SAMPE Journal - January/February 2016 - 15

JAPAN REPORT
Sakuya Iwai 8th President of SAMPE Japan Region was selected as a SAMPE Fellow. His outstanding
contributions of advanced materials and manufacturing technique over the past many years were
evaluated. This SAMPE Fellow Award ceremony was held during CAMX 2015 on 26 October 2015.

2nd Technical Information Exchange Meeting (the 159th meeting in total)

SAMPE held its 2nd technical conference of 2015 on October 27th, on the Hongo Campus of the University
of Tokyo. At this meeting, the fields in which CFRPs have the longest history of application were taken up,
such as satellites, sports, and race cars. The participants discussed design, molding, and the hardships of mass production in the course
of the development and commercialization of CFRPs. Recently all fields, including resins, intermediate materials, molding technology, and
processing machinery, are rapidly progressing. The following is an overview of the program and its details:

Program Contents
1. "FRPs used in Satellite Structures - From Lightweight, Hgh-rigidity to High-precision Structures", Tadahito Mizutani, Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency
Conventionally, the structural design of satellites is said to be a rigid design, and so it was necessary for the
rocket launch field to realize a structure with light weight and high rigidity. As long as we use rockets as a means
of transport, this need is universal. In particular, in the earth and astronomical observation satellites of recent
years, performance in orbit - that is, structural design in terms of observed performance improvement - is
being given great importance. In this lecture, practical application examples of composite materials in satellite
structures were presented from both of these points of view.

2. "Development of CFRP Products in Sporting Applications", Yasushi Matsui, Mizuno Corporation

In recent years, the carbon fiber-based composite materials industry has continued to achieve increasing
development from applications deployed in aviation and space applications as well as automotive and
industrial applications. Especially in sports applications, advancements have been made in the development
of products using composite materials since the late 1960s; growth was achieved from the joint development
of carbon fiber manufacturers through the '80s and '90s, and a foundation for composite materials was
established. Together with a look back on this history, specific product development cases from recent years
were presented.

3. "An Example of CFRP Parts Production", Kiyoto Takeda, Tokyo R&D Composite Industry Co., Ltd.

Tokyo R&D Composite Industry Co., Ltd., a company which first undertook development concerning CFRP parts
manufacturing over 30 years ago, has been engaged in CFRP parts production for competitive vehicles nearly
that entire time. In this lecture the company introduced a project it received on one occasion to manufacture a
large-scale structure body with a board thickness that was completely different in content from anything it had
ever produced previously, as well as how the experience, including the failures, led it to a consistent process of
manufacturing - from specifications adjustments with customers, to product design, analysis, examination of
jigs, test production, and manufacturing itself. In addition, one aspect of the business in which the company is
currently engaged was also presented.

4. CFRTP: Manufacturing Technology for Thermoplastic Resin and Carbon Fiber Composite Materials,
Nagahisa Toyodome, Ibaraki Industrial Corporation

The aim of Ibaraki Industrial Corporation is to "fulfill your dreams with composites materials." As its products
are intended for a wide range of purposes, the company designs products for users in many different fields and
applications, and the products it manufactures take the utmost advantage of the functions and characteristics
of FRPs. In regard to CFRTP, the company has developed mass production technology using press machines
and established the unique technologies of "long fiber molding" and "single-action hot press hybrid molding
with continuous and discontinuous fibers" - the surface has designs in abundance with the continuous fibers,
while the inside has a complex shape including ribs and bosses with the discontinuous fibers. In this lecture,
high-strength and lightweight CFRTP examples demonstrating this technology were presented.

SAMPE Journal, Volume 52, No. 1, January/February 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - January/February 2016