALL CMMs, change the model’s external geometries to understand its aerodynamics. To accomplish
new and legacy this, Leonardo turned to Metaltech Srl (Cavazzale di Monticello Conte Otto, Italy) and
trademarked Windform 3D printing materials from CRP Technology (Modena, Italy).
• Easy to learn, easy to use Using Leonardo’s CAD files, Metaltech constructed an internal structure using aluminum
• Report quality in minutes and steel. CRP Technology used its Windform XT 2.0 material (carbon fiber-filled
polyamide) in a selective laser sintering (SLS) process to produce the model’s fuselage
Let us show you the difference, and nose components, fairings, nacelles and spinners, empennage, wings and flaperons to
in yourshop, with your parts. fit over the metallic skeleton.
Contact us, today. Windform XT 2.0 composite material was chosen because it met Leonardo’s goals of
Educators, ask about our education program. rapid production, high stiffness and elongation at break, good dimensional tolerance
and good detail reproduction. Windform materials were shown to have adequate resis-
tance to wind load deflection, based on structural strength testing under anticipated
loading conditions.
Because some components were larger than the build envelope of the 3D printing
machine, they had to be made in segments, says CRP Technology. Using the CAD design
files, the segment cuts were designed for the tunnel conditions and the stress that the
components would have to sustain, without adding to production time and costs. Printing
www.verisurf.com • 866-340-5551 was completed within four days, and parts were waterproofed, painted and delivered to
Metaltech for assembly and mounting on the model structure.

CALENDAR
Composites Events
June 5-7, 2019 — Metz, France June 19-20, 2019 — Warwickshire, U.K. Sept. 10-12, 2019 — Messe Stuttgart, Germany
ICWAM 2019 - International Congress on Ecocomp 2019 Composites Europe
Welding, Additive Manufacturing and ecocomp-conference.com composites-europe.com
Non-Destructive Testing
June 25-26, 2019 — Berlin, Germany Sept. 23-26, 2019 — Anaheim, Calif., U.S.
icwam.com
Composites in Rail CAMX 2019
June 9-11, 2019 — Annapolis, Md., U.S. ami.international/events thecamx.org
ACMA Composites Executive Forum
July 3, 2019 — Vigo, Spain Oct. 1-3, 2019 — Tampa, Fla., U.S.
s1.goeshow.com/acma
MATCOMP19 IBEX 2019
June 12-13, 2019 — Stade, Germany matcomp19.com ibexshow.com
CFK-Valley Stade Convention 2019
July 10-12, 2019 — Shanghai, China Oct. 8, 2019 — Enschede, Netherlands
CFK-Valley.com
Lightweight Asia 2019 Future of Thermoplastic Composites Conference
June 12-14, 2019 — Jinan, China lightweightasia.com tprc.nl/events
8th Annual World Congress of Advanced Materials
July 22, 2019 — Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Oct. 22-23, 2019 — Oxford, U.K.
bitcongress.com/wcam2019
CANCOM 2019 Composites in Motorsport
June 13, 2019 — Rosemont, Ill., U.S. CANCOM2019.ca compositesinmotorsport.com
Additive Manufacturing Workshop for
Aug. 11-16, 2019 — Melbourne, Australia Nov. 19-21, 2019 — Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.
Plastics at Amerimold
ICCM22 — The 22nd International Conference on Carbon Fiber 2019
additiveconference.com
Composite Materials CarbonFiberEvent.com
June 17-23, 2019 — Paris, France iccm22.com
Nov. 26-28, 2019 — Copenhagen, Denmark
Paris Air Show
Aug. 27-29, 2019 — Austin, Texas, U.S. WindEurope Offshore 2019
siae.fr/en
Additive Manufacturing Conference and Expo windeurope.com/offshore2019
June 18-19, 2019 — Santa Clara, Calif., U.S. additiveconference.com
MT360
Sept. 4-6, 2019 — Novi, Mich., U.S.
mt360conference.com
SPE Automotive Composites Conference See more events at:
June 19-20, 2019 — Chicago, Ill., U.S. and Exhibition (ACCE) short.compositesworld.com/events
JEC Chicago 2019 speautomotive.com/acce-conference
jec-chicago.events
Manufacturers of
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materials testing,
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software
• Full PC network • Recall function to review

