Humidity control film packaging by PerfoTec & Envalior extends produce shelf life, reducing food waste

#Envalior, a leading global manufacturer of sustainable and high-performance engineering materials, and #PerfoTec, a Dutch company specializing in smart packaging technologies that extend the shelf life of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, have launched a new film technology for packaging fresh produce that sets new standards. It eliminates the need to add protective gases (Modified Atmosphere Packaging, MAP) because it creates a natural, balanced atmosphere inside the package. The packaging adapts to the respiration of the product, significantly extending its shelf life, quality, and freshness.

Ultra-precise laser perforation and the breathability of Envalior's #Arnitel®TPC thermoplastic copolyester elastomer create the optimal atmosphere inside the packaging. This next-generation technology has already been successfully implemented in #PerfoTecBinLiners for lining and sealing large harvest containers and in PerfoTec covers for transport pallets.

"Our new packaging solution extends the natural shelf life of #bellpeppers fourfold. After two weeks of storage at 8°C, there is no weight loss, fungal growth, or color change. Peony roses can be stored for 14 weeks without aging.

Protective atmosphere and moisture management extend product quality and freshness

The microperforation and permeation properties of the film allow the oxygen and CO2 permeability of the packaging to be individually adjusted. This creates an ideal #lowoxygen concentration inside the packaging. At the same time, excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide is prevented. The low oxygen content slows down the metabolic processes in the packaged goods and inhibits the growth of aerobic microorganisms and oxidative reactions, all of which contribute to aging and spoilage.

Developed for large harvest containers where conventional film solutions are often unable to maintain product quality, the BinLiners keep products dry and prevent weight loss. It is already in use for packaging cabbage, bell peppers, cut flowers, and onions.

In addition to the BinLiner, the same Arnitel® TPC film is also used in PerfoTec pallet covers, developed to protect fresh produce on pallets during storage and transport. Strawberries and other berries benefit from the film’s protective atmosphere and moisture management, ensuring they arrive at their destination in optimal condition. The pallet cover is an efficient solution for logistics chains where maintaining the product quality of sensitive products is crucial.

Film is tough, puncture-resistant, and sustainable

Another key advantage of this film is its exceptional toughness and puncture resistance. Sharp plant stems and branches cannot damage it, ensuring the packaging remains sealed. In addition, the film can be precisely laser-perforated with holes measuring only 50-60 micrometers.

source : Envalior

New PTFE Catheter Liners Support Large-profile Medical Devices

Junkosha has chosen MD&M West in Anaheim CA, this week to launch an expanded range of its etched PTFE catheter liners to support the evolving needs of the peripheral vascular market. The company now offers etched PTFE liners with inner diameters up to 0.2 in. (5 mm) to enable the development of larger-profile device delivery systems. Alongside this latest product, Junkosha is also displaying thin-wall etched PTFE liners with wall thicknesses as thin as 0.00075 in. (19 µm) and peelable heat-hrink tubing in booth 1867 at the event at the Anaheim Convention Center.

New etched PTFE liner range draws on 70+ years of expertise

Drawing on more than 70 years of expertise in fluoropolymer application technologies, Junkosha’s latest addition to its etched PTFE liner range supports the growing use of medical devices for catheter-based treatments of stenosis and occlusion, including drug-coated balloon angioplasty, stent and stent graft deployment, thrombectomy, and atheroma removal. These procedures are commonly used in the treatment of conditions such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a trend that is accelerating adoption in both emergency and elective care settings where device reliability and controlled deployment are critical to clinical success, said Junkosha.

Etched PTFE liners play a key role within delivery systems, enabling smooth device tracking and the safe, predictable deployment of stents and stent grafts within complex vascular anatomy,” explained PTFE Liner Product Specialist Yohei Washiyama.

Alongside larger sized etched PTFE liners, Junkosha’s thin-wall liners expand the company’s capabilities, enabling catheter designs with either a larger lumen diameter or a slimmer outer profile, thereby providing greater design freedom for multilumen catheters and other complex configurations.

