SAMPE Journal - July/August 2020 - 50

NEWS / INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Surfx Technologies. is a worldwide leader in atmospheric plasma technology.
Surfx is pleased to announce a breakthrough new product for bonded
fastener applications. The Nutplate Plasma Cleaner™, or NPC, is specifically
tailored for surface preparation of nutplates and other bonded fasteners.
Bonded fasteners are a strong, lightweight alternative to riveted fasteners.
However, insufficient surface preparation can lead to nutplate disbonds which
require many hours of rework, resulting in significant added cost and creating
production delays. Plasma cleaning slashes nutplate disbonds and eliminates
interfacial failures.
The NPC delivers a rapid, repeatable, cost-effective, point-of-use
surface preparation that replaces traditional methods like solvent cleaning
or sanding. The tool offers continuous monitoring and logging of process
parameters to provide better fleet reliability.
Using the NPC eliminates operator variability by removing surface
contaminants in a matter of seconds with no other cleaning steps required.
The fastener is rendered active for bonding and converted to a high surface
energy, hydrophilic state. Rigorous testing has shown that the NPC produces
bonded nutplates with superior performance. Plasma cleaned nutplates far
exceed minimum load requirements and exhibit either cohesive or mechanical

Toray Advanced Composites
announces that its industry-leading
Toray TC346 prepreg resin system has
passed the SFI 56.1 and UL94 V0 flameretardancy tests. The passing of these
stringent flame-retardancy tests further
demonstrates how the Toray TC346
system is ideally suited to satisfy the
rigorous demands of the Formula One,
NASCAR, and other high performance
automotive and motorsport markets.
The Toray TC346 resin system is
a high-temperature epoxy system
developed with input from leading
motorsport and automotive industry
professionals. Toray engineered the
material to handle a wide range of
exceptionally demanding motorsport
applications, such as gearbox and
suspension components, which require
a high service temperature and high
toughness.
Toray's TC346 has excellent
compression strength, interlaminar
shear strength, in-plane shear modulus,
and improved elevated temperature
tensile strength. The TC346 system
offers a superior surface finish for
aesthetic appeal and controlled flow
of the resin to simplify lay-up and
curing production. Other motorsport
component applications that require
lightweighting with superior toughness
would also benefit from the inherent
properties of TC346. Additionally,
applications that require high glass
transition temperatures, excellent
compression strength, and high fracture
toughness could also benefit from this
super-tough and flame-resistant epoxy
prepreg system. TC346 is available in a
wide variety of uni-directional tapes and
fabric styles.
For more information visit https://
www.toraytac.com/.

failures. This means the bond created by the plasma can be stronger than the
mechanical limits of the fastener!
In addition to improving warfighter readiness, this product quickly pays
for itself in increased bond reliability, reduced rework, lower materials costs,
and better labor utilization. The NPC conclusively increases bonding strength,
improves customer confidence and most importantly delivers a safer product
to the aerospace industry.
For more information visit www.surfxtechnologies.com.

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w w w. s a m p e . o r g
http://www.toraytac.com/ http://www.toraytac.com/ http://www.surfxtechnologies.com http://www.sampe.org
SAMPE Journal - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - July/August 2020
