The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation with Michelman and other key IACMI consortium members aims to optimise vinyl ester resins and fibre sizings for fabrication of carbon fibre composites in a project that will identify styrene-free prepreg formulations with longer room temperature shelf life, shorter cycle times and reduced cost.
Advancements in these areas will increase productivity, decrease scrap and material costs, and enable adoption into the automotive industry.The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation with Michelman and other key IACMI consortium members aims to optimise vinyl ester resins and fibre sizings for fabrication of carbon fibre composites in a project that will identify styrene-free prepreg formulations with longer room temperature shelf life, shorter cycle times and reduced cost.#
The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing (IACMI) is a Manufacturing USA institute driven by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the US Department of Energy. The team on this key project includes Michelman, Ashland, Zoltek, University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), JobsOhio, and Michigan State University (MSU).
As part of this technical collaboration, researchers at MSU and UDRI will identify cost-effective combinations of fibre sizings from Michelman, resins from Ashland, and carbon fibres from Zoltek that can be used to fabricate prepregs that can be compression-molded into composite parts. The goal is to develop vinyl ester resin/ fibre sizing /carbon fibre combinations that are styrene-free and that have room temperature storage capability of at least three months and cure times less than three minutes.
The success of the IACMI project will help catalyse the adoption of carbon fibre and vinyl ester composites into automotive applications by producing a more cost- effective technology with lower material costs, a more productive technology with reduced cure time and reduced scrap, and a safer technology with the elimination of styrene. These technology innovations should prove to be an attractive value proposition for the multibillion dollar automotive industry and help it to meet its targets for lightweighting of vehicles.
Michelman manufactures a versatile line of fibre sizings and resin modifiers that are used by fibre producers and composite manufacturers to produce stronger, lighter and more durable composite parts.
The company’s broad portfolio of products allows customers to tailor the surface chemistry of reinforcement fibres to the chemistry of the matrix resin, thereby optimising the interface adhesion between the polymers and fibres. (SV)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India
News
Articles
Interviews
Webinars
Events
Advertise with us
About Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