integration and backup. historical data.
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review methods, results no limit to the number of
and reports away from the results displayed.
Precision Board Urethane Tooling Board facilitates quick and easy testing machine. • Multiple testing machines
fabrication for R&D work, prototyping, pre-production and short-run
production manufacturing. • Multi-level user can be run from a single PC.
password capability. • Pre-written international
It is an easily machinable high-density urethane available in standard as
well as high temperature formulations to provide tooling flexibility when • Built in TeamViewer standards method
process, materials and design are in development and in flux. licences enabling direct templates to build your own
Available in PBLT low-temp (<200ºF) and PBHT high-temp (<300ºF) technical support. test methods.
www.tiniusolsen.com
(800) 845-0745 • www.precisionboard.com sales@tiniusolsen.com 215 675 7100
NEW PRODUCTS
New Products
» PREPREG MATERIALS
Aerospace prepreg optimized for
vacuum-assisted pressure molding
Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) reports that it has developed
a new carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) prepreg optimized for Source | Broetje-Automation
use in primary structural aerospace components that can be molded

using an out-of-autoclave » AUTOMATED FIBER PLACEMENT
(OOA) vacuum-assisted AFP machines for serial
pressure molding process. composite production
The company says it will Broetje-Automation (Rastede, Germany) has introduced its STAXX
expand this technology product line for automated fiber placement to support serial composite
to exploit demand for production for both for thermoplastic and thermoset composite
high-performance CFRP applications.
components with low The STAXX Compact 1700 is a CNC-controlled system for automated
processing cost in various fiber placement that has been specially developed for industrial series
applications including production. The machine is said to significantly reduce material losses
Source | Toray
aircraft, vehicles and and scrap, resulting in decreased costs.
general industrial use. The STAXX Compact 1700 is designed to integrate into existing
The vacuum-assisted production environments and comes in a standardized compact size
pressure molding technology, says Toray, was developed in 2018. The equal to a 20-ft. intermodal container, which is said to enable flexibility
company says the new prepreg, enabled by a newly developed novel and capabilities for high levels of automation.
matrix resin, has mechanical performance — compression strength The STAXX 3D, presented at JEC World 2019, builds on the STAXX
after impact and tensile strength — equivalent to a primary structure Compact design, adding the ability to store complex components in 3D.
fabricated using existing prepreg technology and autoclave curing. A tilting, rotary table with vertical layup combined with an in-house
Toray reports that a test panel (see photo) molded with the new developed fiber placement head enables series production of complex
prepreg and pressure-molding process has porosity comparable to parts in six axes.
that achievable with an autoclave. Further, the company says the The STAXX 3D system, like the STAXX Compact, comes with an air-
panel can meet “strict quality control standards for aircraft compo- conditioned enclosure that holds all supplies within a compact machine
nents.” toray.com center. This design is intended to reduce the costs of an additional
air-conditioned and clean environment in the facility. The pallet
handling system enables automated and easy loading and unloading of
the system.
The STAXX Flex fiber placement head, the newest offering in the
product line, is currently the lightest end effector for automated fiber
» RESIN ADDITIVES AND MODIFIERS placement on the market, according to the company. It is designed
Black colorant for polyurethanes for easy attachment to standard robots and has the ability to place 16
Chromaflo Technologies (Ashtabula, Ohio, U.S.), global provider of tows simultaneously, even on complex shaped components. It has been
colorant technology solutions, has released a new black colorant, the designed for flexibility in larger-scale complex parts while minimizing
latest addition to its thermoset product line. The black is associ- investment in handling robots.
ated with Chromaflo’s DL line of products and has a product code of The fiber placement head is also said to be designed for easy main-
DL-020017. tenance, reducing costs and downtime. All components of the head,
The black colorant, which contains 40% high-structure carbon including the compaction rollers, material spools and the cutter unit,
black, targets the polyurethane market. Its thixotropy is said to allow can be assembled and disassembled without any additional tooling.
the product to readily flow with no need for agitation. All STAXX products run on Broetje-Automation’s software suite,
The colorant produces a jet black color at lower loadings, which which enables offline programming and optimization of all numerical
also provides cost-to-use benefits. An additional benefit is low control (NC) programs. The components are standardized and support
viscosity, enabling ease of handling including the ability to pump or integration into an Industry 4.0-enabled digital factory.
meter. broetje-automation.de
chromaflo.com