Catheter liners on show at MD&M West Junkosha is exhibiting these and other products at booth 1867 at MD&M West, a comprehensive manufacturing-focused trade show and conference for the medical technology, plastics, packaging, and automation sectors. It runs from Feb. 3 to 5, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

Junkosha applies fluoropolymer technology across various sectors including semiconductor manufacturing, microwave interconnect, and medical devices. With three operations in Japan, including its headquarters, as well as sites in the US, UK, and China, Junkosha’s wire and cable products include microwave interconnects, robot cables, high data rate cables, camera link cable assemblies, ultrafine coaxial cables and assemblies, cables for clean environments, and general wires and cables. Junkosha also offers a variety of tube and fitting products.

source : Plastics Today

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Automotive Plastic Design Parameters

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

🔹 TECHNICAL SERIES

Automotive Plastic Design Parameters

Plastic Design Parameters are the engineering rules that decide whether an automotive plastic part will mold successfully, meet OEM quality, and control tooling cost.

Plastic design is not just CAD modeling.

It is about balancing Quality, Cost, and Manufacturability—before the tool is ever made.

🔍 Key Plastic Design Parameters include:

• Material Selection

• Nominal Wall Thickness

• Draft Angle

• Rib & Boss Design

• Fillets & Radii

• Tooling Direction & A-Class surface

Each of these directly impacts part quality, defects, and production feasibility.

🔹 Parameter 1: MATERIAL SELECTION

Material selection is the first and most critical decision in plastic part design.

Before geometry, ribs, or styling—

the material must be locked based on:

• Strength & impact performance

• Heat, UV & chemical resistance

• Mold flow & shrinkage behavior

Right material = stable, durable, production-ready part.

Wrong material = defects, rework, and failures.

source : iM Technologies

#PlasticDesign

Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub gets new life after Washington’s senators add $70 million to government funding package

The Senate passed a sweeping government funding package on Friday that includes two provisions that could make up to $70 million available to the Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub, a consortium of nearly 50 companies, agencies and schools working to make the Inland Northwest a global leader in manufacturing advanced composite materials.

Senators passed the legislation, which includes five of the remaining six appropriations bills needed to fund the government through the end of September, in a bipartisan vote of 71-29 after Democrats successfully demanded that money for the Department of Homeland Security and its crackdown on immigrants be separated from the rest of the spending package following the fatal shooting of a second U.S. citizen by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

The Spokane-area consortium was awarded $48 million by the U.S. Commerce Department in the final days of the Biden administration, then had that funding rescinded by the Trump administration last May. Just two weeks after its revised application was rejected again by the Commerce Department, the inclusion of so much money for the project in the appropriations package speaks to the quiet influence of Washington state’s Democratic senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, at a time when their party wields little power in the other Washington.

This is great news for the Spokane tech hub,” Cantwell said in a statement. “It means that there will now be a serious investment in the composite advances we need for our defense, NASA, and aviation competitiveness. The creation of this consortium that is now eligible for these funds is a huge milestone for the Spokane region.

Patrick McHail, executive director of the Tech Hub, said Spokane is ready with a favorable business environment.

“The aerospace market here is really ripe and growing,” McHail said. “This is a great way to step change into new materials, new manufacturing methods, and then really anchoring a lot of great jobs for decades to come.”

He also mentioned the region’s schools and programs with a focus on manufacturing and engineering bring “all the right ingredients” for success.

The funding that would be available to the Spokane-area hub, which must still pass the House, is divided between two provisions in the massive defense appropriations bill: $55 million for an “advanced aerospace composites tech hub” and $15 million for “thermoplastic composite parts.

The Spokane Tech Hub’s existing work, centered around the former Triumph Composite Systems Inc. factory at 1514 S. Flint Road in Airway Heights, puts it in pole position for the funding. But President Donald Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may seek to block or divert the money.

source : www.spokesman.com

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : 𝗔 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

💡 𝗔 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗦𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿)

In composite design, one of the most common sources of deviation between FE predictions and real component behaviour is not modelling error, not boundary conditions, and not manufacturing defects. It is simply this:

👉 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 (𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵..!)

This issue appears across aerospace, defence, UAV and industrial composites….especially when changing prepreg supplier, fibre type, or impregnation method. And it is fully measurable: the laminate behaves differently because 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰:

A laminate nominally defined as 4 × 0.20 mm = 0.80 mm ends up curing at 0.88 mm.

The part is within process tolerances, visually perfect, and mechanically sound. However, from a structural standpoint, the difference is significant.

