Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:rPET foaming technology

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

ArmaPET® Struct GRX: next generation in rPET foaming technology
Armacell, a global leader in flexible foam for the equipment insulation market and a leading provider of engineered foams, announces the launch of its latest innovation, the new ArmaPET Struct GRX solution. This cutting-edge development in recycled PET foam core technology delivers significant improvements in sandwich structure production with greater efficiency, cost savings, and sustainability.

Transparency and commitment:
Entirely made from recycled plastic bottles, ArmaPET Struct GRX reinforces Armacell’s commitment to sustainability and offers an optimised resin uptake process that drastically improves the weight and cost of sandwich structures. Its remarkable thermal and dimensional stability safeguards high-quality production, while its outstanding fatigue resistance ensures long-term performance and low lifetime maintenance.
New ArmaPET Struct GRX boasts a more homogenous and finer cell structure compared to previous generations resulting in enhanced shear properties. “We strive for continuous improvement of our product solutions – based on our customers’ needs. ArmaPET Struct GRX provides significant savings in resin uptake to further optimise weight and cost savings.” says Bart Janssen, Armacell’s Vice President Engineered Foams & Energy.

Striving for excellence:
Extensive testing conducted by Armacell proves that ArmaPET Struct GRX exhibits comparable or even superior mechanical performance to its predecessors – for example, its adjusted foam recipe delivers an increase of up to 30 percent in shear properties. This latest product innovation heralds a new era for rPET foaming technology, offering customers unparalleled efficiency gains, cost optimisation, and a sustainable solution.

Source:https://lnkd.in/gyY_h_VS

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Thin Parts molding

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

I recently heard of a customer observing huge differences in pressure to fill from two PP batches with checked identical viscosity data from capillary tests.

When molding thin parts, the pressure drop becomes overwhelmingly dominated by the actual "frozen skin" thickness that develops rapidly during filling.

With a thickness in the 100's of microns range the effective available thickness for flow will dramatically decrease in the case of thin parts.

The pressure drop in a plate scales essentially with one over the cube of the thickness, so a tiny difference in the frozen layer makes a huge difference in pressure to fill !

In PP we see a very strong effect of nucleation, both induced by additives/pigments or due to flow ( Flow Induced nucleation). The tremendous amount of shear in the outer layers of the flow in Injection Molding will lead to a frozen layer thickness that varies a lot with molecular architecture (Mw in particular).

This could be a major issue in recycled PP where "same viscosity" batches may actually have variable amounts of long chain fraction, key for nucleation and therefore crystallization kinetics.

Source:Vito leo

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share: Do you know why aircraft don't fly over Tibet?

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Do you know why aircraft don't fly over Tibet?

If you look at the Flight radar application, you will see that while there are many planes flying all over the world , there are no planes in the Tibet region of China.

So why don't planes fly over Tibet

Why do they go around it when they can go straight through for a shorter route

In fact, the answer to this question is hidden in the "roof of the world" analogy used for Tibet. Tibet is a geography with an average altitude of 5 thousand meters above sea level and home to Mount Everest, the highest place in the world.

So what does this have to do with airplanes?

The cabins of modern passenger aircraft are pressurized. When a malfunction occurs in this pressure system, oxygen masks are first activated to allow passengers to breathe. However, the capacity of the oxygen system is sufficient for 15-20 minutes.

Therefore, when a failure occurs in the cabin pressure system, pilots have to pull the plane to an altitude of 3 thousand meters. In most parts of the Tibetan region, the altitude is well above 3 thousand meters. There is no environment in Tibet where planes can descend safely in case of an emergency.

Additionally, when one of the engines in twin-engine aircraft fails, the aircraft must descend to a certain altitude in order to fly safely. Unfortunately, this is not possible due to the geographical structure of Tibet. For these reasons, no planes fly over Tibet.

Source:Charlie Gilichibi

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Nexam Chemical to Develop Heat-resistant Composites for the UK Aerospace Sector

Nexam Chemical has been selected as a key partner in the “TAPE Extreme” project, financed by Innovate UK, targeting development of advanced temperature resistant composites for the UK aerospace sector.

Nexam Chemical adds competencies within chemistry, polymers and resins to the consortium, and has been awarded a £100K grant with the objective of developing novel materials that can replace metals in jet engines.

Aim to Replace Metals in Jet Engines Leading to Lighter Components:

Nexam Chemical St. Andrews has, together with partners from the whole value chain, been selected as a key partner in the project, dubbed “Advanced Thermoformable Cross-linking Resin Unidirectional Tapes”, which consists of a consortium of commercial players within composites and aerospace, in partnership with the University of Sheffield. Nexam Chemical’s part of the grant is £100K, which will primarily be used for R&D activities.

The project’s main objective is to drive replacement of metals like titanium and other alloys with novel high temperature resistant composites in jet engines, leading to lighter components and resulting fuel savings. The technology is intended for primarily civil aviation applications, where the largest commercial potential lies. The project is a part of Innovate UK, which strives to strengthen local UK aerospace sector, and supports local OEMs, such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce and GKN.