NEW PRODUCTS
» MACHINING ACCESSORIES
Special coolant for composites machining
Petro Lube Inc. (Toronto, Canada), North American distributor for indus-
trial lubricant supplier Rhenus Lube (Mönchengladbach, Germany), is
featuring Rhenus special coolants for composites machining. According
to the company, using the coolant during the machining process enables
up to 60% higher feed rates and produces up to four times more parts.
Materials that can be used with this coolant include carbon fiber-
reinforced polymers (CFRP), glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP) and
other lightweight composite materials.
The use of special coolants offers significant advantages compared
to dry machining or minimal-quantity lubrication, the company says,
including higher-quality cuts and drillings, cost savings and reduction
of waste.
Rhenus coolant can be used with existing machinery and tools and
existing processes for wet machining, the company says, and its use
contributes to fail-safe strategies when machining sensitive components.
It is also said to reduce tool wear, minimizing tool costs. Increasing feed
rate increases cutting speeds and reduces production times. A special
rinsing effect is said to keep the machine room cleaner. Delamination is
also avoided, eliminating time and costs associated with rework.
In addition, coolant use eliminates the health risks associated with
the fine dust generated by dry machining, as well as the costs associated
with extraction and filter systems for dust removal.
petrolube.com
Better Quality, Reduced Labor,

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Smart Cauls are TM
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T O O L I N G
NEW PRODUCTS
Source | Airtech
Source | Xenia
» THERMOPLASTIC RESINS & ADHESIVE SYSTEMS

Source | Airtech
CF/PP thermoplastic composite compounds

Xenia (Vincenza, Italy), a compounding company specializing in » VACUUM BAGGING EQUIPMENT
polymer-based materials, introduces its XECARB 11 series of short High-stretch polyester breather
carbon fiber-filled polypropylene (PP) thermoplastic composite grades. Airtech Advanced Materials Group’s (Huntington Beach, Calif.,
After more than a year of testing and improvements, Xenia says U.S.) Stretch Flow P 2000 is a knitted, polyester breather with
XECARB 11 offers a solution for a range of applications in chemical, high-stretch characteristics that are said to enable it to conform to
industrial and sporting goods applications that require a high modulus- complex contour surfaces, ensuring good application of pressure by
to-density ratio. vacuum bags.
The carbon fiber-reinforced compounds are electrically conductive Benefits are said to include a stretchable breather fit for a variety
and have a tensile strength up to 115 MPa. Compared to non-composite of complex shapes; stretch properties that eliminate wrinkles and
compounds, XECARB 11 is said to also feature good chemical resistance, possible quality issues; a variety of size applications accommodated
high heat deflection temperature, better dimensional stability and by stretchable, knit construction; and the elimination of bridge
reduced post shrinkage, as well as better surface hardness and good conditions that can result in resin-rich corners that require rework.
resistance to ultraviolet (UV) rays. xeniamaterials.com airtechonline.com

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ADVERTISING INDEX
A&P Technology Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover CAMX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

www.braider.com www.thecamx.org
Abaris Training Resources Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 CGTech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

www.abaris.com www.cgtech.com
Airtech International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Coastal Enterprises Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

www.airtechonline.com www.precisionboard.com
Amamco Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Composites One LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover

www.amamcotool.com www.compositesone.com
Anderson America Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Design Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

www.andersonamerica.com www.designconcepts-us.com
Asheville Composite Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 General Plastics Manufacturing Co. Inc . . . . . . . . . . . 12

www.ashevillecompositetechnologies.com www.generalplastics.com
Beckwood Press Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Hexcel Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14, 25

www.beckwood.com/composites www.hexcel.com
Burnham Composite Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Institute for Advanced Composites

www.burnhamcs.com Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
www.iacmi.org

