ITA’s latest research results at JEC Europe 2014
ITA, the Institute of RWTH Aachen University is showcasing its latest research topics at JEC Europe Europe’s Composites Show & Conferences (March 11 -13) in Paris, France (Hall 7.2, Booth F36 and G 52)
ITA Is focusing on carbon parquet, a very special cash absorber, a composite control arm with integrated inserts, a locally reinforced woven carbon fabric and textile reinforced concrete.
We do let you have the major characteristics of each of these novelty products. Carbon parquet consists of up to 98 % carbon nonwoven fabrics, made of recycled carbon nonwoven sheets. It is an innovative approach to recycle the huge waste of carbon manufacturing and by finding new applications in order to offer distinct energy cost saving in carbon manufacturing. Carbon parquet provides new attractive surface design possibilities, and it combines the impression of wood with the resilience of carbon. Colour and structure can be adapted to customer’s needs.
The crash absorber reflects that braided composite structures have a superior damage tolerance. They absorb the energy provoked by an accident to save car passengers. Crash tubes are braided on ITA’s radial braiding machine. A crash test at the drop tower test station of IKA, the partner institute characterises the tubes mechanically. At ITA, a test facility for the quasi statistical analysis of tubular specimen is underway. The test data will be merged. These function as input for a simulation model to determine the impact of braiding parameters on the mechanical performance.
A composite control arm with integrated inserts was manufactured in a fibre reinforced construction with integrated inserts in a Resin Transfer Moulding RTM) process. It functions as a decision tool in the project “Design for Manufacturing of Composites” (DeMaCo) that was developed to ease the application of fibre reinforced components for small and medium businesses, with the purpose to chose the most suitable steps of production process for the manufacturing of fibre reinforced structure. It serves to factor the relationship and interaction between the choice of material and the steps of the production process. Further it is possible to select the appropriate tools, e.g. the shape material, type and consumables. It is used to identify the distinct finishing process and to conduct an estimation of costs for a component in fibre reinforced construction.
The local reinforced woven carbon fabric is an infused carbon fabric, produced in a single step process, with a local reinforcement. 12K (800Tex) Carbon fibres are used in all fibre systems. The fabric is manufactured with the newly developed open reed technology by Lindauer Dornier, Lindau (D). This technology allows the production of multi-axial and locally reinforced fabrics in a single step process. Two additional yarn systems are introduces as bias fibres during the weaving process. These bias fibres are guided by two needle bars which can be moved along the weft direction. A special reed design with open red gaps allows the alternation of the bias fibres. By introducing the additional fibres just in certain areas, it is possible to introduce local reinforcements during the weaving process, e.g. to reinforce holes or connection points. Applying this new weaving technology for performing processes, allow the significant reduction of waste and numbers of production steps.
Textile reinforced concrete offers some distinct advantages over ferro-concrete, namely the reduction of weight up to 80 % because textile reinforced concrete does not corrode, and therefore the concrete protection to control corrosion must not be applied. Also CO2 releases are significantly decreasing. It has outstanding mechanical features: glass reinforcement has a higher tensile strength with 635 N/mm2 and it is of light weight design. It further reduces shrinkage cracks, spread of cracks, creeping concrete and spalling. Shrinkage cracks arise through humidification or chemical dislocation of stored liquid. Shrinkage or the volumetric- shrinking – leads to different material tensions causing cracks residual stress. It enjoys a good chemical reliability and pollutants absorption, as well as excellent ductility and allows flexibility in design.