JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #43 - September 2008 - 16

INNOVATIONS INNOVATIONS The first European recycling centre for CFRP materials CFK-Valley Stade Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 2007, will start up the first state-of-the-art European recycling centre for CFRP materials at the Airbus location in Stade close to Hamburg. Given the expanding markets in the target field of CFRP, the recycling centre will be instrumental in finding innovative concepts for cost-effective recycling processes. CFK Valley Stade Recycling GmbH & Co. KG offers a Europe-wide collection of CFRP waste. The pure carbon fibre will be extracted from the waste and its inherent economic potential will be used. This means that it will return to the cycle of goods, for example in compound filling, randomly-oriented fibre mats or semifinished materials. At the end of the recycling process, a high-quality secondary raw material will be produced for new applications. The aim of this EU-aided project is to guarantee that companies will be able to send their CFRP components or semifinished materials for recycling as of 2010. www.cfk-recycling.com for a mass-produced part with a complex shape. The size of the part is not a limiting factor. The process can be used for high-volume compression moulding applications with production rates ranging from 100 to 1,000 components a day. This fast process makes for low prices, and complex 3-D shapes are the easiest to produce. Inserts can be integrated into the moulding process, avoiding additional time-consuming procedures. There is no scrap, and no need for any of the lay-up or autoclaving processes associated with prepregs. www.duqueine.fr other pumps are able to back up a faulty pump. Multiple pumps help to enhance safety and better control the pressure and flow rate. The increase in production can reach and sometimes even exceed 30% with a central vacuum supply system. Reducing the number of pumps operating in the composite workshop means there is more available space and lower maintenance costs because maintenance becomes more manageable and less frequent. www.busch.fr Innovative press technologies for SMC The Direct Strand Moulding Compound process (D-SMC) was developed by Dieffenbacher as part of the Durovision project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). This process drastically shortens the classic Central vacuum supply Having to keep pumps in the composite workshop implies a number of disadvantages: incessant noise, higher room temperatures, bad smells, conflicting operating times, complex maintenance due to pumps scattered in different places, poor accessibility to pumps, and time constraints. According to Busch, its central vacuum supply system gets rid of all these disadvantages with a very quick return on investment. By installing all the pumps in a single service room, this central system frees up the production areas while maintaining or increasing the production rates thanks to the improved management of vacuum supply. The various production machines are connected up to the vacuum system which is operated by a rogrammable logic controller, itself connected to the electrical cabinet that switches the pumps on or off. This global solution has the advantage of pooling production capacities and better managing pump failure seeing that the Prepreg bundle compression technology The prepreg bundle compression process MFP (Matriçage de Faisceaux Préimprégnés) is used to mass produce carbon-epoxy parts with a 60% fibre content. The use of 50-mm-long fibres together with a punching process results in specific mechanical properties superior to many metal alloys. What sets the MFP process apart from other processes is that its epoxy matrix and high fibre volume content provide higher mechanical properties than those achieved with any other short- or long-fibre compound, approaching the performance of structural composites. MFP is suitable whenever high mechanical properties are required manufacturing and production sequence. The innovative approach of the D-SMC process consists in manufacturing the duromer fibre roving shortly before it is processed into a component. This is achieved thanks to machine technology that generates a roving that can be handled from the basic components (resin, hardener, filler process additives and glass fibres) using a consistent, controlled process. The roving can then be processed by conventional extrusion. Compared to classic SMC, the direct DSMC process offers the following advantages: - Significant cost reduction JEC Composites Magazine / No43 September 2008

http://www.busch.fr http://www.duqueine.fr http://www.cfk-recycling.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #43 - September 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #43 - September 2008