TECHNOLOGY
Flexible cutting system
LECTRA IS releasing its new
VectorTechTex FX 100 cutting
solution for industrial fabrics
and composite materials.
This equipment enables
companies to cut wide pieces
and enables the processing
of a variety of fabrics.
“The ability to process a wide
variety of industrial fabrics
with a single, unique cutting
solution is now essential to
the survival of many compa-
nies,” says Daniel Harari, Lectra
In brief
The following stories can
be found in full on our website
www.reinforcedplastics.com.
■ Sinomatech Wind Power
Blade Co Ltd of China has
purchased VISTAGY Inc’s
FiberSIM® composites engineering
software to help streamline
its design-to-manufacturing
process. The software will
help Sinomatech in its goal
to produce 500 sets of wind
turbine blades annually.
■ An epoxy resin system for
filament winding has been
developed by Sika Deutschland.
Biresin® CR84, is particularly suited
to the filament winding process
because of its viscosity charac-
teristics, good wetting, very long
pot life, and low cure tempera-
ture. Sika reports that the resin is
also modified to reduce dripping
from the fibres during winding.
■ SAERTEX has received Germa-
nischer Lloyd (GL) approval for its
SAERfix® EP self-adhesive fabrics,
confirming their suitability for
composite applications in combi-
nation with epoxy resins. SAERTEX
reports that SAERfix EP is already
being used in the production of
rotor blades for wind turbines.
■ Owens Corning has
established an excellence
centre for technical fabrics at
its manufacturing facility in
Zele, Belgium. The facility will
have both pilot- and full-scale
 REINFORCEDplastics MAY/JUNE 2010
CEO. “By extending the range
of possible activities open to
them with the VectorTechTex
FX 100, these companies will
be able to target new markets
and, consequently, limit the risks
tied to a decrease in volumes.”
VectorTechTex FX 100 is
particularly well-suited to short
runs and tight production
deadlines. It allows wider cuts
(up to 2.54 m) and can process
a wider variety of pieces, all of
varying sizes and shapes, while
production equipment for
developing, testing and evalu-
ating new fabric technologies.
■ MISTRAS Group Inc has
delivered two ultrasonic immersion
systems for inspection of carbon
composite components to HITCO
Carbon Composites Inc. The
identical 25 ft systems are being
used by HITCO for the inspection of
composite components manufac-
tured for new commercial aircraft.
■ Fenopreg is a new German
company specialising in the
production of prepregs and
customised resin systems,
together with a wide range of
woven and nonwoven fabrics,
which can be cut to customer
requirements. Fenopreg says
it can cut to size at prices
comparable to the original roll.
■ Airtech is introducing Beta
Prepreg, a room temperature
storage tooling prepreg which is
said to deliver superior laminate
properties to conventional
epoxy systems. It is based on
benzoxazine resin chemistry.
■ SGL Kümpers, together with
EADS Innovation Works (IW)
and Airbus Operations GmbH,
has developed a highly auto-
mated process for the production
of preforms for use in manufac-
turing carbon composite aircraft
fuselages. The process won a
2010 JEC Innovation Award in
the Automation category.
limiting fabric scraps. Material
consumption is thus optimised.
This cutting solution broadens
Lectra’s VectorTechTex FX
range by extending the
variety of materials that can
be handled, from carbon
fibre prepreg to multi-layer
cutting of dry materials such
as fibreglass and honeycomb.
Lectra says the VectorTechTex
FX range also enables
The VectorTechTex FX 100.
Bio-based panel
ECONCORE is producing honey-
comb cores and sandwich panels
made from bio-based plastics.
By combining its cost effective
production technology with
renewable materials, EconCore,
based in Leuven, Belgium, says
it is able to produce a sand-
wich panel which has excellent
mechanical properties while still
being cost competitive with
traditional sheet materials.
“The last 6 months EconCore
has optimised the production
technology to produce PLA
[polylactic acid] based hexagonal
honeycomb cores using a
continuous production process,”
says François de Bie, head of
companies to reduce their
energy consumption by 20-30%
in comparison with standard
cutters on the market. Lectra’s
‘Energy Saver’ system helps
to minimise energy usage
by changing the machine’s
vacuum power during cutting
as needed and according
to the fabric processed.
Lectra;
www.lectra.com
sales and marketing, EconCore.
“Only moments after the core
is produced skin layers are
added in a second step of the
continuous production process.”
These skins could be made
from PLA or, if higher
performance is required,
with flax in a PLA matrix.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a
biopolymer derived from renew-
able resources instead of oil.
PLA generates significantly less
greenhouse gas emissions over
the life time when compared
to traditional materials like PP.
EconCore;
www.econcore.com
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