COMPOSITESWORLD.COM is the #1 website for composites materials and services. COMPOSITESWORLD.COM receives over 40,000 unique visitors a month and is projecting over 3 million page views in 2006. High Performance Composites, Composites Technology and
Issue link: https://ct.epubxp.com/i/178128
Editor EdiTorial offiCEs Richard G. Kline, Jr. / rkline2@gardnerweb.com Jeff Sloan / jeff@compositesworld.com Mike Musselman / mike@compositesworld.com Sara Black / sara@compositesworld.com Lilli Sherman / lsherman@compositesworld.com Ginger Gardiner / ggardiner@compositesworld.com Susan Kraus / skraus@gardnerweb.com Kimberly A. Hoodin / kim@compositesworld.com Midwestern U.s. & international sales office Associate Publisher Ryan Delahanty / rdelahanty@compositesworld.com Eastern U.s. sales office District Manager Barbara Businger / barb@compositesworld.com Mountain, southwest & Western U.s. sales office District Manager Rick Brandt / rbrandt@gardnerweb.com European sales offce European Manager Eddie Kania / ekania@btopenworld.com Contributing Writers Dale Brosius / dale@compositesworld.com Donna Dawson / donna@compositesworld.com Michael LeGault / mlegault@compositesworld.com Peggy Malnati / peggy@compositesworld.com Karen Wood / karen@compositesworld.com 6915 Valley Avenue Cincinnati OH 45244-3029 P 513-527-8800 Fax 513-527-8801 gardnerweb.com PO Box 992, Morrison, CO 80465 P 719-242-3330 Fax 513-527-8801 compositesworld.com Richard G. Kline, CBC | President Melissa Kline Skavlem | COO Richard G. Kline, Jr. | Group Publisher Tom Beard | Senior V.P., Content Steve Kline, Jr. | Director of Market Intelligence Ernest C. Brubaker | Treasurer William Caldwell | Advertising Manager Ross Jacobs | Circulation Director Jason Fisher | Director of Information Services Kate Hand | Senior Managing Editor Jeff Norgord | Creative Director Rhonda Weaver | Creative Department Manager Dave Necessary | Senior Marketing Manager Allison Kline Miller | Director of Events ALSO PUBLISHER OF • High-Performance Composites • IMTS Directory • Moldmaking Technology • Products Finishing • Plastics Technology / PT Handbook • Modern Machine Shop • NPE Offcial Show Directory • Production Machining • Products Finishing Directory • Automotive Design & Production Composites Technology (ISSN 1083-4117) is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October & December) by Gardner Business Media, Inc. Corporate and production offces: 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244. Editorial offces: PO Box 992, Morrison, CO 80465. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH and additional mailing offces. Copyright © 2013 by Gardner Business Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Canada. Postmaster: Send address changes to Composites Technology, 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. If undeliverable, send Form 3579. Subscription rates: Nonqualifed $45 (USD) per year in the United States, $49 (USD) per year in Canada, $100 (USD) per year airmail for all other countries. Single issue prepaid, $10 (USD) per copy in North America, $25 (USD) in all other countries. Send payment directly to Composites Technology at Cincinnati offces, (800) 950-8020; fax: (513) 527-8801. MEMBERSHIPS: CT goes to SPE ACCE Tis year, the Society of Plastics Engineer's Automotive Composite Conference & Exhibition (ACCE) was relocated from the outgrown Michigan State University Management Education Center (Troy, Mich.) to the Suburban Collection Showcase in nearby Novi. A good thing. ACCE exhibitors doubled, and last year's record 630 attendees paled compared to the 897 registered this year — one indication that auto OEMs could be ready for pervasive use of composites. CT stafers went looking for answers to the question I asked in my August editorial: Are we ready? Te best answer may be, We know what we need to do to be ready. Managing editor Mike Musselman says many at ACCE considered that very question. ACCE co-chair Ed Bernardin (Siemens PLM Sofware) said the auto industry's characteristic high rate of change is a key hurdle. He and Roger Assaker (e-Xstream engineering) contended that virtual testing of composites is a huge need in the auto world. Such tools are well developed for chopped-fber compounds, but there is a pressing need for sofware that can simulate failure of continuous-fber composites. Reliable tools are emerging and will, says Assaker, take a two-year, multimillion dollar testing program and compress it into a long work day! We know what we need High-pressure RTM (HP-RTM), the to do to be ready. subject of multiple research reports at last year's ACCE, is now commercial: Shuler SMG GmbH's vacuum-assisted HP-RTM system mints the BMW i3 passenger cell and the BMW M3 roof. Quickstep Technologies proposes to do similar duty at low pressures (and with less expensive equipment), with the aid of fuid heating and its new Resin Spray Technology (RST). And Volkswagen AG's Hendrik Mainka said his work with Oak Ridge National Lab shows that lignin precursor and the process of oxidation and pyrolization that converts it to carbon fber spells cost savings of 40 percent. Unfortunately, unresolved issues, among them the seasonal variation in lignin (as a plant product), mean commercialization could be a decade away. CT senior technical editor Sara Black points out that ACCE's "Aluminum & Composite — Compete or Collaborate?" panelists included aluminum industry representatives. All the panelists agreed that composites can 1) displace steel and aluminum in appropriate applications, and 2) make invaluable contributions to lightweighting. But the discussion revealed that auto OEMs will remain resistant until they hear a valid value proposition. If a composites solution for automotive can make a part lighter, for less money, no problem, say the OEMs. Such solutions, so far, are scarce — a notable exception is the semi-convertible sunroof frame for the Citroen DS3 Cabrio, molded from a modifed glass-reinforced styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) resin. Te part ofers signifcant material cost savings, part integration (seven parts combined into one) and a 40 percent weight reduction. Tat aside, Kaiser Aluminum's Doug Richman made the point that without a solid business case, it's impossible to make the technology case. Panelist Jai Venkatesan of Dow Chemical Co., pointed out in his keynote address that adoption of composites is a "high-risk, high-reward" and disruptive step, and it'll take time. Yet, he believes that we can use lessons learned from veterans of aerospace composites and automotive aluminum, apply sofware tools more widely, and — in collaboration — Jef Sloan eventually ensure that composites become an entrenched material choice. CT oCTober 2013 Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Technical Editor Senior Editor Senior Editor Graphic Designer Marketing Manager 3