Solvay and Airborne to partner on developing automated processing for composite materials
The partnership aims to identify solutions to the industrialization challenges facing the composites industry.
.png;width=70;height=70;mode=crop;format=webp)
Solvay (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) and Airborne (The Hague, The Netherlands) announced March 18 that the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at JEC World 2019. The companies will partner on developing automated processing solutions for the industrialization and high volume use of composite materials.
Industrializing the generation of tailored prepreg layups and forming technologies for high volume applications is a significant challenge for the composites industry and the companies aim to bring together digitization, automation and state of the art materials and processes to bridge from industrial to high-performance high-volume applications.
The combination of Solvay’s leadership in composite materials and processes for structural applications and Airborne’s expertise in automated engineering processes and digital systems aims to identify solutions to the industrialization challenges facing the composites industry.
“Solvay sees great potential in this collaboration with Airborne - our companies have got unique synergies and the same focus on developing industrialization solutions to meet increasing production rates,” says Rob Blackburn, Application Engineering director at Solvay Composite Materials Global Business Unit.
“It’s an honor to work with one of the world’s leading material science companies. To truly drive innovation in composites, we firmly believe it is vital to collaborate throughout the value chain, enabling the development of materials, processes and automation to go hand-in-hand. If we follow such a holistic approach, great breakthroughs are possible,” says Marcus Kremers, CTO at Airborne.
Related Content
-
Materials & Processes: Composites fibers and resins
Compared to legacy materials like steel, aluminum, iron and titanium, composites are still coming of age, and only just now are being better understood by design and manufacturing engineers. However, composites’ physical properties — combined with unbeatable light weight — make them undeniably attractive.
-
Cryo-compressed hydrogen, the best solution for storage and refueling stations?
Cryomotive’s CRYOGAS solution claims the highest storage density, lowest refueling cost and widest operating range without H2 losses while using one-fifth the carbon fiber required in compressed gas tanks.
-
Materials & Processes: Fibers for composites
The structural properties of composite materials are derived primarily from the fiber reinforcement. Fiber types, their manufacture, their uses and the end-market applications in which they find most use are described.