ADVERTISING INDEX / SHOWCASE
ADVERTISING INDEX (continued) SHOWCASE
Janicki Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
www.janicki.com
LEWCO Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
www.lewcoinc.com
LMT Onsrud LP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
www.onsrud.com
Magnolia Advanced Materials Inc . . Inside Back Cover

www.magnolia-adv-mat.com
Orbis Machinery LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

www.orbismachinery.com
OSG USA Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

www.osgtool.com
Ultra-High Temperature Vacuum Bag Sealant
Pacific Coast Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 GS# Fast Tack HT
www.pccomposites.com • Specifically designed to build strong adhesion to polyimide
vacuum bag film during room temperature layups.
Pro-Set Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 • Maintains flexibility and excellent seal
www.prosetepoxy.com throughout entire cure cycle.
• Ideally suited for thermoplastic processing.
• Rated for cures cycles up to 800°F (426°C).
Renegade Materials Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
www.renegadematerials.com To receive information on GS# Fast Tack HT Sealant or any of the other 35+ Vacuum Bag
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Roth Composite Machinery GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 www.GeneralSealants.com
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Stick To Quality®
Smart Tooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
www.smarttooling.com
Teijin Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
www.teijin.com
Toray Advanced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

www.toraytac.com
Tinius Olsen Testing Machine Co . Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

www.tiniusolsen.com
Torr Technologies Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

www.torrtech.com
Verisurf Software Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

www.verisurf.com
Wisconsin Oven Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

www.wisoven.com
Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

www.wyomingtestfixtures.com
CompositesWorld.com
43
FOCUS ON DESIGN
Chopped carbon fiber, polyamide

and innovation redefine the
modern pickup truck bed
CarbonPro, the first
thermoplastic composite box,
boosts damage resistance,
reduces mass and scales to
high production volumes.
By Peggy Malnati / Contributing Writer
» When asked about the most challenging

aspect of the CarbonPro carbon fiber-reinforced
thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite pickup box,
which debuted on 2019 short-bed (crew-cab)
GMC Sierra AT4 (off-road) and Sierra Denali
half-ton pickups, Mark Voss, engineering group
manager of advanced structural composites
and pickup boxes at General Motors Co. (GM, The CarbonPro box has arrived
Detroit, Mich., U.S.), laughs. “The most chal- The CarbonPro pickup box — the world’s first thermoplastic composite box and the world’s first carbon
lenging part?” he asks. “Every part of this project fiber-reinforced composite box — debuted this spring on top-of-the-line short-bed (crew-cab) GMC Sierra
AT4 (off-road) and Sierra Denali half-ton pickups from General Motors Co. Source | General Motors Co.
was challenging. Everything was new: we had
new design criteria, new impact and rear-barrier
performance specs, plus we had a new material
and process. Every part of the design process was a challenge at and sport utility vehicles) represent the fastest-growing, most-
one point or another. However, the results speak for themselves: profitable passenger-vehicle segment in North America. Second,
the CarbonPro box is a game-changing execution.” since trucks use body-on-frame instead of monocoque construc-
tion, the box isn’t integral to the body-in-white, so it does not
Team approach require the thermal performance to survive E-coat — the elec-
Voss, who previously worked on composites applications for trophoretic corrosion coating applied to chassis components
Corvette, knows a thing or two about innovation and talking at the start of vehicle build. Third, since the box sits outside the
management into trying new things. Starting in 2011, he was passenger compartment, impact tests and load cases would be
involved with initial negotiations and later joint-development less severe than those for the cab structure itself, making it a less-
work with Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) to commercialize automo- risky location to try a new material and process. Last, since GMC’s
tive applications for Teijin’s then newly developed Sereebo CFRTP customers generally embrace technology that’s both high-tech and
sheet composite. Three years of what Voss calls “learning cycles” luxurious, they are expected to welcome all the unique features the
— running trials and evaluations, finding and addressing issues, team was planning.
then running more trials and evaluations — followed before team Voss describes a “true team approach” to the material and
members felt they understood how the material behaved and process development work that went into making the CarbonPro
where to use it. That’s when they began looking for an application a reality. That team included GM, Teijin and molder Continental
and platform for Sereebo’s automotive industry debut. By 2015, Structural Plastics (CSP, Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.), which joined
they’d identified the pickup box on the 2019 model year Sierra the effort in 2015 to help commercialize the process GM and Teijin
Denali as ideal. codeveloped and to produce the CarbonPro box. CSP, which was
There were a number of factors that led to the decision. First, purchased by Teijin in 2017, has a long history of producing other
there was the economy of scale, as light-duty trucks (pickups composite pickup boxes in sheet molding compound (SMC).

