TFP stepped

repair patch:
DEMONSTRATING
WELDED TPC
REPAIR

MARCH 2023

Bio-based acrylonitrile for

carbon fiber manufacture / 16
ASCEND program update / 20
Novel processes for hybrid
thermoset-thermoplastic
pultruded parts / 34

A property of Gardner Business Media VOL 9 No 3

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARCH 2023 / Vol: 9 No

–: 3

COLUMNS FEATURES
4 From the Editor 16 Bio-based acrylonitrile for
When one thinks of composites test carbon fiber manufacture
methods, one thinks of Don Adams. Don
passed away at the end of 2022. We The quest for a sustainable source of
16 acrylonitrile for carbon fiber manufacture has
remember him here.
made the leap from the lab to the market.
6 Gardner Business Index By Jeff Sloan
The GBI: Composites Fabricating closed
January at around the same contractionary
reading in December, with a majority of
20 ASCEND program update:
components following suit. Designing next-gen, high-
rate auto and aerospace
composites
GKN Aerospace, McLaren Automotive and
20 U.K.-based partners share goals and progress
aiming at high-rate, Industry 4.0-enabled,
sustainable materials and processes.
» DEPARTMENTS By Hannah Mason

8 Trends
26 Developing repairs for
38 New Products
thermoplastic composite
40 Applications
aerostructures
41 Marketplace
HyPatchRepair project proves feasibility of
41 Showcase automated process chain for welded
48 Post Cure 26 thermoplastic composite patch repairs.
By Ginger Gardiner

34 Novel processes for hybrid

thermoset-thermoplastic
pultruded parts
CFRP pultrusion and pullwinding specialist
Epsilon Composite combines thermoplastic
overmolding with traditional thermoset
processes, demonstrated through aircraft struts
and industrial applications.
34
By Hannah Mason

» ON THE COVER FOCUS ON DESIGN

The HyPatchRepair project, led by a Ger-
man consortium, sought to demonstrate
42 Seat frame demonstrates
rivet-free repair technology for continuous next-generation
fiber-reinforced thermoplastic parts via an autocomposites design
automated repair process chain. To prove
Light weight, simplified/cost-effective
its feasibility, a stepped repair patch made
manufacturing, passenger comfort and
using tailored fiber placement (TFP), as
safety informed materials and process
shown on the cover, was paired with a innovations and won awards for the 2022
milled TFP panel and then integrated via Toyota Tundra's second-row seat frame.
press welding and laser welding. See p. 26.
By Hannah Mason
Source | HyPatchRepair project, Faserinstitut Bremen

CompositesWorld (ISSN 2376-5232) is published Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. accurate. In applying recommendations, however, you should exercise care and normal MEMBERSHIPS:
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 @CompositesWrld

Advanced Composite V.P. ADVANCED MATERIALS MEDIA GROUP Rick Brandt

[email protected]

Repair Courses
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jeff Sloan
jeff @compositesworld.com
SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITOR Ginger Gardiner
[email protected]
5-day courses from the world’s best TECHNICAL EDITOR Hannah Mason
[email protected]
• Advanced Composite Structures: MANAGING EDITOR Grace Nehls
Damage Repair Phase 1, 2, & 3 [email protected]
DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR Cara Decknadel
[email protected]
• Aerospace Repair Analysis and Substantiation
Jann Bond
• Advanced Aerospace Repair Analysis
SENIOR COPY EDITOR
[email protected]
and Substantiation DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Scott Stephenson
AND EVENTS [email protected]
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 FROM THE EDITOR

» I think we all understand that the composites industry has been still in its infancy and composite-specific test methods were in the
and continues to be shaped by people who have a deeply felt dedi- very early stages of development. Don, says Dan, was on the ground
cation to fiber-reinforced materials and processes. floor of this important discipline.
The hard part, especially for those of you new to this industry, At Rand, Don helped develop the first of two composite test
is to understand the significance of these accomplishments and methods with which he is most closely associated. The first is the
how they still resonate today. In that spirit, I want to tell you about Iosipescu shear test method, adapted from a sheet metal shear test
someone who you likely did method and developed in response to demand for a composites
not know — or, for those shear test standard. Today, that test method is known as ASTM .
Don holds a special who have spent their career Don’s second big contribution came a few years later at the
place in the history in composites, and similarly, University of Wyoming (Laramie), where, in , he’d taken a
spent it with CompositesWorld, faculty position in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. (Ask
of this industry.
someone you did know quite well Dan what it was like to move from Malibu to Laramie as an eighth
— and whose influence you almost grader.) Don founded the Composite Materials Research Group
certainly have felt. (CMRG) at the university and while there developed the Combined
I first met Dr. Don Adams in . I had just become editor-in- Loading Compression (CLC) test method, now called ASTM D.
chief of CW. Don was the founder of Wyoming Test Fixtures and Don’s tangible contributions notwithstanding, his legacy rests in
an author for CW, writing a column called Testing Tech, which part on the fact that he was among a small group of early innova-
focused on test protocols and standards for composite materials. tors in composites testing. Plus, he had a natural predilection for
Don started writing for CW in March  and was a much- educating and helping people. “He always enjoyed hearing about
respected figure in these pages, sharing his long experience and other’s testing experiences and he was really good at helping guide
deep knowledge of best practices in materials testing. His articles people through the testing process,” Dan emphasizes.
are among the most loyally read in the magazine’s history. Another of Don’s trademarks was his ability to apply dogged
In January , we learned that Don had passed away in late research to prickly test method problems. Dan says Don became
December. He was . Don’s close affiliation with CW, combined known at ASTM meetings for turning controversial test questions
with his influence on the industry, demands a closer look at his into graduate research projects, and then leveraging the resulting
accomplishments and contributions. I talked to Dan Adams, Don’s data into improved standards. “He didn’t just have opinions,” Dan
son, about his father to better understand his life and work. says. “He had the data to back them up.”
Don was born in  in Streator, Ill., U.S. He attended the I remember Don as a quiet, thoughtful, dedicated person who had
University of Illinois, where he earned his bachelor’s in mechan- deep respect for his work and the people who surrounded him. He
ical engineering in . He married his high school sweetheart holds a special place in this industry’s history and will be missed.
Roberta that summer and they moved to Southern California And, of course, Don lives on through Dan, who took over his
where Don had landed a job with Northrop Aircraft Corp. father’s column-writing duties in . Since then, Dan has been a
While at Northrop, Don earned his master’s in mechanical engi- regular contributor to our Design & Testing column and carries the
neering from the University of Southern California. Then, it was same passion for composite materials testing as his father.
back to the University of Illinois, where Don received his Ph.D in
theoretical and applied mechanics in .
Don decamped again to California, working first for the Aero-
nautic Div. of Ford Motor Co. and then, in , the Rand Corp.
Dan says it was here, at Rand, that Don first started developing
new test methods for composites. The composites industry was JEFF SLOAN — Editor-In- Chief

4 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

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 GARDNER BUSINESS INDEX: COMPOSITES FABRICATING

Composites Index shows little

change in January
January — 48.5 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan Schafer, MBA, is

»The contraction in Composites Fabricating activity seen in December continued into January. the director of market
The Gardner Business Index (GBI) closed the month out at 48.5, following December’s similar research for Gardner
reading of 48.9. Intelligence, a division of
Gardner Business Media
Most of the components followed suit, doing “more of the same” as seen in the past few months (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.). She has been an
— specifically, components that contracted in December also contracted in January. In fact, new essential part of Gardner Intelligence for over
orders, exports and backlog have contracted a little faster each month since March/April . five years, and has led research and analysis
in various industries for over 30 years.
Production and employment activity, which, on the other hand, have been growing faster for a [email protected]
couple months, grew slightly faster again in January. Supplier deliveries continued to lengthen at
a continually slowing rate, indicating either supply chain issues have calmed, expectations have
been adjusted and/or workarounds have been implemented.
Similarly, future business, a separate sentiment metric on business expectations that is not part
of the GBI calculation, improved faster in January like it did in December.

GBI: Composites Fabricating Steady change

Composites Fabricating activity contracted
about the same in January as it did in
December. Source (all images) | Gardner Intelligence

GBI: Composites Fabricating — Production, Employment and Future Business Looking to the future
(three-month moving average) Production and employment activity grew
faster in December, along with future
Production (3-MMA) Employment (3-MMA) Future Business (3-MMA) business.

PRESENTED BY

Stay ahead of the curve with Gardner Intelligence.

Visit the blog at gardnerintelligence.com or email [email protected]

6 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

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 TRENDS

Cryomotive’s CRYOGAS solution claims highly economical and cost-effective

H2 storage; a novel technology demonstrated by Toray enables welding of
thermoset composites; Chantiers de l’Atlantique equips its first sailing cargo
ship and two upcoming cruise ships with its carbon fiber SolidSail rig; and more.

ENERGY

Cryo-compressed hydrogen, the best

solution for storage and refueling stations?

Source | Slide 61, “Carbon Fiber Composites and the Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities and
Challenges,” by Mike Favaloro, Ginger Gardiner and Jeff Sloan, Carbon Fiber 2022 conference.

Hydrogen is recognized as a key part of the energy transi- CcH2 tanks at BMW
tion required to reduce CO2 emissions and address the CcH2 tanks offer a hybrid solution between LH2 and CGH2
growing climate crisis. In the September 2022 report storage. By using cold temperatures (e.g., 40-80K/-233°C
“Hydrogen Insights 2022,” the Hydrogen Council highlighted to -193°C) and medium pressure (e.g., 350 bar), BMW elimi-
680 global large-scale projects that are investing $240 nated LH2’s boil-off issues — LH2 boils above -253°C — and
billion in hydrogen up to 2030 — an increase of 50% since achieved storage densities much higher than CGH2 and LH2.
November 2021. In presentations from 2010-2013, BMW described a
Multiple solutions will be also required within the prototype CcH2 system for a car that enabled <5-minute
hydrogen market to meet the different requirements for refueling and >500-kilometer range. The system used a
storing and refueling passenger cars versus heavy trucks, 235-liter composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV)
for example, and larger versus smaller aircraft. CW senior as an inner tank and cryoinsulation between this inner tank
technical editor Ginger Gardiner has written about Type and a metal outer tank/jacket. This CcH2 tank reportedly
IV compressed hydrogen gas (CGH2) tanks via feature stored 7.1 kilograms of hydrogen at 350 bar — versus 2.5
articles in 2020 and 2021, while more recent articles discuss and 4.6 kilograms of hydrogen in standard 350-bar and
liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks for heavy trucks and aviation. 700-bar CGH2 tanks, respectively — with a gravimetric
Cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH2) offers a third option for density of 5.4 weight% and a boil-off rate of <1% per year.
onboard storage tanks in transport/mobility applications. The tank was elongated to fit along the car’s central tunnel.

8 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Cryomotive CcH2 tanks

One of the key researchers involved in that work was Dr. Tobias Brunner.
In 2015, Brunner left the company. He co-founded Cryomotive (Grasbrunn,
Germany) in 2020, having acquired key BMW patents to adapt its CcH2
technology for trucks, commercial vehicles and aircraft.
Cryomotive has already built full-scale demonstrator tanks for trucks.
Once commercialized, these tanks will range from 600 to 700 millime-
ters in diameter and 2,350 to 2,650 millimeters in length to hold 75 to 115
kilograms of CcH2 gas in two- to four-tank system configurations. They
will feature a Type III inner pressure vessel encased in, and separated from,
an aluminum outer jacket by multi-layer insulation (MLI) in a vacuum. MLI
comprises multiple layers of aluminum foil and glass fiber fleece to prevent
heat transfer by radiation. Nonconductive composite suspension/supports
maintain the inner tank position within the outer tank.
In September 2022, Cryomotive announced it had commissioned an auto-
mated winding machine from Mikrosam (Prilep, Macedonia). “We’ve built
up manufacturing capabilities because no one in the world had that avail-
able for this size of overwrapped tanks for trucks,” says Brunner. “We’ve
also developed a new hydrogen refueling station (HRS) concept with new
pumps and a new nozzle that we developed with a partner. It’s the highest
capacity nozzle in the world at 15 kilograms/minute, and yet quite compact.”