For thin laminates, bending stiffness scales approximately with the third power of thickness:

D ∝ t³

If the laminate increases from 0.80 mm → 0.88 mm:

• Thickness ratio: 0.88/0.80=1.10

• Bending stiffness ratio: 〖1.10〗^3≈1.33

➡️ ≈ +𝟯𝟯% 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀

This is not a secondary variation.....it's a structural shift. It can modify:

• deformation under operational loads,

• load distribution across bonded interfaces,

• flutter / frequency response,

• and geometric fit at assemblies relying on nominal laminate thickness.

💰 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀

To ensure correlation between FEM and physical behaviour:

• Use validated ply cured thickness values, not catalogue nominal values.

• Perform early PCT measurements during material qualification.

• Update laminate definitions in the FEM accordingly.

• Revalidate PCT when switching supplier, fibre architecture or cure process.

• Treat PCT as a primary design parameter, not a secondary output.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗙𝗘𝗠 𝘃𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆” 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸:

👉 Composite Materials for Technical Education

https://lnkd.in/eWR_dV4k

source : M.Eng. M.Sc. GABRIELE C.

#composites #carbonfiber #compositeengineering #FEM

#FEA #materialsengineering

Time to get technical :bio-composite

📢 Time to get technical... 📢

This isn’t a “new” bio-composite. In 1939, unidirectional flax/phenolic prepregs were already being used for aircraft structures including Spitfire fuselage components.📸

What’s fascinating is not the nostalgia, but the takeaway: after 80 years, the intrinsic mechanical performance of unidirectional flax composites hasn’t changed dramatically. What has evolved is how we design, process, and justify them, especially through manufacturing control and life-cycle thinking.

Sustainability in composites isn’t just about replacing fibers. It’s about understanding why some ideas were already right...decades ago. 👌

Sometimes progress means looking back with better tools.

source : The Native Lab

The Importance of Formulating Adhesives Without IBOA for Medical Wearables

The 2000-MW series of light-curable adhesives are a first-of-kind dedicated series of products for assembling medical wearables. Free from TPO, a material of concern, and made without IBOA, a known skin irritant, these adhesives address device manufacturers’ concerns about skin proximity and sensitivity.

Skin is the largest organ in the human body. It breathes, regenerates, and is affected by what’s put on it. As wearable devices continue to grow in popularity the materials used to assemble, and in certain cases affix to the body, need to be taken into consideration.

The use of diagnostic and therapeutic medical wearable devices is becoming mainstream as the technology evolves and consumers demand simple ways of managing their health through monitoring, drug delivery, and pain management systems. Measurement tools like vital sign monitoring devices, sleep monitors, and continuous glucose monitors collect users’ exercise or personal health data, making it easy to keep track of the information, or even send it to a healthcare provider. Insulin pumps and wearable injectors offer a means of insulin and novel drug delivery in a non-clinical setting.

Along with adhesives, coatings, and encapsulants that are used to join and protect electronic components inside wearables, these materials are also used to join or seal the plastics and metals within the assembly.

Sometimes the chemical IBOA (isobornyl acrylate) is found in wearables, which is a known skin sensitizer. IBOA, a monofunctional reactive diluent, is a critical monomer used in the manufacture of acrylic resins because it polymerizes when exposed to free radicals from an energy source such as UV light. IBOA is also used as a plasticizer within various medical device plastics due to its impact resistance, flexibility, and hardness qualities. If an adhesive or a substrate is formulated to include IBOA, it has the potential to cause a skin sensitivity issue if not fully cured and crosslinked.

Furthermore, adhesives, encapsulants, and coatings used to bond components inside a wearable device can potentially outgas during cure and redeposit onto other surfaces that may contact skin. If there is any “spillover” outside the adhesive channel, a small drop or section could be exposed externally. The uncured adhesive in an application can also cause similar issues.

As a result, users may experience skin sensitivity when using medical wearables. 

For these reasons, it’s important for manufacturers involved in the design and assembly of wearable devices to use adhesives that are formulated with skin sensitivity in mind. Adhesives must be formulated without IBOA and have passed ISO 10993 evaluations for irritation and sensitization. Other criteria to consider are ISO 10993-5 Cytotoxicity biocompatibility, the ability to adhere to low-surface-energy substrates and to be moisture and thermal-shock resistant.

source : Dymax