CarbonPro pickup box
Plastic trim (unreinforced PP)

Carbon
fiber/PA6
composite
Glass/PA6 LFT composite
Recycled
CF/PA6
LFT stake
pockets
Aluminum liftgate
structure
Steel fenders, rear sill, and

rear pillar reinforcement
2019 GMC Sierra Denali and Sierra AT4 CarbonPro Pickup Box
› CFRTP sheets are waterjet trimmed, heated, › Offal from CFRTP trimming operations is › Using urethane structural adhesive, three sub-
preformed, then compression molded in a reground then used to mold recycled-LFT bonding steps join cross-car sills, wheel-well and
little over a minute, cooled and trimmed to stake pockets (with additional virgin PA6 side-panel modules, and those sub-assemblies
final size. resin to enhance flow). are then brought together in a final bonding step
to produce the CarbonPro box.
Illustration / Karl Reque
Evolving technology produce far better surfaces out of the tool, eliminating the signifi-
Sereebo is a sheet-form composite featuring a polyamide 6 (PA6) cant post-mold finishing — such as sanding and painting — that
matrix reinforced with discontinuous/chopped carbon fiber (25 often are necessary with thermoset composites. In addition,
millimeters, 24K tow). The fiber bed has been described as being a “tough” polymer like PA6 extends thermal performance and
very well distributed, giving the material isotropic properties increases damage resistance compared to polypropylene, the most
depending on how it’s molded. common matrix for thermoplastic composites used in automotive.
The thermoplastic matrix provides many benefits. First, because Another benefit is that thermoplastic offal/scrap is easily recycled
they’re supplied pre-polymerized, thermoplastics mold much (melt reprocessed) by grinding the material and putting it into
faster than thermosets, which polymerize and cross-link in the another feedstream with the same resin system — although this
tool. The downside of pre-polymerized polymers, however, is that does shorten fiber reinforcements.
molecular chains are longer, stiffer and more tangled, so it’s more Of course, carbon fiber contributes higher stiffness and
difficult to get good fiber wetout. Therefore, fiber-volume fraction strength than glass fiber, at lower weight and thinner wall sections
tends to be lower than with thermosets. Second, thermoplastics — albeit with a small sacrifice in impact strength, which can
also tend to have lower density than thermosets, contributing be improved via resin selection. Heavier tows are more afford-
lightweighting opportunities. Most importantly, thermoplastics able than finer aerospace-grades and are commonly used in
FOCUS ON DESIGN
Featuring impact
resistance and
cargo space
The CarbonPro pickup box has
numerous features designed to
enhance both the vehicle and its cargo
space. First, the box is incredibly
impact resistant, which is a huge
functional benefit and eliminates the
need for a bedliner. Not only will it not
rust or dent, but the molded-in-color
(MIC) black composite needs no paint/
coatings to protect against scratching
and weathering. Second, much work
went into designing the corrugated
floor structure. A light texture is used
in troughs so dirt and grime wash away
easily, while a “grippy” aggressive
texture is molded into crests to ensure
good stability even when the bed is
wet or dusty.
Source | General Motors Co.
the automotive industry, where modulus is usually the limiting Voss. “Still, we’re achieving depths of draw of 14 to 16 inches [36 to
