Templewater is proud to announce the arrival of Hong Kong's first-ever hydrogen double-decker bus

 Bravo Transport Services Limited (“Bravo Transport”), the parent company of Citybus and New World First Bus (“NWFB”) and a portfolio company of Templewater I, L.P., is proud to announce the arrival of Hong Kong’s first-ever hydrogen double-decker bus.

The vehicle is designed and built by a consortium of experts led by Bravo Transport and Wisdom Motor Co Ltd (“Wisdom”), following the success of the electric double-deck bus project. To ensure the vehicle will achieve its maximum potential, we have adopted key components and products from renowned international partners and suppliers. The fuel cell, which is the key component that converts hydrogen into electricity, is provided by the world-leading fuel cell producer Ballard Power Systems and the Type 4 hydrogen storage cylinder system is provided by CIMC-HEXAGON, a joint-venture company of CIMC ENRIC and Hexagon Purus. Both Ballard Power Systems and CIMC-HEXAGON, will work with us to develop the application of existing technology and more hydrogen double-deck buses for ongoing trials in Hong Kong.

For more information -

https://lnkd.in/dM26EbpX

Composite Armour Tank

 📢It's Story-Time!📢

The first mass-produced tank with composite armour!

Composite armour is a type of vehicle armour consisting of layers of different materials such as metals, plastics, ceramics or air. Most composite armours are lighter than their all-metal equivalent, but instead, occupy a larger volume for the same resistance to penetration. It is possible to design composite armour stronger, lighter and less voluminous than traditional armour, but the cost is often prohibitively high, restricting its use to especially vulnerable parts of a vehicle. Its primary purpose is to help defeat high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) projectiles.

The Soviet tank T-64 is deemed to be the first mass-produced tank to have widespread use of composite armour technology. Its protection included a 3-layer composite armour (K formula), with a thickness between 450 and 20 mm:

Front: 120 mm steel, 105 mm fibreglass, 40 mm steel.

Sides: 80 mm steel.

Front of the turret: 150 mm steel, 150 mm fibreglass, 40 mm steel.

Even though the original T-64 concept dates back to the early 1960s, many countries still use its modernized versions: T-64s have been used by both Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Source:#managingcomposites

Diab was awarded the 100% thermoplastic and recyclable panel for cabin interiors at JEC World 2022

Diab received the JEC Composites Innovation Award for the 100% Thermoplastic and Recyclable Panel for Cabin interiors. The panel is 100% recyclable, includes recycled content from production waste, and is consequently 100% waste-free. Being recyclable and reusable, it offers the Aerospace industry a vital step toward a circular economy.

Diab’s sustainable panel solution for cabin interiors takes advantage of the performance of the structural foam core Divinycell F and combines it with thermoplastic skins. Using only materials already tested and qualified by Aerospace OEM, the panel is fully compliant with all requirements within the industry, yet 100% recyclable.

Diab also created a new innovative manufacturing process that saves up to 20% of the cost, up to 10% of weight, and offers higher mechanical and fire resistance behavior than current Honeycomb core and Phenolic resin/Glass fibre solutions.

“At the start of the project, we decided to think out of the box and push the limit of existing materials and processes”, says Aurelien Lafforgue, Market Segment Manager Aerospace & Industry at Diab. “We wanted to simplify the manufacturing process as much as possible with a single step process, with the panel ready to use out of the mould as the ultimate target.”

Consequently, Diab decided to avoid using an adhesive film and instead welded together skins and core to create adhesive properties much higher than the current solution with Phenolic resin. The result is mechanical properties that are fully compliant with cabin interior applications.

In addition, Diab decided to use a new generation of coating systems developed for the cabin interior market that can effectively be ‘welded’ to the panel as it is molded in a single, one-step process using induction heating. This method takes minutes rather than hours, which is the case when using multiple layers.

The shaped and decorated parts presented during JEC Show (the product picture above) have been produced in one single-step process in partnership with the company Aviacomp.

Diab, together with their partners AkzoNobel, Roctool, and RESCOLL, shape the future of cabin interiors.

Source: Diab Group/JEC COMPOSITES

Aroma chemicals

 I have completed an assignment on the Aroma chemicals market for a well-reputed company and shared my insights on Aroma chemicals mainly the Benzenoids market and demand for the Asia Pacific and European Union etc.