“Nexam Chemical St. Andrews has been selected to participate in the project, based on our competencies within chemistry, polymers and resins, where the aim is to develop dry unidirectional tape, without solvents. It is a recognition of our market leading position and technical expertise in design and synthesis of polyimide resins and so-called end-cappers for polyimides”, says Christer Svanberg, CTO of Nexam Chemical.

#NexamChemical already has a solid footprint within high temperature #composites in the US, primarily aimed at military applications. We are therefore pleased to be selected to take part in this project, which can contribute to driving the development towards more high temperature composites in the UK and especially within civilian aviation”, says Ronnie Törnqvist, CEO of Nexam Chemical.

Learn all about polyimides (PI) and its key features that make this class of high-heat plastics unique from others.

Source: Nexam Chemical/Omnexus.specialchem

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Thick parts need more packing

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Why do thick parts need more packing than thin ones ?

Packing changes the parts size/volume/mass, but not the final density. Whatever is already solid at the end of fill (frozen skin) does not need any packing (shrinkage has already occurred !).

So, as the picture shows (in a slightly exaggerated way) in a thin part/section one only has to pack a tiny fraction of the total volume, whereas in a thick part/section, most of the volume will need to be packed, to compensate for the shrinkage.

Since thick parts are easy to fill and need more packing, it is not unusual to use a packing pressure much higher than the filling pressure. Something that might not fit the default values proposed by simulation...

Always think twice before accepting a default value.

Source:Vito leo

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share:Hydrogen Cycle

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

The production and use of hydrogen does not consume any water. The water that we use to produce hydrogen via water electrolysis comes back when we use the hydrogen to produce electricity and/or heat. To produce 1 kg hydrogen, we need 9 litres very clean water. But when we use 1 kg hydrogen to produce electricity and/or heat, you get 9 litres of very clean water back.

 

So, when using hydrogen, we produce very clean water. As an example, when we drive 100 km in a fuel cell car, we use 1 kg hydrogen and produce 9 litres very clean water. Enough drinking water for 3 days for 1 person

 

Hydrogen produced from water is therefore a circular energy carrier, that do not use water. In fact, with hydrogen, you do not only transport energy but also clean water over the world.

 

Read more about #hydrogenproduction by electrolysis of water in the book ‘Green Energy for All, how hydrogen and electricity carry our future’. 

https://lnkd.in/eJ9Xxk-n

Source:Ad van Wijk

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Aston Martin reveals “the world’s most bespoke, advanced and meticulously engineered road bicycle”

Offering a truly bespoke build for each owner, the world’s first online bicycle configurator offers the exact colours and materials available on Aston Martin’s ultra-luxury, high performance sportscars.

Aston Martin and British titanium bicycle leader J.Laverack have united to create a road bicycle without equal; the J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R.

Developed with input from high-performance automotive designers, the .1R is the most bespoke, most advanced and most engineered bicycle ever created featuring a number of world firsts.

Synergising the shared values of the two high performance British brands, Aston Martin and J.Laverack have applied truly innovative design and engineering processes to produce a fully integrated ‘visually boltless’ design that possesses an aesthetic purity and obsession to detail beyond compare.

The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R uses a flawless fusion of parametrically designed, 3D printed titanium lugs and sculpted carbon fibre tubes. This ensures a frame that not only delivers an exceptional blend of response and comfort, but also sets new standards of elegance and beauty on two wheels. The smooth unions of the lugs and tubes are truly innovative and the herringboned weave of the carbon fibre on display is immaculate, despite the intricacy involved in manufacturing.

Oliver Laverack, Co-founder of J.Laverack Bicycles, said: “Working with the team at Aston Martin has unlocked new ideas and innovations, the application of which has created a bicycle more advanced than anything currently available on the market. Working in collaboration with Aston Martin we have not only taken our titanium bicycles to new heights but have also unlocked true innovation within the cycling industry, creating a bicycle with unparalleled levels of craftsmanship and performance engineering.

“Every component is designed to be part of the whole and to marry perfectly with the adjoining elements, achieving an unsurpassed degree of integration, which lays the foundation for the J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R’s boltless design.”

The J.Laverack Aston Martin .1R features faultless clean lines, where bicycle owners would normally expect to find fixings at the stem or seat post. The integrated four piston brake calipers are clean sheet design and required the development of bespoke testing equipment. As a result, there is not a single exposed cable or hose visible on the whole bicycle.

Applying innovations from outside the normal sphere of bicycles, everywhere you look on the .1R there are new solutions. Developed in collaboration with the most innovative designers from the high-performance automotive world, the .1R not only adopts design mastery from Aston Martin’s supercar and hypercar programmes but also benefits from the pinnacle of road bicycle engineering.

Source:Aston Martin/Jeccomposites

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