CRYOGAS: Between the two extremes

Brunner explains that a CGH2 storage system “is an insulated pressure
SMOOTH YOUR
vessel that you overfill with cold H2 gas — what we call CRYOGAS — that EXTERIOR
has 80% higher density than ambient temperature H2 gas at 700 bar, up to
80 grams/liter.” Higher density enables storing more H2 fuel in the tank for WITH EASE
longer range.
CcH2 provides a solution between the two extremes of CGH2 at ambient
temperature and high pressure (700 bar) and LH2 below its boiling point of
-253°C/20K at ambient pressure.
SIKA ADVANCED
High-pressure gas, says Brunner, “demands compressed gas in the vehi- RESINS FILLING
cle tank. To refuel, this requires a series of compressors plus a lot of high-
pressure buffer tanks, as well as pre-cooling down to -40°C.” He adds that & FAIRING
CGH2 at 700 bar also demands a lot of carbon fiber to contain that pressure
in the vehicle tanks. This is a huge issue because not enough carbon fiber is COMPOUNDS
being produced currently with the high strength required.
Compared to CGH2, cryogenic LH2 reduces HRS cost, says Brunner,
PROVIDE AN
“because you can store LH2 in large metal tanks and pump directly into EXCELLENT
the vehicle, but you need to cool down all the lines or you will have losses
along the way and also in the vehicle tank.” Also, onboard the vehicle, LH2 is FINISH
stored in stainless steel or aluminum tanks which must be kept at cryotem-
peratures. Although they don’t require active cooling (e.g., powered chillers)
or carbon fiber, they are not cheap.
TOOLING & COMPOSITE
Why CRYOGAS is a solution SOLUTIONS FROM
After his work on LH2 tanks, Brunner worked on developing CcH2 at BMW DESIGN TO PRODUCTION
for more than five years. “We found that if you compress LH2 into a cryo-
genic gas at 30 or 40 megapascals [300 or 400 bar], you can basically
WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
increase its density,” he explains. “That was the first hypothesis that no one
800-688-7452
believed, but we built a pump with Linde and showed we could produce a
high-pressure CRYOGAS at 30 megapascals with a density of 80 grams/
liter compared to between 65 and 70 grams/liter for LH2.”
Cryomotive’s CcH2 system for trucks still offers higher density than LH2
while maintaining the benefits of a gas, says Brunner. “We eliminate boil-off
issues and can fuel the tank regardless of whether it is warm or cold.” He
notes you can refuel with fresh LH2 into the CRYOGAS (or overfill with cold
CGH2) and you will never lose any hydrogen. (continued on page 10)

CompositesWorld.com 9
Untitled-2.25 x 9.125 CW Specs.indd 4 9/7/2021 9:35:08 AM
 TRENDS

(continued from page 9)

Brunner reiterates that CcH2 enables reduced HRS cost, Commercialization timeline
which is a significant benefit. “The key point is our technol- Cryomotive is working with heavy-truck manufacturer MAN
ogy requires no buffers, no heat exchangers, no pre-cooling (Munich, Germany) as well as Clean Logistics (Winsen,
and no communication — but instead direct fueling using a Germany). Its target, says Brunner, “is to have these first
reciprocating piston pump at very low cost.” trucks with our systems running in early 2025. And we’re
While the onboard CGH2 tank needs to have communica- working to be fully validated by then. We have done lots
tion with the HRS to avoid overheating, Brunner explains of cycle testing and other work toward certification. And
that it’s not necessary for CRYOGAS “because we cannot we have also built the first stations jointly with our partner
overheat. We can never end with 85°C in the tank because and seed investor Chart Industries [Ball Ground, Ga., U.S.]
we operate at cryogenic temperatures, where heating due for the same timeline.” Chart is well-established in the H2
to compression is negligible due to the thermodynamic refueling and HRS market and will offer both LH2 and CcH2
properties of hydrogen.” refueling and storage.
Cryomotive is working with Fives Cryomec (Allschwil, After demonstration of the first CRYOGAS station and
Switzerland) to develop and validate its Cryomec Hy-Filling trucks with CcH2 tanks, Brunner anticipates small series
reciprocating pump for CRYOGAS refueling stations, partic- production — hundreds of systems — from mid-2025
ularly to boost green mobility for trucks and heavy-duty toward 2026. “And thousands of tanks in 2027-2028,” he
vehicles. “We can forecast with confidence,” says Brunner, adds.
“that it can pump 500 kilograms/hour — 8 kilograms/minute Cryomotive’s targets include not only trucks and
— and it’s enormously cost effective — below $250,000.” commercial vehicles, but also aviation. While the company
“You need only one such pump in each CRYOGAS refuel- is interested in discussions with small aircraft companies, it
ing station,” Xavier Nicolas, CEO of Fives Cryomec, says, remains very focused on its timeline to
“plus one liquid bulk storage and the dispenser. You can commercialize its CRYOGAS tanks and
build a CRYOGAS station for less than $1 million and it can stations for trucks and other commercial
fill one truck after the other, endless back-to-back refueling. vehicles.
That’s why we think the technology is so vital. It has a lot of For the full article visit
advantages onboard the vehicle, but even more advantages short.compositesworld.com/CryomotiveCCH2
for the HRS.”

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10 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Thermoset welding
NEWS

Toray develops high-speed thermal welding for

thermoset composites
Toray Industries Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) has developed a technology that ther-
mally welds carbon fiber-reinforced thermoset parts at high speed. According
to Toray, this technology will enable high-rate production and weight savings
of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) airframes. The company is devel-
oping demonstrations with
a goal of commercializing
airframes after 2030, while
also further expanding
applications.
Toray’s simple bonding
approach forms a ther-
mally weldable layer on the
surface of carbon fiber-
reinforced thermoset or
thermoplastic components,
instantaneously heating part
surfaces to bond them, with-
out the need for adhesive
Source | Toray Industries bonding and bolt fastening.
The company assembled
a demonstrator simulating the elemental structure of an aircraft at high
speed using thermally weldable CFRP thermoset parts, determining that the ASSEMBLE
WITH
mechanical properties and joint strength is equivalent to that of co-cured
CFRP structures for current aircraft models. Toray believes its technology
will achieve a high-rate production that matches or surpasses that for alumi-
num alloy airframes, in addition to reduced CO2 emissions across the CFRP
STRENGTH
airframe’s life cycle,
and cutting weight.
Some of Toray’s progress through this development effort is based on SIKA
results obtained from a project, “Development of New Innovative Composite
Materials and Forming Technologies,” supported by the New Energy and STRUCTRUAL
Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Toray adds that it has partnered with Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) to
SEALANTS &
promote a number of technological development projects in the fields of ADHESIVES
aircraft manufacturing and materials technology.
PROVIDE
STRONGER
BIZ BRIEF
BONDS AND
CRP Technology’s (Modena, Italy) Windform materials have reached a new, important
SEALS
milestone, increasing the number of Windform Top-Line composite materials officially TOOLING & COMPOSITE
approved for space flight. Carbon fiber-reinforced Windform RS and glass fiber-rein-
forced Windform LX 3.0 have passed European Space Agency (ESA) standard screening
SOLUTIONS FROM
outgassing tests in accordance with ESA-TEC-PR-002015 (based on ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C). DESIGN TO PRODUCTION
This means that they are officially suitable for the construction of applications to launch
into space. WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
“Passing the outgassing tests is a crucial factor for those who supply materials to the 800-688-7452
space industry,” Franco Cevolini, CEO and technical director of CRP Technology, says.
“The majority of Windform Top-Line composites are already approved for space applica-
tions, and now that two more Windform are officially compliant with ESA outgassing
requirements, we are more competitive and ready to offer further added value to our
most demanding customers.”

CompositesWorld.com 11
Untitled-2.25 x 9.125 CW Specs.indd 5 9/7/2021 9:35:09 AM
 TRENDS

MARINE

Chantiers de l’Atlantique reveals 66-meter, all-composite SolidSail mast

Three years ago, Chantiers de 360 degrees and the masts can rotate or tilt 70 degrees to
l’Atlantique, a shipbuilder in pass under bridge decks.
Saint-Nazaire, France, brought The SolidSail project is designed for the Silenseas, one
together composites industry of the largest future sailing liners in the world, as well as
and offshore racing experts — sailing cargo ships and mid-sized cruise ships. The eventual
Lorima, Multiplast, Avel Robotics, goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than
CDK Technologies and SMM 50% using wind power.
— for the construction of its For this project, Lorima supplied the autoclaved prepreg
first large carbon fiber mast. mast sections, and developed the assembly and fittings;
Recently, the shipyard unveiled Multiplast, alongside Chantiers de l’Atlantique, produced
the full-scale mast prototype the prototype sails that validated the concept of these
for its SolidSail project, which large sailing ships; Avel Robotics designed and manu-
was assembled and revealed in factured the two handles that connect the three tubes of
Lanester, France. the mast, and produced at least one mast section; CDK
Source | Chantiers de l’Atlantique
SolidSail is an efficient, 100% Technologies, specializing in carbon fiber prepreg, manufac-
composite foldable sail. The mast, tured a 24-meter section of the sail, in addition to carrying
66 meters high, 2 meters wide and weighing 20 tonnes, was out high-pressure curing of the mast’s main elements; and
assembled in less than six months. Reported to be one of the SMM produced all tooling required for the project (tube
tallest and strongest masts in the world, it is able to accom- and sleeve molds, assembly frames and draping tools); it’s
modate a 1,500-square-meter sail without guying (braces 100-meter-long facility was used to assemble the mast. Five
or cables fastened to the pole to strengthen it and keep it other companies from the Bretagne Sailing Valley, Ocean
in position). The AeolDrive rig, which includes the SolidSail Data System, Awentech, Pixel sur Mer, Blew Stoub and GSea
mast and sail, is fully automated; its balestron can be rotated Design, provided additional contributions.

12 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Midnight eVTOL developments
NEWS

AEROSPACE

Stellantis to build Midnight eVTOL

aircraft with Archer
In January 2023, Stellantis N.V. (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Archer
Aviation Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.) announced a significant partnership
expansion by joining forces to manufacture Archer’s flagship electric vertical
takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Midnight.
Stellantis will work with Archer to stand up Archer’s recently announced
composites manufacturing facility in Covington, Ga., U.S., at which the
companies plan to begin manufacturing the Midnight aircraft in 2024.

Source | Archer Aviation

DESIGN TO
PRODUCTION
Midnight is designed to be safe, sustainable, quiet and, with its expected
payload of more than 1,000 pounds, can carry four passengers plus a pilot.
With a range of 100 miles, Midnight is optimized for back-to-back short
distance trips of around 20 miles, with a charging time of approximately 10
minutes in between.
SIKA IS A
The aircraft’s primary structure (fuselage, wings, tail, rotors, propellers) PROVIDER AND
will be fabricated with composite materials. A low-rate initial production
(LRIP) facility will be built this year for Midnight in San Jose, Calif., Archer DEVELOPER OF
told CW. Manufacturing operations will be transferred to the Covington, Ga.,
facility once it is complete. HIGH QUALITY
This unique partnership in the urban air mobility (UAM) industry will
leverage each company’s respective strengths and competencies to bring
PERFORMING
the Midnight aircraft to market. Archer says it brings its world-class team of RESIN SYSTEMS
eVTOL aircraft, electric powertrain and certification experts while Stellantis
will contribute advanced manufacturing technology and expertise, expe- & ADHESIVE
rienced personnel and capital to the partnership. In relation to compos-
ites, Archer’s team is directly responsible for sourcing materials, while SOLUTIONS
Stellantis will be providing input to ensure suitability for mass manufactur-
ing. Ultimately, this combination is intended to enable the rapid scaling
FOR TOOLING AND
of aircraft production to meet Archer’s commercialization plans, while COMPOSITES
enabling Archer to strengthen its path to commercialization by helping it
avoid hundreds of millions of dollars of spending during the manufacturing
ramp-up phase. The goal is for Stellantis to mass produce Archer’s eVTOL
WWW.SIKAINDUSTRY.COM
aircraft as its exclusive contract manufacturer.
800-688-7452
As a further sign of its commitment, Stellantis will provide up to $150
million in equity capital for potential draw by Archer at its discretion in
2023 and 2024, subject to achievement of certain business milestones
which Archer expects to occur in 2023. Stellantis also intends to increase
its strategic shareholding through future purchases of Archer stock in
the open market. These actions, along with the other elements of this
expanded partnership, will enable Stellantis to become a long-term, corner-
stone investor in Archer.

CompositesWorld.com 13
Untitled-2.25 x 9.125 CW Specs.indd 6 9/7/2021 9:35:14 AM
 TRENDS

AEROSPACE

NASA picks Boeing’s transonic

truss-based wing for Sustainable
Flight Demonstrator project
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA,
Washington, D.C., U.S.) has issued an award to The Boeing
Company (Arlington, Va., U.S.) for the agency’s Sustainable
Flight Demonstrator (SFD) project, which seeks to inform
a potential new generation of single-aisle airliners with
up to 30% lower emissions versus today’s most advanced
commercial aircraft. Boeing will work with NASA to build, Source | Boeing
test and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft based on
Boeing’s transonic truss-braced wing (TTBW) design. First
flight is scheduled for 2028, part of a year-long flight test The goal of the SFD program is to validate the benefits
campaign planned at NASA Armstrong Flight Research of the TTBW at the aircraft level. In addition, NASA’s goal
Center in California. is that the technology flown on the demonstrator aircraft,
Over seven years, NASA will invest $425 million — as well when combined with other advancements in propulsion
as contribute technical expertise and test facilities — while systems, materials and systems architecture, would result
Boeing and its partners will contribute an estimated $725 in fuel consumption and emissions reductions of up to
million. 30% relative to today’s most efficient single-aisle aircraft,
As reported by Aviation Week, this award is not a surprise. depending on the mission.
“NASA and Boeing have been working together on the high The SFD is the largest effort under NASA’s Sustainable
aspect-ratio TTBW configuration for more than a decade,” Flight National Partnership. Other component programs
AvWeek editor Graham Warwick notes. He quotes Nelson as focus on hybrid turbofan engines, sustainable fuels, electri-
saying that selection of the SFD was indeed a competition, fied powertrains, high-rate composites manufacturing and
but Boeing’s proposal “was by far the best.” trajectory-optimized operations.
Warwick explains that Boeing’s proposal outlined a possi- The new Funded Space Act agreement enables NASA
ble family of single-aisle TTBW aircraft, including the VS-1 to capitalize on private industry knowledge and experi-
and VS-2 where VS stands for Vision System. “Based on the ence, with Boeing and its partners laying out a proposed
MD-90 fuselage, the smaller VS-1 seats 130-160 passengers technical plan. NASA will provide access to its aeronautics
while the 180-210-seat VS-2 has a bigger wing and engines,” facilities and expertise. NASA will not procure an aircraft
notes Warwick. The X-plane demonstrator for NASA will or any other hardware for its missions.
reportedly use a shortened MD-90 airframe. The agency will obtain access to certain
The TTBW concept features an aircraft with extra-long, ground and flight data that can be used
thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts. This design results to validate the airframe configuration
in an aircraft that is much more fuel efficient than a tradi- and associated technologies.
tional airliner due to a shape that would create less drag — Read the full article online at
resulting in it burning less fuel. short.compositesworld.com/TTBW

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14 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Don Adams obituary
NEWS

Longtime composites industry

veteran Donald F. Adams passes

Dr. Donald (Don) F. Adams, emeritus

professor of mechanical engineering at
the University of Wyoming (Laramie) and
president of Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc.
(Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.), passed away on
Dec. 22, 2022 at his Millcreek home due to
complications from COVID-19.
Don was born Sept. 25, 1935, in Streator,
Illinois, the oldest of three children to
Margaret and Fred Adams. He received his
bachelor’s degree in mechanical engi-
neering from the University of Illinois in
1957, and married his hometown sweet-
heart Roberta Rush on June 22, 1957, at
Immaculate Conception Church in Streator,
Illinois.
The newlyweds moved to Southern
California where Don worked as an
engineer at Northrop Aircraft Corp. in
Hawthorne. While working, he also
attended the University of Southern
California, and received his Masters of Source | Wyoming Text Fixtures Inc.

