SAMPE Journal - May/June 2020 - 58

NEWS / INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRE-TEST

DURING TEST

POST-TEST

Technical Fibre Products, Ltd. TECNOFIRE® materials provide effective fire
protection in a wide variety of applications and have been specified for use in
construction products, aircraft, bridges, buses, trains and architectural fire doors.
The latest successful application for TECNOFIRE® is composite utility
poles, manufactured by Valmont Industries, Inc., a leading producer of utility
structures. The composite poles are used as transmission and distribution
poles and have to withstand rigorous fire testing to ensure that they maintain
their integrity in the event of a fire. This requires them to pass the USA Utility
Company Consortium Fire Tests and withstand temperatures of 1150°C / 2100°F
without significant structural loss. Valmont incorporates one of TFP's infusible
TECNOFIRE® grades into their composite structure which is fabricated using
centrifugal casting and filament winding. The TECNOFIRE® will activate in
the event of a fire to produce a stable insulating char and thereby ensure the
structural integrity of the pole.
With the help of TECNOFIRE®, Valmont's composite utility poles
successfully passed all the fire testing, maintaining their integrity under load
during the simulated Wildfire Test, as well as passing pre- and post-burn
structural testing via the ASTM D1036 Pole Bending Test.
For more information visit www.tfpglobal.com/.

Spirit AeroSystems has opened a new composite manufacturing facility at its site
in Prestwick, Scotland. This facility leverages advanced composite technology from
Spirit's research and development portfolio and brings new work to the site in the form
of the Airbus A320 family spoiler.
"This is the result of a three-year journey to secure production of the spoiler in the
UK," said Scott McLarty, Spirit AeroSystem's senior vice president of Airbus programs.
"We appreciate the investment support provided by our government and community
partners. This new facility allows us to utilize innovative technologies like the Spiritdeveloped Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) solution to better meet the needs of our
customer."
The RTM solution supports the high-volume production of spoilers and other
monolithic components and promises to deliver improved quality and significant
cost savings. The investment has allowed Spirit to establish a state-of-the-art
manufacturing facility using the latest automation and robotics.
"The opening of this new facility is part of Spirit's journey to become a leader in
advanced out of autoclave composite technology," said McLarty. "It demonstrates how
we can develop cost effective new technologies and manufacturing processes that will
play a central role in the next generation of aircraft programs."
For more information visit https://www.spiritaero.com/.

SAMPE JOURNAL

M AY/J U N E 2 0 2 0

Hexcel Corporation is collaborating
with NaCa Systems, a Tier 1 supplier
of natural fiber composite automotive
interior parts, on the development of
a lightweight carbon fiber prepreg and
wood fiber composite sports car seat
back using a rapid press molding process.
This innovation validates a short-cycle
time production process for CFRP and
wood fiber composite parts and offers a
host of benefits to automotive manufacturers.
Hexcel supplies NaCa Systems with an
optimized version of its HexPly® M77CS
epoxy prepreg material. HexPly® M77CS
is a fast curing hot melt, thermosetting
epoxy matrix, specifically designed for
prepreg applications for which short-cure
cycles and clear surfaces with perfect
aesthetics are required.
Hexcel's newly developed version of
the M77CS prepreg has an increased resin
content to optimize the CFRP to wood fiber composite bond strength despite the
slightly higher resin uptake seen with the
natural material component. The carbon
fiber prepreg is cured at around 145˚C
for four to five minutes and can be fully
integrated into NaCa Systems existing
production lines and metallic tooling.
The lightweight seat back demonstrates a 40% weight savings when
compared to a typical injection molded
plastic component, while also featuring
a significantly improved CO2 footprint
versus a full carbon fiber part. Unlike
plastic molded parts, the prepreg and
wood fiber structure does not produce
sharp edged pieces when damaged, significantly increasing passenger safety in
a crash scenario. In addition, wood fiber
composites also increase sound absorption, contributing to improved noise,
vibration, and harshness (NVH) damping
within the vehicle interior
For more information visit https://
www.hexcel.com/.

w w w. s a m p e . o r g

http://www.tfpglobal.com/ https://www.hexcel.com/ https://www.hexcel.com/ https://www.spiritaero.com/ http://www.sampe.org

SAMPE Journal - May/June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - May/June 2020