factor in designs rather than ultimate strength. By using chopped- 41 centimeters] on the side panels in structural materials,” he adds.
rather than continuous-fiber reinforcement, ultimate strength is “The Sereebo material molds like GMT and D-LFT,” explains
reduced, but remains more than adequate for automotive appli- Steve Pelczarski, CSP engineering director for program and
cations and can be improved via thicker sections or by adding product development. “However, we deliberately keep flow low
geometry (for example, ribbing) or both. Reportedly, a single by limiting blank temperature during preheating — a choice that
grade of Sereebo in two thicknesses is being used to mold most of protects both resin and UV-stabilizer — and by preforming the
the pickup box’s components. sheet over the press just before forming. The depth of draw and
features you can produce in Sereebo are endless as long as you
Hybrid forming preform the shape prior to presenting material to the tool.”
Although Sereebo flows once preheated and placed in a tool, The four biggest CarbonPro parts — the headboard, right and
to maintain its natural isotropy, the team isn’t flow-forming it left side panels, and the platform/floor — are formed on a new
like conventional glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT), direct-long- 3,600-metric ton Dieffenbacher press with a rapid (5-second)
fiber thermoplastic open/close cycle (See Learn More) at CSP’s Huntington, Ind.,
(D-LFT), or SMC. U.S. plant, 30 minutes from GM’s Fort Wayne Assembly plant
Rather, an inter- (Roanoke, Ind., U.S.) where 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC
short.compositesworld.com/CarbonPro esting hybrid forming Sierra pickups are assembled. Several smaller CarbonPro parts —
Read more on CarbonPro’s new process is used. It in virgin Sereebo as well as in some recycled-LFT (using ground
forming process | combines an innova- Sereebo scrap plus some virgin PA6 to enhance flow) — are
short.compositesworld.com/CP_form tive preforming step compression molded nearby on a smaller 1,200-metric ton press.
Read more on the Denali’s features | accomplished using Three sub-bonding steps join cross-car sills, wheel-wells and side-
short.compositesworld.com/Denali a robot-mounted panel modules, then those sub-assemblies are brought together in
Watch an impact test on the pickup bed | preforming device a final main-box bonding step where final box assembly occurs. A
short.compositesworld.com/CProvideo
(RMPD) followed by two-part urethane structural adhesive (Pliogrip 8500 from Ashland
Read more about the formation of Sereebo | compression molding LLC, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) is used throughout.
short.compositesworld.com/Sereebo
at “conventional pres- “We’re getting 75% property retention in the recycled Sereebo
sures.” The RMPD is for left and right stake pockets,” Voss adds. “This is a big win-win,
described as complicated end-of-arm tooling that is unique for because it helps with our business case while making the process
each part being molded. Parts are molded larger than necessary — more sustainable.” Depending on how the post-industrial recy-
then trimmed to final size after molding. clate (PIR) parts fare in the field, GM and CSP have plans to repur-
“Sereebo’s isotropic properties are worth their weight in gold pose 100 percent of Sereebo scrap elsewhere in the vehicle, which
so we created a process to retain those material properties,” notes would make the new process zero-waste.