Science in mechanical engineering in

1960. Don and Roberta then returned to
Champagne, Illinois, with their two children David and summer evenings on the lakes of the high plains and in
Daniel, where he received his Ph.D. in theoretical and the Snowy Range west of Laramie catching trout for tasty
applied mechanics from the University of Illinois in 1963. dinners.
After graduating, the family moved back to Newport Upon retirement from the University of Wyoming, Don
Beach, California, where Don worked at the Aeronutronic and Roberta moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to be closer
Division of Ford Motor Co. for four years. They moved up to family. Roberta passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2011.
the California coast to Malibu in 1967 when Don joined the Don was given the gift of a second love and married
Rand Corp. in Santa Monica. During this second stay in Valerie Moenich on May 19, 2018. They enjoyed many
Southern California, the family expanded with the birth of years of the opera, concerts, the ballet and traveling the
Douglas and Jayne. world. They especially enjoyed cruises to Spain, Italy,
In 1972, Don joined the Department of Mechanical France, Greece, Mexico and Germany. Often the highlight
Engineering at the University of Wyoming, and the family of their week was Sunday dinner at the home of Valerie’s
moved from Malibu, California, to Laramie, Wyoming. Don daughter, Christine, and her spouse George and grandson
started the Composite Materials Research Group (CMRG) August who fed their body and soul.
shortly after his arrival, and served as its director for Don is survived by his wife Valerie, children Dan (Cate)
27 years. During those years, he led an interdisciplinary Adams of Salt Lake City, Doug (Bridget) Adams of
group of students, staff and faculty researchers in a broad Denver, Colorado, and Jayne Adams (Gary) of Cheyenne,
range of government and industry research programs. He Wyoming; grandchildren Annie (Tom), Cassie (Brandon),
greatly enjoyed working with undergraduate and gradu- Adam (Becca), Brian (Alex), Elena and Jack. His step-
ate students, and mentored more than 160 students while grandchildren are Amalia, August and step-daughter
at the university. Christine (George) Salt Lake City. His great-grandson is
In 1988, Don started Wyoming Test Fixtures Inc., an Beckham. He was preceded in death by his wife Roberta
engineering business specializing in the design and Rush Adams and his oldest son the Reverend David A.
fabrication of mechanical test fixtures for the compos- Adams.
ite materials community, which he worked at until his Don lived a prosperous life and was a believer in giving
passing. He became a very important member of the back, as witnessed by his generosity and philanthropy.
CompositesWorld team with his Testing Tech columns, Among his favorite charities were his Catholic parishes,
which were eventually taken over by his son, Dan Adams. the Laramie Plains Museum and the Salvation Army.
Don and Roberta were avid supporters of both the In lieu of flowers, please be a philanthropist by donat-
cultural affairs and athletics at the University of Wyoming. ing to your favorite charity in his honor.
He also became an avid fisherman, and spent many

CompositesWorld.com 15
 WORK IN PROGRESS

Bio-based acrylonitrile for

carbon fiber manufacture

The quest for a sustain- »Carbon fiber composite materials, for all of Making carbon fiber
able source of acryloni- their virtues — light weight, high strength, dura- Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), shown here on
bility — have a couple of significant downsides creels, is produced from acrylonitrile
trile for carbon fiber that do not play well in a world that is pivoting (ACN) and is the most commonly used
manufacture has made quickly to emphasize CO2 footprint, sustain- precursor for carbon fiber manu-
facturing. ACN is typically sourced
the leap from the lab to ability and decarbonization. One downside is the from petroleum-based feedstocks,
great deal of energy required which, depending which makes carbon fiber’s carbon
the market. on its source, can produce up to 30 tons of footprint relatively large. Evolving to
CO2 per ton of carbon fiber manufactured. The a bio-based ACN would substantially
second is acrylonitrile, the primary feedstock improve ACN’s sustainability profile.
By Jeff Sloan / Editor-in-Chief
Source | CW
used to produce the carbon fiber precursor poly-
acrylonitrile (PAN), which has been traditionally
sourced from petroleum-based chemistries.
A vast majority of the energy used in carbon fiber manufacturing is consumed by a
series of furnaces and ovens through which the PAN fibers pass as they are oxidized
and carbonized to become carbon fibers (see Learn More).
Reducing energy consumption, as would be expected, revolves around sourcing

16 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Bio-based ACN
NEWS

energy from renewable resources, including hydro, solar and wind. manufacture offers a carbon footprint of -. pounds equiva-
This is the relatively low-hanging fruit of carbon fiber decarbon- lent CO per pound of finished product, compared to . pounds
ization. There are also technologies aimed at reducing the process equivalent CO per pound of finished product for petroleum-
time, such as rapid oxidation developed by Deakin University based ACN manufacture. In short, the bio-based feedstock allows
(Geelong, Australia), licensed by LeMond Carbon (Knoxville, for a process that conserves carbon emissions.
Tenn., U.S.) and audited by Bureau Veritas (BV, Paris, France) in Regarding cost, Southern Research’s process is sensitive to
, that have demonstrated a % reduction in energy required the purity of the sugars feedstock, and the higher the feedstock
per kilogram of output fiber. However, such technologies have yet quality, the more expensive it is. When CW last spoke to Southern
to be commercialized. Research, it was getting ready to commission a small-scale
Reducing the carbon footprint of the precursor is much more production plant and looking for carbon fiber manufacturers
challenging and generally follows one of two paths. The first path willing to assess the quality of its ACN.
is to develop a new class of precursor from a non-PAN, bio-based
source. Lignin, a cellulose byproduct of papermaking, has been Bio-based ACN goes commercial
the primary focus of this effort, but to date has not been able to A lot has happened in three years. Notably, the ACN produc-
produce carbon fibers with mechanical properties on par with tion process Southern Research developed has been licensed by
those derived from PAN. Trillium Renewable Chemicals (Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.), which is
The second path is to develop PAN itself from bio-based sources commercializing it for production of ACN and acetonitrile.
— that is, a bio-based PAN chemically identical to petroleum- Corey Tyree, CEO of Trillium, says the company, still in startup
based PAN and thus a potential drop-in replacement in the carbon mode, completed its seed raise ($ million) in early  and then
fiber manufacturing process. From a materials property perspec- constructed a glycerol-to-ACN pilot plant in Charleston, W.V.,
tive, this path is preferable for obvious reasons, but the challenge U.S. This facility applies the core technology — dehydration and
is one of cost. Is it possible for a bio-based
PAN to be cost-competitive with petroleum-
based PAN?

The genesis of bio-based PAN

In 2019, CW reported on a research program
at Southern Research (Birmingham, Ala.,
U.S.), to develop a cost-effective process
for the manufacture of ACN from non-food
carbohydrates (Learn More). The program
revolved around the use of xylose and glucose
(aka C5, C6 sugars) harvested from wood-
based biomass and refined via hydrolysis. The
process involves passing the sugar feedstock
through a series of three catalysts, with each
catalyst producing an intermediate material
and, in the process, generating a chemical
byproduct:
• Hydrocracking (with H) to produce
intermediate glycerol; byproducts are
glycols, sorbitol, lower alcohols, water.
• Dehydration to produce intermediate
acrolein; byproducts are hydroxyacetone
and water.
• Ammoxidation (with air, NH) to produce
ACN; byproducts are acetonitrile and
water. Bio-based ACN manufacture
As part of its research with bio-based ACN,
Employees of Trillium Renewable Chemicals are shown here working on the company’s pilot line in
Southern Research conducted a life cycle Charleston, W.V., U.S., which produces Bio-ACN sourced from soybean oil feedstocks. Trillium has received
assessment (LCA), comparing biomass-to- Series A financing and will soon build a demonstrator production plant in the U.S. The company is working
ACN manufacture to petroleum-to-ACN with Solvay to assess Bio-ACN as a drop-in replacement for petroleum-based ACN.
manufacture. Results said bio-based ACN Source | Trillium Renewable Chemicals

CompositesWorld.com 17
 WORK IN PROGRESS

ammoxidation — established at Southern Research, with feed- And so far, the strongest signals are coming from the carbon fiber
stock primarily from plant-based glycerol derived from soybean manufacturing industry.
oil. Tyree notes that Trillium’s process also accepts glycerol from In early , Trillium and carbon fiber manufacturer Solvay
rapeseed oil, which is common in Europe, or palm oil, which is Composite Materials (Alpharetta, Ga., U.S.) signed a letter of intent
common in Asia. (LOI) to develop a supply chain for Bio-ACN. Under this agreement,
The pilot plant provided a platform to help Solvay, in , will conduct an analysis of
Trillium optimize its ACN manufacturing Trillium’s Bio-ACN to verify its chemistry
process in anticipation of the company’s Is it possible for a and composition. This will be followed,
next evolutionary step: Construction of a bio-based PAN to be in , by Solvay conducting an LCA of
market-scale demonstration plant some- cost-competitive with the Bio-ACN. Tyree says that if Trillium’s
where in the U.S. This facility, says Bio-ACN meets certain criteria set forth in the
petroleum-based PAN?
Tyree, could break ground before the LOI, an offtake agreement will be triggered,
end of  and begin production by resulting in the sale of Bio-ACN to Solvay.
mid-. Its capacity will be  kilo- Another strong signal from the carbon fiber
grams/week, with funding provided by a $. million Series A supply chain came in December  as part of Trillium’s $.
financing round in late . million Series A financing. Carbon fiber manufacturer Hyosung
Ultimately, Tyree says, once its ACN manufacturing process is Advanced Materials Corp. (Seoul, South Korea) provided a $.
fully derisked, Trillium expects to construct multiple full-scale million investment in that round. Young Joon Lee, VP of Hyosung,
production plants around the world. says the company was drawn to Trillium’s Bio-ACN because of the
product’s strong sustainability profile.
Carbon fiber supply chain interest “Sustainability is at the heart of Hyosung’s future growth
Although Trillium’s ACN, marketed as Bio-ACN, can be targeted to strategy,” he says, “and we firmly believe that our strong partnership
a variety of industries and applications, Tyree says customer and will take us to the next level of industry leadership in [the] renew-
market signals will determine the direction the company follows. able chemicals space.”
CarbCon_HalfPage_2023_v6.pdf 1 2/6/23 4:42 PM

CM

MY

CY

CMY

18 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Bio-based ACN
NEWS

Says Tyree of investment from the carbon fiber industry: “That’s where much
of the interest is coming from, and it’s serious. This is the market segment that
frequently travels through the [investment] pipeline to a strategic partnership or an
investment. That is telling.”
The sustainability story that Trillium ultimately tells with Bio-ACN is a strong
one. “Unlike some other segments,” Tyree notes, “ACN is the only monomer used to
produce PAN, and the sustainability impact of a green drop-in ACN product is not
diluted by other petroleum-based products.”
Thus the decarbonization advantages conveyed by the company’s technology are
maintained in the final product. The result, he says, is a % reduction of the carbon
footprint of ACN. And what about the carbon fiber itself? “We have a general idea,”
Tyree says, “but the LCA work that Solvay is doing will be the ultimate measure. It’s
not hard to see, however, that a % reduction in the ACN footprint will result in a
substantial reduction in the carbon fiber footprint.”
Beyond decarbonization, Tyree says Trillium is discovering that different regions
see different benefits of Bio-ACN through different lenses. “The people we talk
to ask a lot of questions because they need to understand how to sell this to their
customers,” Tyree says. “Is it the bio feature they’re selling? Is it the lower carbon
footprint green aspect that they’re selling? Is it both?”
For example, he says potential customers in the EU are sensitive to the use of
GMOs in feedstocks. They are also concerned about the use of palm oil — derived
from the oil palm tree which has displaced
forests in some regions to expand crop produc-
tion. “Our view is that done responsibly, palm oil
Read this article online | short.
compositesworld.com/bioACN is actually quite a good crop,” Tyree says. “But we
More on carbon fiber have to be sensitive to some customers’ concerns
manufacture | about this crop.”
short.compositesworld.com/ Assuming Trillium’s Bio-ACN proves chemi-
makingofcarbonfiber
cally identical to petroleum-based ACN — and
Read about biomass-based
there is no reason to think that it will not — the
acrylonitrile scale-up | short.
compositesworld.com/ next question will be about cost. Tyree would
ACNbiomass not divulge specific cost data but did note that
he expects Bio-ACN will have cost parity with
conventional ACN by the time it enters the
market. And that could be soon, given the tech-
nology, market and funding hurdles that Trillium
has cleared.
Ultimately, Tyree says, Bio-ACN’s position in
the market will come down to its ability to help
carbon fiber manufacturers meet sustainability
goals. “The one thing that cuts across all customers and geographies is the carbon
footprint,” he says. “ACN represents the chemistry where you can have the most
impact.”
Keep an eye on more reporting in the next few months from CW about other bio-
based precursors for carbon fiber manufacturing.

