Oerlikon to unveil technologies for construction sector

The company will showcase its total solution for the production of spunbond for roofing membranes and geotextiles and systems for the processing of aramid and carbon fibers, which are used in such materials as fiber-reinforced concrete.

“Thanks to their wide range of functions, manmade fibers will remain a growth market for years to come,” said Stefan Kross, Head of the Oerlikon Business Unit Manmade Fibers.

Techtextil, held from June 11-13, 2013, at Messe Frankfurt, is the definitive international trade fair for textiles and nonwovens. Today, about 12 % of fibers produced worldwide are used in technical textiles – and the trend shows this number is rising.

In Frankfurt, Oerlikon Neumag will unveil its single-source solution for the complete spunbond process – from polymer granulate to rolled goods. Thanks to their thermal insulation properties, polyester spunbond is especially well suited for use in roofing materials.

In addition to serving as the base material for bitumen and underlay roofing membranes, polyester spunbond is used to manufacture geotextiles. These lattice-like textile fabrics are primarily used by the road-construction industry to provide stability to the subgrade, to act as filter and drainage elements and to reinforce asphalt.

Fiber-reinforced plastics displace steel and aluminum

Oerlikon Barmag will present its solutions for the manufacture and processing of fibers in another area of application featured at Techtextil: plastics reinforced with carbon, aramid and glass fibers.

Fiber-reinforced composites are increasingly displacing steel and aluminum in cars, planes and wind power stations. Fiber-reinforced concrete is another new area of application with substantial potential for growth: a single layer of fibers increases concrete’s load-bearing capacity fourfold.

Technical textiles on the move in new areas of application

Although manmade fibers are still primarily used for functional clothing and home textile products like carpeting, they are constantly conquering new areas of application: today’s vehicles contain about 20 kilograms of manufactured textile products primarily made from manmade fibers – from seatbelts and airbags, roof linings and floor coverings to seat covers, upholstery and insulation matting in the engine compartment.

Athletic events are taking place more and more frequently on artificial turf that is made of manmade fibers and boats wouldn’t set out to sea and sails couldn’t be hoisted without manmade fibers today.

Oerlikon