Materials
From aircraft interiors and cosmetic lotions to outdoor furniture and body armour, the demand for lighter, tougher materials solutions continues to drive demand. Sean Ottewell reports.
Depuis les aménagements intérieurs des avions et les lotions cosmétiques jusqu’aux mobiliers extérieurs et aux blindages corporels, des solutions mettant en œuvre des matières plus légères mais plus résistantes sont de plus en plus demandées. Article de Sean Ottewell.
Von der
Flugzeuginnenausstattung über kosmetische Lotionen bis hin zu Möbeln für den Außenbereich und Schutzwesten: Die Forderung nach leichteren, robusteren Materialien treibt die Nachfrage weiterhin an. Ein Bericht von Sean Ottewell.
New materials offer speciality solutions
O
n show for the first time at the recent Aircraft Interiors Expo Americas exhibition, SABIC Innovative Plastics has launched what it describes as a new breakthrough
technology for semi-structural aircraft interior parts featuring its Ultem polyetherimide (PEI) resin. New Ultem composite aerospace board (CAB)
sheets, co-developed and manufactured with Crane & Co, a global leader in specialty paper, provide a superior alternative to thermoset aramid fiber- reinforced honeycomb composites. The Ultem CAB sheets can be quickly
thermoformed, offer a broad range of high- performance properties, are recyclable, and offer great potential to be refurbished with a newly developed decorative film layer while still meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements to extend useful life. The sheets are currently being trialled by a major airline. The use of advanced thermoplastics to replace
Fig. 1. Ultem composite aerospace board is aimed at aircraft applications such as sidewalls and ceiling panels.
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traditional thermosets in aircraft interiors offers multiple benefits, including the potential for recycling. The most noteworthy is system cost reduction. Because aramid honeycomb composites are highly sensitive to moisture and ultraviolet (UV) light, the porous edges of a part must be laboriously filled and sealed by hand, a process that can take up to ten hours. In contrast, Ultem CAB sheet parts can be quickly thermoformed in minutes and need no secondary finishing, thanks to the excellent UV resistance and low moisture absorption properties of Ultem resin. In addition to faster cycle times, Ultem CAB sheet cuts system costs through its ability to be re-skinned while still meeting required flame-smoke-toxicity (FST) properties to lengthen its useful life, an option previously not available to customers with aramid honeycomb composite.
SABIC says that Ultem CAB sheet features the excellent FST performance that Ultem resin is known for. The material exceeds the stringent Ohio State University (OSU) 55/55 standard. Still another benefit is its light weight; Ultem CAB sheet weighs an average 1350g/m2
and can be customised to meet a
range of part weight requirements. Target applications for the new composite include
sidewalls, cockpit panels, ceiling panels, door liners and dividers (Fig. 1). “With Ultem CAB sheet, SABIC Innovative
Plastics and Crane have achieved dramatic advantages over traditional honeycomb composites across the board, from slashing cycle time to doubling part life,” said Kim Choate, global Ultem product market leader, SABIC Innovative Plastics. “Now, this resin, in the form of an Ultem resin and glass fibre- reinforced composite panel, is again demonstrating its remarkable versatility to be utilised in multiple forms and delivering additional value to the aircraft industry. We’re confident that Ultem CAB sheet will become the new gold standard for interior panels.” Meanwhile a Polish producer of cosmetic lotions
is the first of a new wave of end-users of high added value products to take advantage of what is described by Milliken as the outstanding optical properties achievable in extrusion-blow moulded polypropylene bottles through the use of its next-generation clarifying agent Millad NX8000 (Fig. 2). Natural cosmetics
company Bielenda, based in Krakow, has just begun marketing a new range of bath oils labelled Afrodyzjak, Ekstaza and Euroforia. They will be sold in various European countries, as well as on other continents. Bielenda wanted to pack the products, intended to stimulate the senses, in bottles that showed off their colours and transparency to best advantage, and which were in keeping with the very high quality image it was trying to promote.
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