Jeff Sloan is editor-in-chief of CompositesWorld, and has been engaged in plastics-

and composites-industry journalism for 27 years. [email protected]

CompositesWorld.com 19
 WORK IN PROGRESS

ASCEND program update:

Designing next-gen, high-rate
auto and aerospace composites
GKN Aerospace, McLaren Automotive and U.K.-based partners
share goals and progress aiming at high-rate, Industry
4.0-enabled, sustainable materials and processes.

By Hannah Mason / Technical Editor

» In the U.K. and globally, the aerospace composites supply Mid-project update: First demonstrators
chain is striving to provide potential solutions for aircraft OEMs to An aircraft wingtip and automotive rear floor are among the final demonstrators
produce higher rate, more composites-intensive aircraft compo- slated to be completed by the ASCEND project’s conclusion in 2024, showcasing
nents — with new innovations including materials development, new composite materials and processes. As of early 2023, first parts are being
new process technologies, novel joining technologies and more. made, including the automotive rear floor (shown in rendering at left, connected
to the rest of the chassis) and thermoformed ribs to be used in the final wingtip
About three years ago, Craig Carr, technology director for inte- (pictured right). Source | McLaren Automotive (left image) and GKN Aerospace (right image)
grated composite structures at GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.)
and chair of U.K. industry board the Composites Leadership
Forum (CLF), became aware of the highly automated technology vehicles — “high-rate” in this case meaning a few thousand parts
that fellow CLF partner McLaren Automotive (Woking, U.K.) per year.
was developing to produce high-quality, composite automotive “[This] isn’t strictly high-rate in the automotive world, but is
components at its Sheffield-based McLaren Composites Tech- high-rate in the composites world, and we’ve always said that we’re
nology Centre (MCTC). The two companies quickly recognized probably closer to the aerospace industry than we are to main-
that much could be gained from a cross-sector collaboration. stream automotive, in terms of rate and the way we use composites
Joseph Elford, head of engineering at the MCTC, explains to build complex, integrated parts,” Elford notes.
that McLaren opened the MCTC in  to develop higher rate GKN Aerospace and McLaren “started asking, ‘How can we
composites technologies for the company’s high-performance exploit those technologies between us?’” Carr says. “Between the

20 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 ASCEND program
NEWS

capability of automotive rates, and the requirements of

aerospace quality, there should be an answer some-
where in the middle that we can both learn from.”
Springing from these initial conversations, in
early  the ASCEND (Aerospace and Auto-
motive Supply Chain Enabled Development)
Tooling design
consortium was launched. The £ million,
four-year program is led by GKN Aerospace’s Part of the wingtip demonstrator project has been
developing new RTM tooling for faster automated
Bristol, U.K.-based Global Technology Centre
manufacture. Self-heated and shape memory
(GTC) and organized and managed by Axillium Research polymer (SMP) tooling are among the
(Daventry, U.K.). The project is financially supported in part by technologies used. Source | GKN Aerospace
the U.K. government via Innovate UK and the Aerospace Tech-
nology Institute (ATI). for the urban air mobility (UAM) market, that rate could be much
In addition to GKN Aerospace, McLaren Automotive and higher.
Axillium, ASCEND includes  other U.K.-based project partners Will Searle, chairman of Axillium, adds, “The main element of
that span the supply chain: Assyst Bullmer, Cygnet Texkimp, Far-UK the program is developing not just demonstrator parts but a cross-
Ltd., Hexcel Composites, Hive Composites, LMAT Ltd., Loop Tech- sector and integrated supply chain solution for [the aerospace and
nology, the National Composites Centre (NCC), Rafinex, Sigmatex, automotive] industries, enabling manufacturing of products at
Solvay Composite Materials, Airborne and Des Composites. higher rates going forward. Our challenge is to double the speed
ASCEND’s leaders call it a cross-sector technology and supply of productivity by which we can produce these new components
chain development program, aimed at joining the aerospace and regardless of the sector. That’s the core.”
automotive industries. Carr explains that for commercial single-
aisle aircraft, the target for ASCEND is to enable production of Five themes: From design to inspection
composites-intensive aircraft at a rate of  shipsets per month; ASCEND’s high-level goals are broken down into five themes:
• Lightweight design tools
• Future material systems
Integrated workflow for aircraft wingtip • Rate-capable automation
The bladed wingtip and other ASCEND demonstrators serve to showcase how • Electrification and multifunctionalism
all of the program work package technologies combine to produce high-quality, • Integrated hybrid structures
high-rate composite components. Source | GKN Aerospace These five themes are demonstrated in  work packages,

ASCEND - An Integrated Approach to Aerospace

WP1. 4 Digital Twin WP2. 2 Fast Cure Resin Advanced resin systems for RTM:
Systems • Reduced takt time
WP1. 1 Design & Simulation Closed loop feedback multiple • More sustainable
sensors: • High-rate capable
Anisotropic stochastic topology optimized design • Temperature
• Pressure
WP1. 2 Design of Integrated • Resin flow front
Structures • Degree of cure
WP1. 3 Process Development
& Simulation

RTM and forming simulation: WP2. 4 Sustainabilty &

• Gravity and internal pressure effects Energy
• Dry spots or race tracking
• Material wrinkles or fiber distortion LCA (Life Cycle Analysis): Enabling our people to
make sustainable choices at
Ensuring our growth is
informed and aligned to our

• Process times • Material waste home & at work

How our
People Live
New
Business
sustainable goals

WP3. 3 Automation for Rate • Energy usage & Work

• Emissions Our supply Product Lifecycle

Performance
Enabling, supporting & chain Inspiring our customers with
Automated process: influencing our suppliers
Energy, new sustainable products

Integrated Wingtip
Waste &
towards sustainable goals & processes
• Optimized material Emissions

cutting
Improving our efficiency,
• Pick & place 2D and 3D reducing our waste and
lowering our emissions
• SD forming (single diaphragm)
• Net edge forming WP3. 1 Tooling
• SmarRTM (Smart RTM) Automated RTM tooling and
WP3. 2 Inspection & NDT
• Sustainable automation associated fixtures:
• Automated trimming • In-process inspection and vision • Minimizing manual operations
• High-rate RTM systems for automation • Improving H&S
• Instant triage NDE • Re-useable tooling
• Intelligent multi-use fixtures

CompositesWorld.com 21
 WORK IN PROGRESS

SIDEBAR

ASCEND: Five themes

Theme 1: Lightweight design tools. At the design level, Next-level design tools
partners such as simulation and optimization algorithms
Digital thread and optimized simulation technology are among the
developer Rafinex (London, U.K.) and engineering firm Far-UK
first work packages for the overall project. Source | GKN Aerospace
Ltd. (West Bridgford) are working on software tools to optimize
complex composite designs, including managing real-life service
variability and resulting reliability risks. Studies with digital and
objective that NCC is leading to underpin sustainable processes
physical demonstrators for validation are being undertaken.
within the overall program.”
Importantly, digital thread technology is being woven through all
As the program continues, materials with increased impact
of the work packages, starting with part modeling and through resin
resistance and multifunctionality are also goals for specific
transfer molding (RTM) or filament winding process steps, which are being
Theme 2 work packages.
automated and digitized with data monitoring and collection architecture
Theme 3: Rate-capable automation. The main
by automated solutions specialist Airborne.
processes used across work packages are prepreg
Theme 2: Future material systems. All process technologies being
thermoforming, RTM and a novel dry fiber
developed through this project — in and out of the autoclave — aim for faster
deposition process for the creation of 2D blanks
cycle and cure times, requiring faster-cure resin systems. ASCEND is largely
(more on this below). To speed up cycle
focusing on thermoset resin systems, Carr explains, though thermoplastics
times, automation and robotics are being
are being considered for a hydrogen tank work package (more on this below).
implemented into as many process
Partners Hexcel Composites (Cambridge, U.K.), Solvay Composite Materials
stages as possible, as well as advanced ply
(Wrexham and Heanor, U.K.) and Sigmatex (Cheshire, U.K.) have been working
cutting and nesting to optimize the preforming process while reducing raw
to develop fast-cure, two-part resin systems for improved cycle times using dry
material waste.
tapes, prepregs and noncrimp fabrics (NCF).
In addition, novel and optimized tooling systems are also being
In addition, Kevin Barlow, principal research engineer at GKN Aerospace,
developed to enable faster cycle times. Developments so far include
explains that sustainability is a goal that transcends each of the themes,
demonstration of 3D-printed tooling, self-heated composite tooling,
evidenced particularly in the materials systems work. The National Composites
reusable smart tools such as shape memory polymer (SMP) tooling, and the
Centre (NCC) is working with materials supplier partners to study and document
integration of ultrasonic sensors and other nondestructive evaluation (NDE)
emissions produced during the materials development as well as later process
systems for process monitoring.
steps.
LMAT Ltd. (Bristol, U.K.) is a key partner working on self-heated
“This framework will be needed to achieve net-zero emissions goals in
composite tooling with improved thermal efficiency, along with automatic/
the future,” Barlow explains. “We’re building on work we’ve done in the
tool-free part ejection for enhanced operation and durability. In addition,
past, achieving 80% energy savings by switching to OOA [out-of-autoclave]
Hive Composites (Leicestershire, U.K.) is working on a novel self-heated
processes like RTM and automated NCF placement and forming for the Wing of
tooling technology that offers significant energy savings over traditional
Tomorrow [WOT] program. Here, we’re striving to use even less energy and to
curing methods for thermosets.
produce even less waste.”
Theme 4: Electrification and multifunctionalism. These work packages
Searle adds that a recycling value stream for sustainable composite materials
will introduce integrated, multifunctional airframe structures — including
is being developed by the NCC. “As we increase rates and produce more parts,
nanomaterial-based de-icing systems developed by partner Hive Compos-
that means we also increase our waste as well. Within ASCEND, this is a central
ites, integrated electrical wiring in composite panels and material concepts
for a Type V cryogenic hydrogen tank for use on future zero-emissions,
Enabling our people to Ensuring our growth is
make sustainable choices at informed and aligned to our net-zero aircraft.
home & at work sustainable goals Within the tank work package, goals include exploring the global
How our New
People Live
& Work
Business supply chain for cryogenic-suitable composite materials, while also, in the
U.K., developing the test capability to validate cryogenic performance at a
Product Lifecycle
Our supply
Performance coupon level and understanding manufacturing capabilities for filament-
Enabling, supporting & chain Inspiring our customers with
influencing our suppliers
Energy, new sustainable products & wound or braided tanks.
Waste &
towards sustainable goals Emissions
processes Theme 5: Integrated hybrid structures. Theme 5 work packages, led
by Hive Composites and Far-UK, are focused on elimination of fasteners
through bonding and other joining methods. The current target is on
Improving our efficiency,
reducing our waste and automating the bonding process using robotic adhesive dispensing,
lowering our emissions improving secondary bonding processes using embedded heating and
evaluating surface preparation methods. Nano-based conductive adhesives
Focus on sustainability are also being developed along with technologies for joint inspection, such
Waste and emissions reduction are being considered for each step of the ASCEND as sensors that can be used to monitor the structural integrity of adhesive
project’s processes. Source | GKN Aerospace bondlines.

22 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 ASCEND program
NEWS

Cross-sector
collaboration
ASCEND aims to build the
composites supply chain in
the U.K. for the aerospace
and automotive industries.
Project partners include OEMs,
fabricators, researchers and
suppliers specializing in digital
tools, materials, tooling design
and more. Source | Axillium

which are further broken down into  individual projects or comprising skins, spars and ribs, based on similar customers’
“touch points,” as Searle describes them. Between the program’s single-aisle aircraft wing designs and using next-generation
start in  and end in , the goal is to get as much of the stochastic topology optimization software from the Theme  work
work as possible to technology readiness level (TRL) , with key packages. This digital model was supplied to the McLaren team,
rate targets demonstrated at the prototype level for automotive which is working to optimize the design and process for higher
and aerospace markets. rates using automotive principles. One of the main goals, Carr
In addition to the technology itself, Searle emphasizes that says, is to produce the part using a process that could reduce the
another important part to building the supply chain capability takt time from an hour to  minutes.
is creating new roles and skills in the workforce. Over the course What does this mean, exactly? Preforms for the wing skins
of the ASCEND program, approximately , and spars will be manufactured via
skilled jobs will be created in the U.K. RTM using NCFs and a specialized
A summary of some of the progress for ASCEND’s leaders call it a preforming process — materials
each program theme so far is detailed in the cross-sector technology and process originally developed by
sidebar, at left “ASCEND: Five themes.” McLaren Automotive for its production
and supply chain
While also demonstrating individual automotive parts at the MCTC.
technologies, all of the work packages
development program. Specifically, McLaren’s Elford explains
are also progressing toward several that the all-composite chassis on its newly
demonstrator projects aimed at aero- launched Artura plug-in hybrid EV served as
space and automotive applications. Further, several of these one of the inspirations for the ASCEND program collaboration,
demonstrators work directly between both industries — initially, a and was the first product to be delivered from the MCTC since its
bladed aircraft wingtip and an automotive rear floor (see opening founding.
image). Called the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA),
the chassis “is fully integrated — the full structure, floor, cavity for
Aerospace demonstrators: the battery, crash structures, mounting hardware — everything
Proving out automotive processes, rates integrated into a single, RTM molded component,” Elford says.
The aerospace demonstrators will showcase several processes: “The RTM process is something we’ve been developing for the last
a filament-wound hydrogen storage tank; an RTM’d wing box;  years, and in the last five years, we’ve been doing it in-house and
thermoformed prepreg trailing edge, wing ribs and spars; a curved made a huge amount of improvements to our own RTM system,
wingtip skin laid up from tapes; and a bladed wingtip made with some of which would be really significant in the aerospace world.”
RTM’d noncrimp fabrics (NCFs). How does the system reduce cycle times and improve
According to Carr, the bladed wingtip demonstrator marks the throughput? Elford explains, “High-rate RTM is really our pivotal
first part developed in collaboration between GKN Aerospace technology, and we’ve developed the technology all the way
and McLaren Automotive. GKN Aerospace designed the wingtip, through the material supply chain — the process, the resin

CompositesWorld.com 23
 WORK IN PROGRESS

Automated work cell

ASCEND partner Airborne has developed
a fully automated preforming and RTM
cell to be installed at GKN’s Bristol-based
Global Technology Centre in summer 2023,
for producing several of the consortium’s
aerospace demonstrator components.
Source | Airborne

chemistry, down to a new blade geometry for

the ply cutters to be able to cut thousands of pieces
of carbon fiber per hour.”
One major improvement to the process is develop-
ment of sophisticated, proprietary tooling that does not require
cleaning or maintenance between parts. A part is formed, the
part is lifted off by a robot and then the tool can immediately
be reloaded. “That’s conventional in a lot of injection molding floor and a door. “The rear floor is similar in some ways to many
practices, but it’s been nearly unachievable in the composites aerospace applications; it has a stressed skin, part of the rear frame
industry,” Elford notes. Integrated sensors for process monitoring provides stiffness to the rear of the car to support stability during
also enable high visibility into process operations. cornering loads and braking forces and it’s a really critical aero-
To reduce cycle times further, McLaren has also developed dynamic surface,” Elford explains. While the wingtip serves as an
a proprietary preforming process using a specially designed opportunity to demonstrate McLaren’s existing automotive tech-
molding machine that delivers a preform in two and a half to three nology for aerospace, the rear floor is an opportunity to develop
minutes each, with a carousel system to change out tools to deliver the next generation of its automotive technology, he says.
different shapes. These semi-consolidated preforms are then “The next big challenge is eliminating the waste involved in the
loaded into the RTM machine for infusion and molding on self- manufacturing process,” Elford says. “To do this, we’ve started
heated tools. All of this technology was developed for McLaren’s developing our own tape deposition technology.”
high-performance road cars — “but This proprietary process, he explains, is an alternative to auto-
we can see that there are so many mated fiber placement (AFP) — “AFP is what you’d use to get the
Read this article online | parallels to the aerospace industry,” tape format with a near-net shape blank with zero waste, but it’s
short.compositesworld. Elford says. too slow for the rates we need.” So, the MCTC is developing a high-
com/ASCEND The ASCEND wingtip was chosen rate tape deposition process for layup of D blanks that can then
as the first part to demonstrate this be preformed and RTM’d.
technology in an aerospace compo- McLaren Automotive has now manufactured its demonstrator
nent. The wingtip “also embodies rear floor prototype for the ASCEND project (opening image, left),
some of our [automotive] design and as of the end of  was testing the floor on an Artura GT
philosophies as well,” Elford notes. vehicle.
“The way we’re looking at the wingtip Benefits include high productivity, material cost savings due to
is, if it were a product on a car, how reduction in waste material, slightly improved stiffness and signifi-
would we engineer it? How would we design it? How would cant weight savings over an aluminum part.
we manufacture it, knowing that we can get into the realms of The tape material and process were developed by McLaren for
minutes per part in terms of takt time?” ASCEND, with partner Sigmatex playing a key role.
For the wingtip project, self-heated shape memory polymer After proving out the floor demonstrator, the next step within
(SMP) tools were developed to further reduce cost and improve ASCEND will be to design and manufacture a vehicle door demon-
processing time. strator. “It’s the next step up in terms of complexity,” Elford
The final part will be completed by the project’s end next year; explains, including safety and quality requirements, load cases it
as of early , the first physical components like thermoformed and the fact that it is a painted, RTM’d surface.
ribs are being manufactured (opening image, right). New challenges emerge when switching to tapes, Elford says,
and the partnership and knowledge from GKN Aerospace are
Automotive demonstrators: Proving aerospace pivotal to the development process. He notes, “There are nuances
materials, quality to preforming with tape — gaps, overlap, spreading, the stability of
The two main automotive demonstrators for ASCEND are a rear tapes is fundamentally different than a stitched fabric [NCF]. There

24 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 ASCEND program
NEWS

is a lot of development in preforming with tape, but it all happens establishing the capability to operate the factory at rate, with the
with our existing technology. We have the ability to be able to best materials and a highly skilled workforce to accelerate the U.K.
change temperatures, pressures, speeds and so on to basically composites community.”
hone in on the best parameters that work with tape.”
The aerospace industry is “an expert in process validation of
tape manufacturing in particular. They’ve been using tape for as
long as we’ve been using RTM, so that’s really valuable — they
Technical editor Hannah Mason has been writing and editing
have insight and knowledge on how a tape performs in a produc-
about composites for CompositesWorld since 2018. She has a
tion infrastructure, and how to validate that through a process; Master’s degree in professional writing from the University of
it’s a really great opportunity for us to see how our approaches Cincinnati. [email protected]
compare across industries and share our
learning together. Aerospace is also on the
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CompositesWorld.com 25
 INSIDE MANUFACTURING

Developing repairs for thermoplastic

composite aerostructures
HyPatchRepair project proves feasibility of automated process
chain for welded TPC patch repairs.

By Ginger Gardiner / Senior Technical Editor

Stepped Milled, stepped repair area Welded patch repair

»Thermoplastic composites (TPC) continue to be demonstrated Demonstrating welded thermoplastic composite

in ever larger aircraft structures, offering fast manufacturing to (TPC) patch repair
meet increased production rates anticipated for future narrow- The HyPatchRepair project paired a stepped repair patch made using tailored
body and advanced air mobility (AAM) platforms. TPC structures fiber placement (TFP) with a milled panel of the same construction and integrated
them using press welding to demonstrate the feasibility of an automated TPC
also enable welded assemblies, eliminating fasteners, which
repair process chain. Source (all images) | HyPatchRepair project, Faserinstitut Bremen
further reduces production time, cost and weight. In a recent CW
article, Tier 1 aerostructures supplier Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita,
Kan., U.S.) explains, “using thermoplastics in larger components,
like stringers, frames, bulkheads and fuselage skin panels, can be load-carrying capacity, geometry and aerodynamic surface
incredibly beneficial. We aim to utilize thermoplastic compos- without adding weight for parts such as fuselage skins, wings,
ites in applications where automated high-rate manufacturing is winglets and empennage components including rudders. These
possible ... repeatedly melting, forming and solidifying material in techniques would prepare the repair area, fabricate a load-opti-
very short cycle times.” mized repair patch and then integrate the patch into the repair
However, aircraft in use get damaged, and that damage neces- area using technologies proven to be effective and cost efficient.
sitates repair. Repair techniques for thermoset composites are
well-developed, including the common method of restoring even Automated repair process chain
primary structures using a bonded composite repair patch (see The German HyPatchRepair consortium was led by research
Learn More). Although TPC structures have flown since the s, institutes Faserinstitut Bremen (FIBRE, associated with Univer-
similar repair techniques are still in development. sity of Bremen) and Laser Zentrum Hannover (LZH, Hannover).
The HyPatchRepair project (-) was funded by the The project included Airbus Operations, aircraft repair services
German government — as part of the LuFo-V aerospace research provider Lufthansa Technik (Hamburg), small aircraft manu-
program — to demonstrate rivet-free repair technology for facturer Silence Aircraft (Schloß Holte Stukenbrock) and optical
continuous fiber-reinforced TPC parts. The goal was to develop measurement systems supplier Vereinigte Elektronikwerkstätten
a set of automated repair techniques to restore the original (VEW, Bremen) as associated partners. Due to its expertise

26 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 TPC patchNEWS
repair

in large TPC structures, GKN Fokker (Hoogeveen, Nether- robotic approach (Learn More). The task for HyPatchRepair was
lands) provided defect/damage cases and helped to define how to adapt this process for TPC parts.
demonstrators. The DMG MORI robot was previously located at Airbus’
The process chain conceived by this consortium includes: Composite Technology Center (CTC, Stade, Germany), notes
• Detect damage: An optical measuring system inspects the Markus Geiger, HyPatchRepair project manager at FIBRE. “We
part to be repaired and determines the area and depth of brought it to FIBRE’s ECOMAT center, next to Airbus Opera-
material that needs to be removed, minimizing this if possible. tions in Bremen, and then modified it.” He explains the robot was
VEW demonstrated this step using an optical measuring designed to attach onto the body of an aircraft. But because the
system at its facilities. trials in HyPatchRepair would be on flat panels, FIBRE created a
• Mill the repair area: Damaged material is removed with a type of R&D cell within which the robot could perform scanning
DMG MORI (Bielefeld, Germany) five-axis ULTRASONIC as well as milling with vacuum dust extraction (Fig. ). Both
mobileBLOCK robot, providing consistent quality, dimen-
sional accuracy and repeatability. To replace the removed
plies with an accurate repair patch, the repair area is
machined into steps. FIBRE demonstrated this process using
the DMG MORI robot while LZH explored using lasers.
• Measure the repair area: The stepped repair area must
be accurately measured to fabricate a precisely fitting
repair patch. LZH demonstrated this step using a Wenglor
(Tettnang, Germany) MLWL  laser profile scanner.
LabVIEW software (National Instruments, Austin, Texas,
U.S.) was used to convert the data into the required patch
dimensions.
• Fabricate repair patches: Repair patch preforms are fabri-
cated using tailored fiber placement (TFP) and continuous
fiber D printing and then consolidated. FIBRE demonstrated
the manufacturing of TPC preforms and consolidation using
a heated press and specially designed tooling.
• Trim patches: The patches are measured after consolida-
tion and compared with the stepped repair surface. Required
trimming is completed using a laser, demonstrated by LZH.
• Weld patches: Patches are fused to the repair area using laser
beamFokker welding. LZH demonstrated how this method
would work while FIBRE demonstrated the concept using
pressure welding in a heated press.
Note, HyPatchRepair’s goal was to demonstrate the feasibility
of this process chain and complete parametric testing to under-
stand and select the best process options. Materials investi-
gated included carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced polyamide  (PA)
and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). A follow-on project, Ther-
moRepD (-) will further develop these process steps,
including manufacture and welding/fusing of curved patches to
a curved repair area and use of carbon fiber-reinforced low-melt
polyaryletherketone (LM-PAEK) tape materials.

Robotic approach adapted for HyPatchRepair

Using robots to perform bonded patch repairs was explored 10
years ago with thermoset composites in the Composite Adapt-
able Inspection and Repair (CAIRE) project (2012-2015) led by
Lufthansa Technik and Airbus. The robot developed in CAIRE FIG. 1 Adapted robot cell
and the DMG MORI robot above were discussed in CW’s 2016 The DMG MORI robot used in HyPatch shown in testing at CTC Stade on a vertical
article, “Aircraft composite repair moves toward maturity.” fin (top) and after modification to perform milling and scanning on flat panels
American GFM (Chesapeake, Va., U.S.) has developed a similar within a temporary plywood cell at FIBRE (bottom).

CompositesWorld.com 27
 INSIDE MANUFACTURING

FIG. 2 TFP for TPC

patches
A ZSK dual-head stitching
machine (left) produced
tailored fiber placement (TFP)
patches (right) using 12K
carbon fiber/PPS commingled
yarn and higher melt tempera-
ture PEEK stitch thread.

operations were possible using a single end effector equipped with tailored geometry and fiber orientation. TFP uses an indus-
with a milling tool and laser line scanner (Step , starting p. ). trial stitching machine to affix commingled thermoplastic and
reinforcing fibers to a matrix-compatible film (Learn More). As
Milling and patch demonstrations explained in part  of CW’s  feature on automated preforming
To demonstrate TPC patch repair, HyPatchRepair selected a 100 × (Learn More), FIBRE has a long history in working with TFP,
100-millimeter square patch with three 20-millimeter-wide steps. including production of load-optimized TPC preforms that are
Demonstrator panels had to be manufactured and then milled then quickly compression molded or thermoformed into parts.
to match these steps. In an actual repair, the goal is to restore For each trial, the demonstrator panel and repair patch were made
the laminate so that all removed material is replaced, matching using the same materials and process.
the fiber orientation of each ply. The DMG MORI robot was thus The TFP trials used a dual stitch head ZSK Stickmaschinen (ZSK,
programmed to mill a three-stepped area in the demonstrator Krefeld, Germany) machine and CF yarn commingled with PA
panels. The end effector was rotated, and the robot then scanned or PPS (Fig. ). Ply stacking sequence was °/°/°/°/°/°.
the milled area for accuracy (Step 2). Milling and scanning time For consolidation (Step ), each patch was placed into a two-
totaled 30 minutes. piece steel tool set and thermoformed in a heated press. A typical
The next step was to manufacture repair patches. Because press cycle for CF/PPS patches included a ramp up to °C (
HyPatchRepair focused on TPC repair, the project veered away minutes), a dwell at °C for  minutes with  bar pressure and
from past prepreg-based processes and instead trialed TFP (Step then a cooldown ( minutes) while maintaining that pressure.
) and D printing. Both processes can produce a repair patch Ply thickness after consolidation was ≈. to . millimeter. For
CF/PA patches, a - or -minute ramp to °C was followed
by a -minute dwell at °C and an - to -minute cooldown.
laser beam Pressure was stepped from  bar during ramp to  bar during
dwell and to  bar during cooldown.
glass plate The D-printed patches were produced using a Markforged
demonstrator panel
(Watertown, Mass., U.S.) Mark Two machine at CTC Stade and
continuous carbon fiber filament in combination with nylon (PA)
filament. The ply stacking sequence was °/°/°/° per step. Ply
thickness after D printing was ≈. to . millimeter. Geiger
notes that the printed patches had significant porosity and would
require consolidation before being fused with the stepped repair
area. However, by this point in the project, FIBRE had already
decided to focus on TFP for patch fabrication.
clamping pressure repair patch
weld seam First trial findings
Geiger discusses various parameters studied during patch fabri-
FIG. 3 Laser-based heat conduction welding cation and lessons learned. For example, two approaches were
A diode laser passes through a glass plate — which maintains pressure on the used for the TFP patches, he says, “one where all three steps were
patch in a welding fixture — and heats up the TPC matrix in the patch and mating one patch and one where we used single patches for each step. In
stepped surfaces. A reliable weld is created as the materials cool. the latter, we cut the 100-, 60- and 20-millimeter-wide steps from
Source | Laser Zentrum Hannover a larger TFP sample. This avoids the fiber turnings created at the

