University of Queensland to make ultra-high temperature composite materials for hypersonic flight

The furnace is the first of its type in Australia, allowing UQ researchers to make the next generation of ultra-high temperature composite materials for hypersonic flight.

Hypersonic vehicles travel more than five times faster than the speed of sound, and Associate Professor Michael Heitzmann said they have to be made from materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures caused by aerodynamic heating.

“That’s where UQ and our new furnace at the Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing – or AMPAM comes in,” Dr Heitzmann said. “We are working directly with industry to identify appropriate and cost-effective high temperature #ceramicmatrixcomposites or CMCs, tailored to hypersonic flight applications. In areas like a rocket nozzle or a hypersonic vehicle, the temperatures we’re talking about approach those seen on the surface of the sun. We are trying to get the utmost temperature resistance out of our material and find the most thermal-resistant materials possible. We are pioneering CMC manufacturing in Australia – it is a rare class of material because it’s extremely lightweight and has exceptional heat resistance.”

The components made in the German-manufactured furnace will be used by companies such as Brisbane-based #aerospace manufacturer Hypersonix Launch Systems, which specialises in hypersonic technology and scramjet engines.

Hypersonix Manufacturing Lead Sam Grieve said the UQ team would produce an engine part for the DART AE, a three-metre-long, single-use vehicle, powered by a hydrogen -fuelled SPARTAN scramjet engine.

“The insert is in a part of the engine that could be subjected to temperatures more than 1300 degrees Celsius, due to #hypersonicflows and #shockwaves,” Sam Grieve said. “Normal metal alloys would fail at that temperature, so we need high-performance lightweight materials to ensure the engine will survive in flight.”

Sam Grieve said UQ’s AMPAM group would have a capability to produce high quality CMC’s with #temperatureresistance not previously possible in #Australia.

“This is a very important sovereign capability and an important puzzle piece in establishing an Australian space and hypersonics industry,” he said. “The ultimate goal for Hypersonix is a multi-mission autonomous vehicle capable of delivering satellites to orbit while producing no CO2 in its exhaust. Our Engineering team is excited to be working with UQ to deliver outcomes that could see #Hypersonix competing internationally, and to see Australia at the forefront of international #spacetechnologies.”

Source:www.uq.edu.au/jeccomposites.com

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OQ Chemicals Introduces TCD Alcohol DM with Bio-circular DCPD

OQ Chemicals to supply ISCC PLUS certified Oxbalance® TCD Alcohol DM (tricyclodecane dimethanol), in response to growing market preferences for environmentally friendly alternatives. This product is manufactured using the bio-circular precursor DCPD (#dicyclopentadiene) from #Shell Chemicals Europe, which is also #ISCC Plus certified.

The strategic #collaboration between the two companies will ensure a reliable supply of bio-circular DCPD to support OQ Chemicals’ production.

Sustainable & Environmentally Conscious Alternative

TCD Alcohol DM serves as a versatile component in the production of high-performance technical polymers, paints and coatings, and adhesives used across sectors such as food packaging, electronics, and automotive. It is valued for its exceptional ability to enhance the properties of the final product, including improved durability, chemical resistance, and thermal stability.

The #biobasedOxbalance TCD Alcohol DM serves as a #sustainable and environmentally conscious alternative to its fully synthetic counterpart.

“#OQChemicals’ new Oxbalance offering aligns with changing market preferences as customers increasingly seek out more sustainable alternatives without compromising quality or performance. Our partnership with Shell Chemicals Europe ensures a consistent supply of high-quality #biocircular DCPD for our production. With Oxbalance® TCD Alcohol DM, we’ve added another product to our portfolio that supports our customers on their path towards more #sustainability,” said Kyle Hendrix, executive vice president marketing at OQ Chemicals.

“Our collaboration with OQ Chemicals to deliver ISCC PLUS-certified bio-circular DCPD that is based on a mass balance approach is another example of how Shell Chemicals works with customers to develop solutions to meet their objectives,” said Liz Allen, director, Shell Chemicals Europe. “It’s also an example of how Shell is committed to delivering premium quality sustainable solutions to support a circular economy.”

OxBalance is a registered trademark of OQ Chemicals. The mass balance method allocates renewable feedstock in manufacturing. ISCC PLUS certification by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification organization confirms environmentally responsible sourcing and strict sustainability compliance.

Source: OQ Chemicals/specialchem

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TYPE 4 Composite CNG/H2 PROJECT REPORT

TYPE 4 COMPOSITE CNG/H2 TANK PROJECT REPORT is available on a competitive pricing-Moving Toward a user friendly and a safer environment.

This report has covered the following topics:

■An overview landscape of the market

■Global Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) market

■ Latest technological advancements in Type 3/4 COMPOSITE CNG Cylinder market

■ Merger & Acquisition 

■ Major players share

■ Investment structure

■ Standards

■ costing and certification

■ Automotive Type 4 CNG/H2 Composite cylinder market in India and the rest of the world

■ Bulk transportation Type 4 CNG Composite cylinder market in India and the rest of the world

■ Swot analysis

■ The durability of the Type 4 Composite CNG cylinder

■ Initial Project cost to set up CNG/H2 manufacturing line

■ Strategic Model followed by the KEY PLAYERS

■ Economic efficiency & safety, 

■ The Future Trends in Composite CNG/HYDROGEN Cylinder market

Interested companies/Professionals do write to me at rosaram211@gmail.com to get more information on the PRICING of the report.