CarbonPro pickup box
Motorcycle pockets
Special motorcycle pockets in the headboard and
bonded tie downs (each capable of 227-kilogram
loads — see top left) allow customers to secure two
dirt bikes on left and right sides of the CarbonPro
box (see bottom right), or one “Fat Boy” motorcycle
(from Harley-Davidson USA, Milwaukee, Wisc.,
U.S.) in the center of the box (see bottom left).
Additional tie downs are distributed strategically to
help stabilize various loads. Integral lights illuminate
the box around fender flares and the tailgate. The
CarbonPro box alone reduced mass 28 kilograms
versus the short-box in steel on the outgoing model
yet it is designed to carry a slightly higher payload
(reportedly at least 27 kilograms more depending on
configurations and equipment). Source | General Motors Co.
CSP also is producing compression molded end-gate covers in tie downs (each capable of 227-kilogram loads) allow customers
glass fiber/polypropylene D-LFT, injection molded wheel-house to secure two dirt bikes on left and right sides, or a Harley-
assemblies and front filler panels in glass fiber/PA6, mini-sills in Davidson “Fat Boy” motorcycle in the center-front of the box.
glass fiber-reinforced epoxy pultrusions, and three of the box’s Additional tie downs are distributed strategically to help stabilize
four cross-car sills in Sereebo. various loads. Integral lights illuminate the box interior around
fender flares and the tailgate (either standard or six-position
Customer-focused features Multipro — See Learn More).
The CarbonPro box also includes special features that enhance The composite box plays an important role in the Sierra’s mixed-
the vehicle and its cargo space (See Learn More). First, the box has materials construction (combining aluminum, high-strength and
proven to be incredibly impact resistant (See Learn More), which roll-formed steel, plus composite and plastic), a combination that
is a huge functional benefit that eliminates the need for a bedliner. shaves 163 kilograms off the outgoing model.
Not only will it not rust or dent, but the molded-in-color (MIC)
black composite needs no paint or coatings to protect it against
scratching and weathering.
Second, much work went into designing the corrugated floor
structure. A light texture is used in troughs so dirt and grime
wash away easily, while a “grippy” aggressive texture is molded Contributing writer Peggy Malnati covers the automotive and
infrastructure beats for CW and provides communications
into crests to ensure good stability even when the bed is wet or services for plastics- and composites-industry clients.
dusty. Special motorcycle pockets in the headboard and bonded peggy@compositesworld.com
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Carbon fiber

Opportunities, challenges for

BETTER PARTS. LOWER COSTS.

Quasi-Isotropic Fabric – Balanced in a Single Ply

Oﬀ The Roll +/-45° Fabric

Highly Eﬃcient Unidirectional Fabric

JUNE 2019 / Vol: 5 No

8 Gardner Business Index 26 Composites design and

» ON THE COVER FOCUS ON DESIGN

PUBLISHER Ryan Delahanty

Sara Black sara@compositesworld.com

MIDWESTERN US & INTERNATIONAL Dale Jackman / regional manager

chairman Richard G. Kline

Modern Machine Shop Moldmaking Technology

2 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

As the global leader in

Renegade Material’s Polyimide (RM-1100, AFR-PE-4, and

Contact us today to advance

RenegadeMaterials.com INNOVATIONS THAT TAKE THE HEAT.

Nadcap NMMM & NMMT Accredited

4 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

Annual fuel savings from

We can take the Our materials

Resilient infrastructure: Starting the dialogue

6 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

Index rises on surging new orders activity

GBI: Composites Fabricating New orders lead

Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence.

8 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

SEPTEMBER 23–26 2019

CAMX AWARDS - ENTRY DEADLINE JUNE 15

Official Media Partner

35th Space Symposium puts

10 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

ANTEC 2019: Four information-packed

In addition to extensive technical and business presentations, attendees were

For the first time since 1992, the Society of Plastics

Elevating quality aerospace General Plastics supplies top-flight

Where Great Ideas Take Shape

12 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

(continued from p. 13)

The composites track featured

Russell, vice-president-Plastics, American Chemistry

Honeycomb and composites materials have LMT Onsrud LP

14 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

“We were very pleased with ANTEC overall, including

alliance was launched this January

Flaris Lar 1 begins flight testing Bye’s Sunflyer rebranded as eFlyer

WORLD CLASS Composite Machinery

Your Performance - Made by Roth

Roth Composite Machinery

16 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED COMPOSITES MANUFACTURING INNOVATION

Industry’s research and development partner

SUMMER MEMBERS MEETING

IACMI-The Composites Institute

Split-tow carbon fiber

By Peggy Malnati / Contributing Writer

18 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

» Accompanying this issue of CompositesWorld is a supple- Next-Gen aerospace

20 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

22 JUNE 2019 CompositesWorld

Next-gen automation leading

Waiting on what’s next

Composite World June'19

Composite World June'19