JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe - 122

honeycomb

of PP honeycombs with PP/glass fibre
reinforced thermoplastic skins as well as
PA honeycomb with PA/glass fibre or
PA/carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic skins for those applications where
higher performance is needed.

Fig. 2: ThermHex honeycomb sandwich material production process and application areas

this technology fits in very well with
mass production requirements.
With their vertical cell walls, honeycomb cores provide bi-directional support for the skins, leading to excellent
specific mechanical properties. Most
aerospace honeycomb cores are adhesive-bonded expanded cores produced
in a batch process. During the last two
decades, industry and research institutions have increased their efforts to
reduce the production cost of honeycomb sandwich panels.
The demands for low cost and high production capacities in many industries
require automated and continuous production processes for sandwich cores
and panels. The low amount of raw
material required for the production of
honeycomb cores can result in a more
cost-efficient material combination if
a suitable raw material and an efficient
production method are combined.
Cost-sensitive applications require a
low-cost value chain with in-line production of cores and sandwich panels.

has hexagonal cells and skin connection areas, which allow fast and reliable
bonding of skins onto the core. In the
optimum case, core-skin bonding by
thermal fusion is achieved without
additional adhesive material. ThermHex
honeycomb cores are successfully used
for the manufacture of yacht interiors,
swimming pools, bathroom pods, truck
and trailer elements, windmill parts,
furniture and in many other market
segments.

Many different sandwich
material combinations
In automotive interior applications such
as door panels and headliners, sandwich materials use a combination of
natural fibre reinforced polypropylene
composite skins and polypropylene
honeycomb core. EconCore and its
partners are developing combinations

For cost-efficient thermoplastic honeycomb panels and parts, the lightweight
sandwich core is usually made from polypropylene. For customers demanding
bio-based resources, the technology
can be adjusted to produce honeycomb
from polylactic acid (PLA) or ligninbased bio-polymers.
EconCore is extensively exploring new
material combinations, beyond monomaterial sandwich panel concepts. For
example, its combination of thermoplastic ThermHex honeycomb core
and aluminium or steel skins brings
panel weight to levels that are not
possible today in mass metal panel
production. Due to the small cell size
of these honeycombs - down to 3
mm only - high surface quality can be
achieved even when using rather thin
skin materials. The excellent surface
quality achieved with composite panels
is essential for use in visual communication and building facade applications.

For the implementation of such technology in the automotive, building and
packaging industries, it is essential to
ensure minimum production costs by
integrating core production and skin
application into a single sandwich material production process. The sandwich
materials can be produced continuously
in one production line from thermoplastic film extrusion by successive
in-line operations at high production
speeds, with in-line lamination.
The folded thermoplastic honeycomb

Fig. 3: Sandwich panels with different skins and the ThermHex honeycomb core

122 jec composites magazine / No87 March 2014

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #87 - March 2014 Special JEC Europe