28 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 TPC patch repair
NEWS

Top press plate

Two-piece tool top

Insulation Split press tool top
Split press
Repair patch tool bottom

Stepped panel
Two-piece tool bottom

Bottom press plate

500 µm

edges of the patch during the TFP process [see loops at edges of FIG. 4 Press-welding tools, results
patch in opening image].” These turnings tended to create matrix- To confine heat and pressure to the repair patch during press welding, an
rich areas, but he notes that cutting the steps from a larger panel additional split press tool was used in combination with the two-piece tool from
created waste.  patch consolidation (diagram at left). Cross-section micrographs at the outer edge
of the repair patch show the welded patch plies at top (right).
Another finding was revealed during consolidation of the CF/
PA repair patches. “In these patches, the stitch yarn was also
PA,” says Geiger. “We noticed during the press consolidation that
the stitching started to ‘swim,’ materials cool a reliable weld seam is created (Fig. 3).
meaning it produced areas with LZH conducted initial trials using Toray Advanced Compos-
Read this article online | more matrix than fiber. So, we ites (Nijverdal, Netherlands) Cetex CF/PPS organosheet, with 
short.compositesworld.com/ then adjusted our approach for plies comprising a -millimeter-thick demonstrator panel on the
HyPatchRepair
the CF/PPS samples, and used bottom and  plies used in a .-millimeter-thick repair coupon
Read about bonded composite polyetheretherketone [PEEK] on top. An additional film of unreinforced PPS was needed in
repair patches for thermosets
| short.compositesworld.com/ stitch yarn, which has a higher between to provide enough matrix material to ensure a good join
cobondedrepair melting point. When we consoli- between the parts. These materials were heated using a Laser-
More on repair technologies dated these patches, there was line GmbH (Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany) LDM - diode laser
developed by CAIRE and DMG no ‘swimming’ and we achieved system with a power of  watts, spot geometry of  ×  milli-
MORI | short.compositesworld.
a better quality.” meters and a -nanometer wavelength.
com/MROrepair
Trials then moved to the TFP patches and demonstrator panels.
Learn more about TFP |
short.compositesworld.com/ Laser welding However, there were some initial challenges, notes Geiger. “For
biomimicrypt2 and short. Two welding methods were example, our patch comprised three steps, each . millimeter in
compositesworld.com/ trialed during HyPatchRepair: depth, totaling . millimeters in thickness. But the laser was only
PreformPt2
laser-based heat conduction able to weld a .-millimeter thickness. Thus, LZH had to split
See more on msquare’s
welding and press welding, the welding process into three heating steps, welding each of the
electromagnetic induction
technology | short. which is discussed below. Laser three patch plies separately.”
compositesworld.com/msquare welding trials were performed This was solved by implementing a control system that uses a
by LZH. “The general method pyrometer to measure the surface temperature. “During several
used,” explains Verena Wippo, tests, LZH measured the surface temperature as well as the laser
head of composites at LZH, power and irradiation time used,” says Geiger, “and compared
“placed the repair patch and these with analysis of the welds produced. Using these results,
demonstrator panel to be LZH was able to adjust the weld parameters based on the pyrom-
repaired into a welding fixture, eter measurements. Finally, both multistage welding of each
which uses a glass plate to press step layer and welding of the complete patch in one pass was
the repair patch down onto the achieved.”
stepped repair area [Step 6]. The latter was used for the final demonstrator, discussed
The laser beam passes through the glass plate and generates heat, below. LZH irradiated the entire repair patch area simultane-
which conducts through the repair patch.” This heat melts the ously in one pass, managed by an automated control system. This
matrix in the patch and at the mating surfaces of the stepped repair system used the pyrometer-measured surface temperature signal,
area. Pressure is maintained and as the laser passes, and as the which it processed using a PID (proportional–integral–derivative)

CompositesWorld.com 29
 INSIDE MANUFACTURING

controller that then managed the laser power to maintain a spec- needed more matrix to weld the patch using their laser process.
ified welding temperature. And this reused waste actually performs better than a pure matrix
Another development was to replace the PPS film with waste foil because it has bits of carbon fiber in it.”
from milling the repair steps in the demonstrator panel. “We used
that waste to make a small foil, which was laid into the stepped Press welding, final demonstrator
repair area as a first binding ply,” explains Geiger. “This ply was Press welding was chosen by FIBRE as a method to test materials,
then followed by the patch. This is what LZH did because they process parameters and requirements for achieving a good weld

1 Robot mills steps into demonstrator panel. Laser profile scanner also 3 Tailored fiber placement (TFP) using CF/PPS fiber produces 100-, 60– and
attached to the end effector will scan the machined surface for accuracy. 20-millimeter-wide steps as a single 100 × 100-millimeter repair patch.

2 Three 20-millimeter-wide steps machined in the repair area are ready to 4 TFP repair patch is consolidated within a two-piece steel tool in a heated
be scanned. press.

30 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 TPC patchNEWS
repair

between a repair patch and a stepped repair area. This method preferred process due to ease of the process, good results during
was developed during trials of the final demonstrator panel and development and availability of in-house equipment. The final
used to produce more than 30 press-welded demonstrator repairs. material used was Coats (Bristol, U.K.) Synergex K CF/PPS
The repair patch size and geometry in the demonstrator commingled yarn partially stitched onto a PPS film Rayotec S 
remained unchanged from the initial trials, while the panel size PPS film (Toray Advanced Composites) with a PEEK stitch yarn.
was roughly  ×  millimeters to provide post-repair coupons Based on lessons learned during repair patch consolidation,
for tensile and three-point bending tests. TFP was selected as the FIBRE developed an additional steel tool to use during press

5 TFP repair patches were laser welded to demonstrator panels using a diode 6 Using the tooling in Fig. 4 (p. 29), TFP repair patches were press welded to
laser system and welding fixture (top). The finished repairs showed overall demonstrator panels: (a) Stepped panel in press welding tool; (b) Repair
good quality, with no major voids and each step of the repair joined to its patch matched to stepped panel; (c) Tool closed; (d) Tool opened to show
matching substrate (bottom). welded repaired panel.

CompositesWorld.com 31
 INSIDE MANUFACTURING

welding. Like the two-piece tool used in consolidation, this “split showed no void-rich areas and confirmed that all patch steps were
press tool” also comprised two pieces: a bottom which contained joined to their matching substrate (Step ).
a ring of insulation and a top machined to fit (Fig. , p. ). The In the follow-up project, ThermoRepD, geometries and mate-
ring of insulation isolated heat to only the repair patch, not the rials for curved repair demonstrators have been defined, says
surrounding area (Fig. ). Geiger. “Single- and double-curved surfaces will be repaired.
Positioned beneath the top part of the two-piece consolida- We will also look at using tape materials in addition to TFP and
tion tool and directly on top of the repair patch, the split press demonstrate the use of inductive heating mats to perform the
tool acted as a kind of pressure intensifier, minimizing defects patch integration.” The partner for this last technology is msquare
and pores versus use of the two-piece tool alone. It also main- GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany), which has developed and patented
tained sufficient matrix melting in the patch to form a welded the use of electromagnetic induction — the generation of heat
join with the stepped panel. The process temperatures and pres- through electricity via electromagnetic fields — in a flexible heating
sures followed those listed above for consolidation; process time blanket that can reach up to °C (Learn More).
totaled  minutes (Step ). “We have demonstrated that this process chain can produce
welded repairs and have moved forward in our understanding
Test results, path forward and use of the technologies involved,” says Geiger. “We still have
Three-point bending tests were completed for six press-welded significant work to do, but with the excellent teamwork of the insti-
repairs and four laser-welded repairs, with bonding strengths of tutes and our partners, we will definitely help advance this process
572 to 655 megapascals and 594 to 645 megapascals, respectively further and closer to commercial use.”
— almost 80% of that for undamaged reference specimens at 800
megapascals.
Tensile testing of laser-welded demonstrators showed an
increase in failure load by using two PPS layers beneath the CW senior technical editor Ginger Gardiner has an engi-
neering/materials background and more than 20 years of
patch versus one. That increase narrows as the tensile load experience in the composites industry. 
reaches a maximum of ≈ kilonewtons at the longest weld [email protected]
time of  seconds. Micro-CT analysis for laser-welded repairs

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32 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

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 WORK IN PROGRESS

Functionalizing
semi-finished
pultruded/pull-
wound profiles
In searching for low-cost
processes to add functional-
ization to its semi-finished
composite profiles and tubes,
and to reduce the use of
adhesives with its products,
Epsilon Composite developed
and patented a thermoplastic
composite injection overmolding
process with its injection molding
partner Somocap.
Source (all images) | Epsilon Composite

Novel processes for hybrid

thermoset-thermoplastic
pultruded parts
CFRP pultrusion and pullwinding specialist Epsilon Composite
combines thermoplastic overmolding with traditional thermo-
set processes, demonstrated through aircraft struts and
industrial applications.

By Hannah Mason / Technical Editor

» Epsilon Composite (Gaillan Médoc, France) specializes in pultruded part, which often reduces its mechanical properties.
carbon fiber/epoxy pultrusion and pullwinding, enabling the In , the company began experimenting with alternative
manufacture of medium- to large-series, high-performance methods for adding end fittings or other functionality to compo-
carbon fiber composite parts, faster and at a lower cost compared nents made via pultrusion or pullwinding. “The goal was to find
to many other processes. a method that would result in a low-cost, high-quality product,
Since its start in the late s, the company has manufac- which is kind of the Holy Grail,” explains Alexandre Lull, deputy
tured semi-finished pultruded profiles for a variety of applica- CEO of Epsilon Composite.
tions in aerospace, industrial and other markets. For many of the One idea was to use composite injection overmolding as a
end-use parts made from Epsilon Composite’s profiles and tubes means for joining a metal end fitting to the pultruded profile.
— aircraft struts, industrial parts, technical rollers and more — Injection overmolding, using primarily glass or carbon fiber-rein-
metal or plastic end fittings and inserts are often bonded to them forced thermoplastics, was chosen, Lull says, because of its poten-
to add functionality or a connection point for other parts. tial for complementing the low cycle times and high-volume capa-
However, bonding requires the addition of several, often manual, bilities of the pultrusion or pullwinding process the company was
steps: surface preparation, application and curing of the adhesive. already using.
This makes adhesive bonding too cost- and labor-intensive for However, the challenge was that Epsilon’s pultruded profiles are
many large-series applications that require thousands of parts per made with epoxy or another thermoset resin matrix, and injection
year. Mechanical fasteners can also be used in some cases, but overmolding introduces a thermoplastic matrix, injected under
these introduce other challenges as well, such as added weight high heat and pressure, with a different coefficient of thermal
and assembly steps, and the necessity to machine holes into the expansion.

34 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Hybrid pultruded profi
NEWS les

Specialists in carbon fiber/epoxy pultrusion and pullwinding

These images show Epsilon’s pullwinding process before (left) and after (right) cure via a heated die the profile
is pulled through.

Process development and first prototypes despite differences in the materials.

Epsilon spent the next few years figuring out the best way to The patent notes, “This method is simple because it may require
implement its ideas for a hybrid thermoset composite pultruded few steps, but it makes it possible to obtain assemblies that can
component overmolded with a thermoplastic. For this, Epsilon withstand strong traction, compression, temperature gradients,
worked closely with its injection molding partner Somocap with materials of different expansion coefficients.”
(Jatxou, France). “We brought the engineering and composite The original demonstrator parts not only proved the feasibility
knowledge, and they brought the injection molding machinery of the process, but exceeded performance expectations, Lull says.
and process knowledge,” explains Ambroise Latron, head of R&D This led the company to patent the technology, and to begin intro-
at Epsilon. ducing it to customers for commercial applications.
According to the U.S. patent filing in , the process involves Lull notes that a range of materials have been used, from rela-
several steps: First, a hollow, tube-shaped thermoset composite tively low-cost polyamide  (PA) reinforced with fiberglass, to
profile is produced via pullwinding or pultrusion. The end of the higher performance materials such as PEEK, polyphenylene
profile is then machined to allow for the shape of the end fitting to sulfide (PPS) or polyetherimide (PEI) reinforced with glass or
be attached, which provides a rough surface area for the profile to carbon. Unreinforced resin systems can also be used if desired.
attach to. Next, a tool/plug is positioned within the profile in the Compared to other methods like bonding, use of mechanical
injection machine, and the thermoplastic is then injected, under
a specified heat and pressure, around the profile and end fitting,
binding them together. First application: Industrial
Ultimately, this method can be used as a way to join a tradi- One of Epsilon’s core end markets, industrial
tional metallic end fitting to the pultruded profile or tube, or the applications such as arms for machinery or robotics,
were the first application of its injection
metal can be replaced altogether and a thermoplastic composite
overmolding joining process.
tip can be added via overmolding.
The first demonstrations of the technology involved injecting
polyetheretherketone (PEEK) over the top of carbon fiber/epoxy
pultruded tubes. “The PEEK is injected at a very high temperature,
about °C, so we had to make sure that the resin matrix of the
[thermoset] composite tube would be able to sustain this tempera-
ture for a brief period of time,” says Latron.
Through trial and error, the R&D team figured out the right
combination of a fast injection overmolding process and the
required glass transition temperature (Tg) thermoset matrix to
produce repeatable results with no damage to the pultruded tube,

CompositesWorld.com 35
 WORK IN PROGRESS

fasteners or even filament winding over the top of the Aircraft struts and beyond
end fitting, benefits of overmolding are said to include After initial successes in industrial and aero-
lower cost, weight savings and improved impact toler- space markets, Epsilon says it uses injection
ance. If metal is replaced by a thermoplastic, corrosion overmolding as a cost-effective, reliable
risks can also be eliminated. alternative to adhesive bonding
for many of its large-scale orders.
This solution can also add sustainability benefits:
Chemical solvents and adhesives are removed from
the process, plus the use of thermoplastic as a joining
method enables the two components to be separated at the part’s
end of life (EOL) with the addition of heat, increasing the potential
for recyclability. “Plus, there is no scrap in the injection process.
Any scraps produced can be melted down into and reused in the
injection molding process,” adds Lull.