Gruntech Polymer Consultants offers consulting services for composite LPG/CNG/H2 cylinder design,manufacturing,Training,Testing and Government approvals.

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#composites #type4cylinders # #alternativeenergy #hydrogenstorage #hydrogeneconomy #hydrogenfuelcells #cng #cgd

# #manufacturing #carbonneutral #project #investment #automotive #consulting #environment #transportation #marketresearchreports #trailers # #naturalgas #consultants #safety

Scientists Create Eco-friendly Adhesive System to Replace Harmful Glues

 A team of chemists at Purdue University led by Jonathan Wilker, professor of chemistry in the College of Science and of materials engineering, aims to develop a completely #sustainable #adhesive system.

“Our current adhesives create all sorts of environmental problems,” Wilker said. “Almost all glues are petroleum-based and do not degrade. The bonded materials in our products stay stuck together. Consequently, we cannot recycle many of the materials that we put into our recycling bins. Discarded products will sit in landfills for centuries and, sometimes, contribute to ocean microplastics.

Nature-Inspired Innovation

Wilker and his lab have spent years studying the science of sticky substances, analyzing marine animals that adhere, like mussels and oysters, and trying to create better, sustainable, affordable adhesives that work as well as any glue from the hardware store. He has a drawer of those commercial glues in his lab, which give off a strong and familiar smell.

“Those volatile petrochemicals in these glues can be toxic, which is a further problem with current technologies,Wilker said. One example is the common building material plywood, which is formed of wood pieces held together with formaldehyde-based adhesives. Newly built houses are off-gassing formaldehyde, exposing residents to this carcinogen.

Making Adhesives Safer and Stronger:

These substances are harmful both to the environment and to human health. However, people and companies are accustomed to using traditional adhesives; they’re strong, easy to produce and relatively inexpensive. Any new adhesive must work at least as well as traditional products, which is why Wilker keeps that drawer around: to test them, side by side against innovative substances.

“By studying how nature makes adhesives, we are learning how to design new technologies for our future society,” Wilker said. “Given all of the problems generated by current glues, we feel an obligation to create something better. Ideally, new adhesives will be bio-based and nontoxic. Strengths should be as high as current products. Then we would like to bond them strongly when needed and also be able to take the substrates apart when wanted. Further design constraints that we grapple with, in order to have impact, are costs needing to be low and having all starting compounds available at large scales.

After a series of experiments on a range of different biologically sourced and sustainable ingredients, the team settled on epoxidized soy oil for a main component. Epoxidized soy oil is already produced globally on a massive scale. For their work, the smallest container that they could purchase was a 55-gallon drum of the substance. Since each experiment uses just a little epoxidized soy oil, the level in their drum has dropped only a few inches after several years of testing.

Eco-Adhesives for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Wilker and his team added the epoxidized soy oil to malic acid, a compound most known for giving apples their tart flavor. Then they added tannic acid, to provide an aspect of the chemistry that mussels use for attaching themselves to rocks and each other. Tannic acid is a component of tannins, common in trees, red wine and black tea. Those three ingredients added up to an adhesive that is inexpensive, effective, scalable, practical to produce and completely sustainable.

“If you combine these components under the right conditions, adhesives can be made that are as strong as epoxies,” Wilker said. Epoxies are generally considered to be the highest performance class of adhesives. “All of the components are bio-based, safe and already available at train car scales. A bonus is that the adhesive is easy to make. Basically, you can mix and heat the components.” Other bio-based compounds can also be used with epoxidized soy oil, generating an entire family of new sustainable adhesives.

To test the adhesive’s performance, the scientists bonded together objects — wood, plastics or metals — and then used an instrument for breaking the bonds and measuring forces. In many cases, their new adhesives held up well, sometimes performing similarly to, or even better than, traditional toxic adhesives such as a superglue and an epoxy. Further research will refine the system and work to maximize societal and environmental impacts in areas ranging from medical innovations to industrial materials to packaging. Their team’s innovations may pave the way to a more sustainable system for holding the world together.

Wilker disclosed his adhesives to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent to protect the intellectual property. This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research.

Source: Purdue University/specialchem

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Warpage of a GF filled nylon

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Warpage of a GF filled nylon part is extremely dependent on temperature and moisture uptake.

Temperature increase is responsible for #matrix expansion (negligible for the fibers though), and moisture uptake produces matrix swell (again GF does not care much).So if a part is warped when dry as molded at room temperature (that is what simulation codes will predict for you !!) it will tend to "UNWARP" as you heat the part or let it uptake moisture.

This effect can perfectly be simulated, if you account properly for the anisotropic elastic properties and #fiberorientation and know the swell rate with water uptake.

For #temperature induced UNWARP you will need detailed CTE (T) in x, y and z though to get it right ! Those CTE's, with the needed level of detail, are not available directly from Flow Analysis codes for the moment, but e-Xstream engineering, part of Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division Digimat software can provide those.

Source:Vito Leo

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#polymers #plasticindustry #nylon #glassfiber #temperature #moisture