I have covered an overview landscape of the market, swot analysis, latest technological advancements, customer preference over pricing and design, Investment structure, etc stated in detail in the report.

Eurecat's "Compositronics" Technology!

The technology center @Eurecat has announced tests in manufacturing with Compositronics for the development of functional composite materials, by combining various manufacturing processes, flexible printed electronics, and insertion of components, which provide new features in terms of lightness and in the cheapening of industrial assembly.

According to the director of the Composite Materials Unit at Eurecat, María Eugenia Rodríguez, Compositronics "is the perfect combination for the development of functional lightweight structures". That is, "thanks to the lightness of composites and printed electronics, it is possible to significantly reduce the weight of components and large structures, and reduce costs in assembly processes with the introduction of sensors during the manufacture of the composite".

The various processes "are carried out at Eurecat's facilities, at Plastrónica's pilot plant and in the laboratories of the technology center's composite materials unit," adds María Eugenia Rodríguez.

Very interesting concept! We look forward to see how it develops!

Source:managingcomposites

Sinoma Chengdu celebrates its 100,000th 260L carbon fiber fully wound composite gas cylinder

 Sinoma Science and Technology (Chengdu)’s 100,000th 260L steel liner carbon fiber fully wound composite gas cylinder successfully rolled off the production line. More than 60 people including the company’s middle-level and above cadres, technical backbones, and front-line employee representatives participated in the event.

The 260L steel liner carbon fiber fully wound composite gas cylinder is an attempt to fully respond to the lightweight development direction of the gas cylinder market. 

In 2016, China’s national standard of the automobile industry, “Outline Dimensions, Axle Loads and Mass Limits of Automobiles, Trailers and Automobile Trains” was released, and greatly lowered the mass limit of vehicles. Sinoma Chengdu had a keen insight into the lightweight needs of the gas cylinder market, and quickly made a decision to develop weight-reducing gas cylinders through in-depth research. With industry experience and innovation spirit, the company’s R&D team quickly developed a 260L steel liner carbon fiber fully wound composite gas cylinder, and began mass production in April 2018. 

The successful development of this product has achieved a 22% increase in gas cylinder volume compared with traditional products, a 20% increase in cruising range, and a cumulative weight reduction of 1.1 tons for a single heavy commercial truck. 

Sinoma Chengdu has been deeply involved in the gas cylinder industry for more than ten years, and its products are widely used in automobile manufacturing, gas storage and transportation, drones, and special equipment. A series of innovative products such as 210L 320L 385L hydrogen storage cylinders as well as 70MPa domestic carbon fiber hydrogen storage cylinders have successively won awards from the Sichuan Enterprise Technology Center, Sichuan High-growth Enterprise, Chengdu Unicorn, and Chengdu Invisible Champion Enterprise. 

Source:jeccomposites/Sinoma Chengdu

Strength of fibers

Let's learn more about the strength of fibers!

Fibers generally exhibit much higher strengths than the bulk form of the same material. The probability of a flaw per unit length present in a sample is an inverse function of the volume of the material. Since fibers have a very low volume per unit length, they are much stronger on average than the bulk material, which has a high volume per unit length. On the other hand, because a bulk material has a much higher content of weakening flaws, it exhibits much lower variability in strength. Thus, the smaller the fiber diameter and the shorter its length, the higher the average and maximum strength but the greater the variability. Therefore, fibers have higher strength than their bulk counterparts, but they have greater scatter in their strength. The variability in the strength of fibers is a function of the flaws they contain and, in particular, the flaws they contain on the surface.

Flaws can be minimized by careful manufacturing processes and the application of coatings to protect them from mechanical and environmental damage. Precursors used in fiber manufacturing processes must be of high purity and free of inclusions. Many fiber manufacturing processes involve drawing or spinning operations that impose very high degrees of orientation parallel to the fiber axis, thus producing a more favorable orientation in the crystalline or atomic structure. In addition, some processes involve very high cooling rates that produce ultrafine-grained structures, which are not achievable in most bulk materials.

That said how do commercially important fibers fare against each other when it comes to a specific strength and specific modulus? Check out this graph to discover!

Bibliographical Reference:

Structural Composite Materials - Page 32

Source:managingcomposites