Commercial applications: Industrial,

aerospace, agriculture
After developing and proving out prototypes, the first commercial
use case of this technology was in 2015 with a U.S.-based company, “It’s a big advantage for aerospace in particular,” says Lull.
manufacturing pultruded rods for use in industrial robotics. “This technology eliminates the risk of failure for bonding or even
“We worked with industrial clients at first, but the first major mechanical fasteners, and we’ve proven out the process to be
business for us was aerospace,” says Lull. In , the company able to consistently produce thousands of reliable, high-quality
began an R&D project with Airbus (Toulouse, France). This work parts with no scrap.” He adds that this solution enables parts to be
stemmed from a previous R&D collaboration in which Epsilon had reliably and effectively evaluated using nondestructive inspection
demonstrated its pultrusion technology for manufacturing high- (NDI) methods that are not able to be used on bonded parts.
performance tubular structural struts with bonded metallic end Beyond aerospace, the company has also demonstrated the
fittings. Epsilon successfully demonstrated the performance of the technology commercially with agricultural machinery, working
parts and reliability of the manufacturing process up to TRL  and with a customer to replace steel spray boom arms for industrial
Airbus’s internal standards — however, the project did not move tractors with -meter-wide pultruded composite booms. “The
on commercially because the structural bonding was considered steel booms cannot be as wide, because they are heavier and
too risky for critical aerospace structures. To combat these risks, not as stiff,” explains Romain Coullette, sales director of Epsilon.
Epsilon developed and patented a process specifically designed “Composites are stiffer, lighter and eliminate potential issues
to secure the bonding according with corrosion, so there are many benefits, but productivity is the
to aerospace standards, but biggest advantage.” Larger booms enable fields to be sprayed in less
Read this article online | short. the process was more expen- time, increasing efficiency.
compositesworld.com/Epsilon sive, negating the time and cost There are other composite booms on the market; Epsilon’s is a
savings of choosing pultrusion for truss-shaped pultruded structure, which Coullette says makes it
the struts to begin with. highly optimized for high stiffness at the lowest weight possible and
In the meantime, Epsilon the least amount of material use, leading to lower overall costs.
and Somocap developed a new This technology has become a go-to solution for Epsilon for
overmolding process and began large-series parts across end markets. “We’ve been making tens of
producing industrial parts thousands of parts with zero failure,” says Coullette. “It’s very cost-
commercially. So, for its next competitive. Eventually, we plan to replace bonding for medium-
R&D iteration of the Airbus struts, and large-series parts in all of our end markets.”
Epsilon introduced overmolding of the end fittings as a solution Epsilon’s R&D team continues to optimize its overmolding
that met the needs for both optimized cost and high reliability in process, to make the overall process and workflow faster and more
the parts and process. efficient between pultrusion and injection, and to develop lower
Lull explains that an intensive, year-and-a-half-long develop- cost or modular tooling suitable for small-series applications.
ment process followed, designed to find the right set of param-
eters and tools to optimally overmold the end fittings onto ther-
moset composite pultruded tubes. In the end, the struts proved
successful and demonstrated a % cost savings over traditional Technical editor Hannah Mason has been writing and editing
composite struts made from filament winding or prepreg. The about composites for CompositesWorld since 2018. She has a
struts were ultimately qualified by Airbus for commercial use, and Master’s degree in professional writing from the University of
Cincinnati. [email protected]
Epsilon continues to provide these parts to the aerospace market.

36 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 MARCH 28-30, 2023
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 NEW PRODUCTS

New Products

» DLC COATINGS

Coating extends life, performance of

polymer components in friction
applications
Oerlikon Balzers (Balzers, Liechtenstein) has introduced its advanced
tetrahedral amorphorous carbon (ta-C) coating, Balinit Milubia, a
diamond-like coating (DLC) designed to reduce the coefficient of
friction (COF) of ceramic, metallic and polymer components in water
environments that are under high loads or subject to extreme friction, Source | Oerlikon Balzers

wear and contact with other parts, while increasing wear resistance.
Balinit Milubia coatings are said to offer a hardness of 40-60 GPa, component durability and lifespan. As polymers are characterized
suitable for components that are exposed to extreme operating forces by a low thermal stability — meaning they can melt or deform at the
over the long term, such as shafts and seals, where friction can cause temperatures most PVD coatings require — a ta-C coating can also be
components to overheat or fail. The ta-C coating is typically applied applied at temperatures below 150°F (65°C), which is low enough to
in a thickness of 0.5-2 µm using physical vapor deposition (PVD) by avoid thermal deformation of most polymers. This coating also attenu-
arc evaporation. This produces ta-C, which has substantially higher ates or evacuates electrostatic discharge (ESD) on polymer substrates —
abrasive wear resistance than a-C:H alternatives. a common challenge for traditional coatings, which are difficult to apply
For polymer substrates, which are relatively soft and quickly wear, over an insulating substrate — and modifies its surface energy. The same
or are damaged in high-contact, high-friction applications, a ta-C DLC process can be used to increase or decrease the wettability of polymers
coating can provide a coating hardness of up to 50 GPa to increase as required. oerlikon.com/balzers/us/en

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38 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 NEW PRODUCTS

» COMPOSITES TRAINING

Composites course training membership plan

For 2023, The Native Lab (TNL, Madrid, Spain) is set to expand its course catalog, adding new
courses on composites and launching updated versions of older, past ones. TNL’s website
platform currently includes five self-paced, instructor-led online courses. By the end of 2023,
TNL anticipates eight online courses to be available.
To ensure students (individually or through a company) can access as many courses as
possible, TNL has launched a new
Source | RPS Composites training membership plan called The
Native Lab PRO.
» PIPE CONNECTION The membership guarantees access
Robust, reliable joint for FRP to all online courses available on the
piping systems platform. It works with a subscrip-
RPS Composites (Franklin, Ohio, U.S.) tion fee of €699/year. This includes
announces the availability of the newly Composite Materials, Monocoque
engineered RPS Grooved Adapter to be used in Design, Monocoque Structural Analysis, Source | The Native Lab
conjunction with RPS fiber-reinforced polymer Catia Design Methodology and Applied
(FRP) piping systems and a Victaulic Style Composite Manufacturing courses.
296-A coupling to create a robust, reliable FRP “Most of our students had asked for a possibility to join more than one or two courses,”
piping joint. says Tommaso Muellejans, responsible for The Native Lab. “The Native Lab PRO should make
According to RPS, ease of use is the Grooved accessing our entire training offer easier.”
Adaptor’s most attractive characteristic, as it The Native Lab PRO is now accessible, and will grant access to all new courses added to the
can be coupled or uncoupled in a matter of platform. More information about this service and a video on TNL course offerings can be found
minutes with no special tools or training. The at the company’s website. thenativelab.com
RPS Grooved Adapter is designed for mildly
corrosive environments including water,
seawater, wastewater and some FGD services,
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RPS FRP adapters have been tested and
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CompositesWorld.com 39
 APPLICATIONS

Refurbished Einstein ›Originally designed by Owen Clarke Design (Dartmouth, U.K.) in 2012,
Acciona was a 60-foot IMOCA open monohull racing yacht and served as
yacht demonstrates a showcase for sustainable technologies, relying on solar, wind and water
power to drive electronics and hydraulics. Unfortunately, Acciona capsized
innovative composites due to a broken keel during its first race, the Vendée Globe, in 2013. It was
several weeks before Acciona was able to be recovered from the ocean. Due
repair and redesign to the damage, the yacht was placed in storage for the next five years.
In 2017, racing team Offshore Team Germany (OTG) took ownership
of Acciona, with the goal of repair and restoration. The boat was in bad
Years of creative engineering work shape, with a broken keel, missing mast, water damage throughout and
went into resurrecting the compos- considerable hull damage from a battery fire. OTG partnered with Trimarine
Shipyard (Lisbon, Portugal) for repair of the hull and STRUCTeam Ltd.
ites-intensive IMOCA 60 racing (Cowes, U.K.) for the design and engineering work.
yacht — with award-winning results. To begin the process, Trimarine’s team, led by owner Fernando Sena,
surveyed the scale of the damage to Acciona’s hull, which is made from thin
skins of unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) prepreg,
sandwiching a core made from panels of foam or Nomex. Frederic Louarn,
STRUCTeam principal engineer, notes, “We had to devise a strategy for
repairing areas of damage without affecting the areas of the boat that were
still sound.”
One issue was the badly waterlogged hull. The surface of the hygro-
scopic, cellular Nomex core is slit to enable water vapor to escape during
production. However, this material can also absorb water easily if the outer
panel is damaged or perforated.
To dry out the hull, Trimarine removed the damaged skins strategically,
“to ensure that we didn’t weaken the structure and maintained the shape of
the boat,” Sena says. The Nomex core underneath was then evaluated and
either removed, if damaged, or dried out under a vacuum bag.
Most of the repairs Sena and his team made were small, but there was an
area of the hull of approximately two square meters in size where the skins
on both sides — inside and out — had delaminated completely and the core
was totally destroyed.
Repairing this damage was a delicate operation, Sena says. “We needed
to make sure that the inner side of the hull was stable at all times before we
removed the outer skin so that we did not lose its shape.”
An additional challenge was that, since Acciona’s initial construction,
rules associated with the placement of ballast tanks in IMOCA 60 yachts
— the structures that hold water and maintain hydrostatic stability for
the boat — had changed. Previously, small tanks had to be located in the
middle of the boat along the centerline; now, four larger tanks could be
fitted to more outboard areas. STRUCTeam designed the new tanks, and
Trimarine repositioned and reworked the existing tanks.
The rig was also redesigned by STRUCTeam as a larger, more complex
deck-spreader design. By late 2018, after several other additional modifica-
tions were added to the project, the OTG team learned that Acciona could
compete in The Ocean Race, a competition that previously did not allow the
entry of fully crewed IMOCA 60 yachts.
By August 2019, OTG began racing the newly resurrected Acciona, now
renamed Einstein. In August 2021, Einstein went on to win The Ocean Race
Europe. “Not only has the team worked to upcycle this large structure, but
we have also made it competitive with yachts that are 10 years younger
and, as such, are more technologically advanced,” notes Julien Sellier,
Source | STRUCTeam Ltd.
founder and managing director of STRUCTeam.

40 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

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CompositesWorld.com
41
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

Seat frame demonstrates next-

generation autocomposites design

Light weight, simplified/cost-effective manufacturing,

passenger comfort and safety informed materials and
process innovations and won awards for the 2022
Toyota Tundra’s second-row seat frame.

By Hannah Mason / Technical Editor

» As more electric and hybrid electric vehicles launch into “Next-generation truck” design
the market and hit the road, automotive OEMs are increasingly When designing the 2022 Tundra pickup truck, Toyota’s engineering team in
exploring composites use to reduce weight for various compo- Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S., looked for ways to make the vehicle — which comes in
nents to help increase vehicle range. One recent success is the conventional powertrain and hybrid options — as lightweight and efficient to
award-winning, all-composite, second-row seat frame for the manufacture as possible. One resulting innovation is a composite second-row seat
frame that saves significant weight versus a steel version and reduces the overall
hybrid-electric 2022 Toyota Tundra pickup truck — a collabora-
number of frame components from 60+ to just four. Source | Toyota
tive, multiyear endeavor introducing a number of new composite
materials and process innovations.
John Salvia, senior engineering manager at Toyota Motor North
America, Research and Development (Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.), were evaluated, including aluminum, carbon steel and various
explains that in , Toyota engineers at his Ann Arbor facility fiber-reinforced composites.
began to brainstorm “the next-generation truck.” “We started The customer experience was also a key consideration. When
out looking at what would be the most efficient design moving it came to developing the  Tundra, Salvia notes, customer
forward,” he says, and specifically tried to envision how to make feedback from the previous model year vehicle communicated a
the design for vehicles with second- or third-row seating more desire for more dedicated storage space within the cabin.
efficient and cost-effective to manufacture. A range of materials However, this desire also had to be balanced with the fact that

42 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Toyota Tundra seatback frame

Injection molded
glass fiber-filled PA6 Seat back frame

Pultruded glass
Seat cushion frame fiber/polyurethane

Source (original image): Toyota

Toyota Tundra composite second-row seat frame

› 60+ steel components reduced to four › Pultruded rod adds stiffness/strength where › Injection overmolding to attach pultrusion
injection molded composite components. needed. to rest of the frame.

