CW presents "CW Tech Days: Thermoplastics for large structures"

Photo Credit: DLR CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

CompositesWorld invites the composites industry to attend “CW Tech Days: Thermoplastics for large structures,” a one-day event to be streamed live online on May 18, 2023 from 11 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET (3:00 – 8:00 p.m. GMT). Presented by CW, the interactive webinar is sponsored by Altair (Troy, Mich., U.S.), Mitsubishi Chemical Group (Sacramento, Calif., U.S.), Toray Advanced Composites USA (Morgan Hill, Calif., U.S.) and Collins Aerospace (Chula Vista, Calif.) and costs $99 to attend.

Thermoplastic resin systems have enjoyed decades of use in composites manufacturing, but primarily in smaller secondary structures. However, many end markets served by the composites industry are maturing quickly and demanding materials and processing solutions that can meet high-rate/high-volume requirements — particularly in aerospace, advanced air mobility (AAM), automotive and energy applications. This means, in many cases, getting out of the autoclave, migrating away from thermoset resin systems and moving toward thermoplastic resin systems. Despite these challenges, the composites industry is working quickly to mature processing technologies to help fabricators upscale thermoplastic part size.

In nine 30-minute sessions, experts will explore the materials and processing technologies that are enabling the transition to large-part manufacturing. This includes a look at the evolution toward larger presses, in-situ thermoplastic automated fiber placement (AFP), injection overmolding, tooling for large thermoplastic parts, welding for assembly, process control solutions and case histories of large thermoplastic parts manufacturing.

Presentations, including the list of speakers and their topics, are as follows:

11:15 – 11:45 a.m. “Sustainable pipeline solutions enabled by thermoplastic composites” – Presented by Jim Pratte, technical fellow, Solvay and Henk de Boer, CTO, Strohm
11:45 – 12:15 p.m. “Highly loaded thermoplastic parts for wings and propulsion environments” – Presented by Dominique Bailly, director innovation, Daher
12:15 – 12:45 p.m. “Innovating towards large-scale implementation of TPCs in aerospace” – Presented by Marc Huisman, director R&D Europe, Toray Advanced Composites
12:45 – 1:15 p.m. TBD – Presented by Arnt Offringa, director Global Tech Center NL – Civil Aiframe, GKN Aerospace/Fokker
1:30 – 2:00 p.m. “Stamping and consolidation presses: Challenges of scaling up” – Presented by Andrew Rypkema, North American business development manager, Pinette Emidecau
2:00 – 2:30 p.m. “The advancement in thermoplastics for sustainable aircraft design” – Presented by Stephane Dion, VP of engineering, Collins Aerospace
2:30 – 3:00 p.m. “Revolutionizing the production of composite parts by leveraging the benefits of Victrex LMPAEK UDT and a thermoplastic ecosystem” – Presented by Jonathan Sourkes, head of sales – aerospace and Dr. Clair Steggall-Murphy, technology manager, Victrex
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. “Manufacturing of large thermoplastic composite structures” – Presented by David Leach, director, business development, ATC Manufacturing
3:30 – 4:00 p.m. TBD – Presented by David Hauber, senior research and development engineer, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions