March 2016: Business briefs

DolphiTech AS (Raufoss, Norway) and Sonatest Ltd. (Milton Keynes, UK) have signed a global distribution agreement where Sonatest will market a specially branded version of DolphiTech’s ultrasound inspection camera. The SonaCam, a mobile and ergonomic ultrasound camera system, is designed for NDT inspection of CFRP. A dry and wet transducer technology creates 2D and 3D images of suspected damage areas to verify the status of the material, and helps manufacturing and service personnel to perform effective QA and to develop the best repair strategy for a damage.

Solvay Specialty Polymers (Brussels, Belgium) signed an exclusive distribution agreement between its recently formed Composite Materials Global Business Unit and Bang & Bonsomer Group AB (Helsingfors, Finland). It covers Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Finland for all Process Materials products. The Process Materials portfolio includes an extensive portfolio of vacuum bagging consumables, kitting solutions, tooling products, and composites materials for aerospace, automotive, wind energy, marine and other applications.

Hexcel (Stamford, CT, US) announced that it has acquired full ownership of FORMAX UK Ltd. (Leicester, UK). Hexcel had previously acquired a 50% interest in the privately owned company in December 2014. FORMAX, a manufacturer of composite reinforce- ments, specializes in lightweight carbon fiber multiaxials and highly engineered glass and aramid fiber fabrics. The move will enable Hexcel to further advance dry reinforcements technology for aerospace applications and provide scale for growing industrial markets.