Susan Kraus / Illustration

in the Tundra’s new hybrid option, the battery pack would be fiber-filled Ultramid BZG CR PA was developed specifically for
stored beneath the rear seat. the project (more on this below).
With the broad initial goals of cost-effective, efficient manufac- According to Jeffrey Hagar, market segment manager – trans-
turing, light weight and design flexibility to enable more storage portation at BASF, composites were chosen for the Sienna seat
space, fiber-reinforced composites emerged as the top material frame primarily for lightweighting. The steel-framed third-row
contender. seat was too heavy for customers to easily fold up or remove if
“Of course, we already had one proven composites example needed. One solution, Hagar says, would have been to install a
in our back pocket,” Salvia says. The third-row seat frame for the mechanical motor to fold the third-row seat up and down, but
 Toyota Sienna minivan was manufactured from injection that would have added weight. The lighter composite version was
molded % short glass fiber-filled polyamide  (PA) developed developed as a solution.
in collaboration with BASF Corp. (Wyandotte, Mich., U.S.). The After this success, Hagar says the Toyota team approached
Sienna seat frame went on to win a  Altair Enlighten Award BASF again with a new project idea, “this time with even bigger
in the Module category as well as a  SPE Innovation Award goals and objectives.”
in the Body Interior category. The Sienna seat frame was lauded Specifically, Toyota aimed to develop a new seat frame design
for replacing the previous models’ -piece steel assembly with that, compared to the previous steel-framed Tundra second-row
a two-piece composite part that was % lighter. BASF’s glass seat frames, reduced weight by %, improved manufacturability,

CompositesWorld.com 43
43
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

added dedicated storage space for the customer

and doubled overall structural strength.
The biggest challenge compared to the
Sienna? The Tundra pickup truck is simply
bigger than the minivan: The second-row seat
frame would need to be % wider than the
Sienna third-row seat.

Materials, design: Starting from

Sienna
“A seating system is a fairly complex system to
design, so the challenge of a seating systems
engineer is to balance many different challenges
and targets,” Salvia explains.
The Tundra is a / seat design, common
for vehicle rear seating, meaning the seat is
divided into two main sections — one that takes
up % of the space, the other %.
Salvia says, “When you look at how we would
design a steel seat structure, first you start with
the structural beams — your core components
— and then you add on features for shape or
Passenger-focused design electronics or whatever you need by welding
Critical among the design considerations were passenger safety standards, as well as a desire to them onto that steel structural beam. You kind
increase dedicated storage space in the vehicle cabin. These led to innovations in the second-row seat of piecemeal the design together, which is effi-
frame such as the use of a specialized, crash-resistant, glass fiber-reinforced PA6 material from BASF cient from a design standpoint, but when you
for the main frame components, and the addition of a pultruded beam to increase strength and stiffness
get to manufacturing you end up with many
in key areas of the seat. Source | Toyota
small structural welds and a lot of part handling
and quality checks.”
The design process started with hand-drawn
sketches, ultimately digitized and validated
virtually with digital simulation tools. Because
materials are so important, Salvia explains that
BASF’s role was similarly large in the design
process. Hagar notes, “Toyota developed the
design and styling, and BASF optimized the
design for the materials and provided engi-
neering best practices.”
In working on the Sienna, BASF used its
in-house UltraSim software to model several
of its off-the-shelf materials against the crash
requirements and quickly realized that a new
grade of material would be needed. “We started
with our base Ultramid and we were able to
make some modifications to the resin and to
the orientation of the glass fiber, and to how
they attach to each other,” Hagar says. The new
Ultramid grade material is labeled Crash Resis-
tant, or CR.
Ready for assembly For the Tundra, BASF started by running new
A pultruded beam (yellow/green in picture) is attached via injection overmolding onto the largest of simulations with this same Ultramid BZG CR
the four injection molded frame components. The final pieces are then assembled together with the % glass fiber-reinforced PA material. “We
rest of the frame system. Source | BASF had about a year’s worth of field information

44 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Toyota Tundra seatback frame

from the Sienna and knew we had zero field failures on the
market, so we were confident this was the right grade of material
for the Tundra as well.”
For ease of manufacture, the seat frame components would
be injection molded from this new material. The choice to use
injection molded composites, like in the Sienna, allowed for
more than  individual metal components to be optimized into
only four composite components — two seat back frames and
two seat cushion frames — attached via metal brackets, plus the
cushions and additional components for the built-in storage
option.
Salvia notes that the design flexibility of the composite
seat frame also enabled the opportunity to efficiently add
new storage bin options to the  Tundra. On the hybrid
powertrain option for the vehicle, the battery is housed under
the second-row cushion and a dedicated polypropylene storage
bin is attached to the back vehicle wall. On the internal combus- Pultruded beam: Stiffness and strength with
tion engine (ICE) powertrain option, a second storage bin is less weight
offered under the seat in place of the battery. To achieve the needed strength and stiffness along the seat back frame’s width,
The main composite components were manufactured by the seat back frame would either need to be much thicker (adding weight) or a
strategically placed beam needed to be added. A pultruded composite beam was
injection molder Flex-N-Gate (Warren, Mich., U.S.). According
chosen for its high strength at a lighter weight compared to metal options.
to Steve Perucca, engineering group manager – R&D plastics/
Source | Toyota
metals at Flex-N-Gate, the company has worked with Toyota a
number of times on injection molded pickup truck bumpers and
other components.
In addition to molding the components, Perucca notes that a Developing the pultruded beam reinforcement
number of small metal inserts were injection overmolded into “Our supplier BASF approached us with this continuous glass fiber
the frame components where other seat components needed pultrusion technology, which has a higher strength-to-weight ratio
to be attached. Salvia explains, “We tried to consider every- than high-carbon steel,” Salvia says.
thing together as a system, where the struc- BASF introduced the Toyota team to
tural beams are seamlessly integrated with its pultrusion partner L&L Products
other features.” All of the seat features, (Romeo, Mich., U.S.). BASF and
cushion frames, back frames, headrest “Despite the challenges, L&L Products had worked together
attachments, electrical attachments our corporate and supplier on multiple projects, using BASF’s
and brackets are incorporated into Elastocoat  polyurethane/fiber-
partners never flinched.”
the design from the start. “There are glass material to produce L&L Products’
fewer components, less material pultruded Continuous Composites
handling, less margin for quality Systems (CCS) products. Previous appli-
defects. We’ve streamlined the cations have included structural automo-
manufacturing process and improved the quality overall.” tive components where crash resistance was of critical concern
From a materials standpoint, the BASF glass fiber-reinforced — like, most recently, a crossmember used to protect the battery
nylon used on the Sienna showed the best balance between system on the all-electric  Ford F- Lightning. BASF was
cost, mass and performance for the Tundra as well. However, confident that this product could be an ideal solution for the
early in the design process it became apparent that the extra Tundra seat frame; however, this solution had never been used
width for the Tundra seat back frame would pose a new chal- for any type of interior automotive application before.
lenge to meeting Toyota’s strict safety requirements. To achieve Like the rest of the seat frame, modeling and simulation played
the needed stiffness, the overall seat frame would either need to a key role in the design process for the beam itself, to make
be very thick — which would add material costs and weight — or sure it could adequately meet the load requirements for safety,
some type of reinforcement beam would need to be added to the passenger weight and other targets. Several design iterations were
area carrying the heaviest loads. A beam of this type made the tested in simulation and as physical prototypes.
most sense, but would typically be metal in this sort of applica- What makes the pultruded beam crash-resistant? A combi-
tion — adding additional weight. A pultruded composite beam nation of resin chemistry tuned for very high stiffness, contin-
ended up being the ultimate solution. uous glass fibers for maximum flexural strength and optimized

CompositesWorld.com 45
 FOCUS ON DESIGN

Design flexibility for

maximum storage
space
For some versions of the 2022 Tundra,
the seat frame needed to be able to lift
up and accommodate a polypropylene
storage bin included underneath the
rear seat. Source | Toyota

part geometry, explains Hank Richardson, product engineering efficient in terms of materials use, would have been crushed
manager at L&L Products. under the , psi of hydraulic pressure imposed on it during
Why pultrusion? He adds, “Pultrusion was the most cost-effec- the injection molding process. To prevent this kind of deforma-
tive process to use. You get very high flexural strength because of tion during overmolding, the current hat section design was
the continuous fibers, but it’s lighter weight than aluminum or developed.
steel, so the strength-to-weight ratio is very high. And the pultru- One unique aspect to this project compared to other over-
sion process itself is fairly simple — you have one process, then molding applications Flex-N-Gate has done, Perucca notes, is
machine a few holes (see below), then it goes straight to over- that the overmolding serves to attach the pultruded beam to the
molding. It’s extremely efficient, which makes it cost-effective.” seat back frame, but it does not serve to lock it into place. In other
The next step was how to attach the pultruded beam to the words, the beam still has some freedom of movement within its
rest of the back frame. Fasteners would add weight and also composite casing, to enable it to bend or react to impact against
require machining holes into the continuous fiber pultruded part, the seat — “it acts a bit like a leaf spring, in a way, absorbing the
reducing properties. Adhesives would add another curing step energy from an impact,” Perucca says.
which would add to the cycle time. Ultimately, an injection over- Once the part itself was designed, the next step was figuring
molding step was added to the end of the process as a solution. out how to secure the beam in place during molding. “Often with
injection overmolding, you’re overmolding on top of metal, and
Injection overmolding: Process leads to design then you can use magnets to hold the metal to the tool, but in
innovations this case, that wasn’t possible,” Perucca explains. Holes had to be
Already on board to injection mold the four main seat frame drilled into the beam and then aligned into specially designed
components, Flex-N-Gate was also tapped to injection overmold notches on the tool itself. These served as guides to locate and
the beam onto the rest of the back frame. Once the rest of the stabilize the beam in the tool and prevent the part from “floating”
frame components are injection molded, the pultruded beam or shifting during molding. This, too, required several iterations in
from L&L Products is inserted into a new mold with the rest of the the design, Perucca explains, as the holes had to be placed strate-
completed frame. Using the same Ultramid material as the rest of gically on areas of the beam that receive the least amount of stress
the frame, injection overmolding is used over top of the beam to in an impact event.
connect it to the frame. In part because of these challenges, near production-level tools
However, this proved to be a complex endeavor, notes Flex- were needed at the prototyping stage of the process, Perucca says,
N-Gate’s Perucca, and led to design changes for the pultruded which posed another production challenge for Flex-N-Gate and
beam itself. The original hollow tube design, which was the most its tooling supplier partner. Because of the safety-critical nature

46 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

 Toyota Tundra seatback frame

of the seat, all five parts — four frame components, and the over- closures and everything else that was going on, our corporate and
molded pultruded beam — the part designers needed to be able supplier partners never flinched,” Salvia says. “It was really incred-
to see where the weld lines from the injection molding process ible what our team and collaborators were able to accomplish.”
would be on the physical prototypes — in other words, the areas From an engineering standpoint, Toyota, BASF and the rest
where overlaps in resin occurred of the program’s collaborators have been recognized across the
during injection, which had slightly industry with several awards: the  Altair Enlighten Award, a
Read this article online | different properties than the rest of  SPE Innovation Award in the Body Interior category, a 
short.compositesworld. the part. Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA) Mobility Innovation Award
com/Toyotaseatback Due to the overall part complexity, in the Lightweighting category and an award for Most Innovative
Flex-N-Gate used pressure and Material in the Production Part category of SPE’s  ACCE Part
temperature sensors in the tool during Competition.
injection molding to help control the “From a customer viewpoint as well, the feedback has also been
process. very positive so far,” Salvia says, especially regarding the additional
storage capacity. He adds, “I think it’s safe to say that for future
Collaborative efforts, projects, Toyota is committed to researching alternative materials
positive results like structural resins and applying them to the vehicle like we did
“We learned a lot through this process,” here.”
Salvia says. One of the biggest challenges was the timeline. First
prototypes were developed in 2018, and 2020 was when all of
the pre-production tests were done ahead of launching the 2022
model year vehicle in 2021. “As you can imagine, global events of
Technical editor Hannah Mason has been writing and editing
2020 brought new challenges to the team, especially bringing a about composites for CompositesWorld since 2018. She has a
new product to market.” Master’s degree in professional writing from the University of
Cincinnati. [email protected]
“Despite the challenges, despite the pandemic and border

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 POST CURE

Post Cure
Highlighting the behind-the-scenes
of composites manufacturing

Automated sheet forming progresses

tooling manufacture
Machina Labs Inc. (Los
Angeles, Calif., U.S.) is commer-
cializing a method for rapidly
producing hard tooling, illus-
trated here by this series of 304L
stainless steel molds nested on
a single, 35 x 60-inch sheet for a
pump component manufactured
using Machina Labs’ robotic
sheet metal forming technology;
Machina Labs subsequently used
the same design to develop a
demonstrator formed out of
1.1-millimeter-thick Invar 36. Source | Machina Labs Inc.
Described as a formative (or
deformative) process, die-less
robotic sheet forming builds geometry layer by ites tooling production regarding complex
layer without the need of sequential stamping geometries, an expanded range of materials and
dies and presses or CNC machining centers, cold alloys and scalability, to name a few.
forming the metal parts into shape via industrial Read “Metal AM advances in
robot arms with end effectors; each part also composite tooling, Part 2”
retains a complete digital record. The system for more information:
also offers a high level of flexibility for compos- short.compositesworld.com/metaladditivept2

Show us what you have!

The CompositesWorld team wants to feature your composite part,
manufacturing process or facility in next month’s issue.

Send an image and caption to CW Technical Editor Hannah Mason at

[email protected], or connect with us on social media.

@CompositesWorld CompositesWorld @CompositesWrld @CompositesWorld CompositesWorld

48 MARCH 2023 CompositesWorld

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