As the largest composites show in the world comes to a close for another year, what was it all about?

Primarily, it is the one place where you get to see industry trends, clever ideas as well as catch up with existing and new customers.

However inspiring all the parts on display were, they all seemed to be missing the key issue with the automotive sector, 'Recycling'.  The upshot is that there has been a lot of development in medium to high volume manufacturing of composites, which will benefit all industry sectors.

What was Missing?

The industry sector that is the most promising for composite materials is the construction industry.  Having completed a number of projects related to this industry over the last few years, this sector far outweighs the aerospace and automotive sectors in terms of volume of materials. 

With the increased level of fire retardant resin systems, we are awaiting the boom in this sector and expected to see more developments on display.

On a more selfish note, we are in the middle of a large house extension and what is apparent is the potential for composite materials.

What we are actually seeing is a lack of knowledge, poor presentation and perceived threat (to the existing material producers). Combined with a lack of experience with composites, and the trust which comes from this, it is a real concern.

Just evaluating cladding systems for a building has resulted in finding composite sandwich panel structures (that are really effective) which have become unavailable through company buy-outs and product line closures.  It seems that some are already aware of the upcoming threats.  When a company has invested millions in the development of a product, they don't want it washed away by competitors.  In our experience, composite building products have a slightly higher initial investment over traditional materials but have a much longer service life and reduced maintenance costs, but only time will tell.  It's not 'IF' it will happen, it's just 'WHEN' will it happen?

New Materials

On a more positive note, there are always a few really 'WOW' mentions from these shows and these are this years (for us at least!):

Off the Shelf Nano

Why is small important? Well as we all know, fibre content can really assist specific structural & electrical requirements and getting down to the microscopic level can have a big influence.  Ocsial.com have a range of matrix materials as well as carbon nano-fibres 'in a jar' ready to infill into your own matrix/part.  We could have really done with this material a few months ago on a specific project and we can see ourselves using it in the near future on a number of projects. Oh well, you always find what you need after you need it!

Warm Carbon Fibre

Lamina Heat now produce a carbon fibre heat mat that allows a much more uniform distribution of heat over traditional electric heating.  Applications include mould heating, repair curing (and better electric underfloor heating!)   A demand that far outweighs mould heating and falls into the realms of high volume use of an unusual composite materials in the construction industry! We expect you'll see this across lots more fields...

If you went to the show we hope you had a productive week. We enjoyed catching up with everyone, same time same place next year!

So it's now Lent. It may not be relevant to you, but you know about it, the 40 days when some of us give up something we like.

We see lots of new and experienced people on our courses. Sometimes the people new to composites do better at certain tasks, because they haven't developed any bad habits!  We all do it; 'shortcuts', 'time saving', incorrect tools, laziness or just being mistaught in the first place, there are too many reasons to count.

Probably a good place to start is to ask your colleagues. They would have noticed what you do & in most cases will tell you gleefully all of your mistakes.  Please be warned though, don't ask & then get upset! Just explain it's a two way process & you'll be pointing out some of theirs next.

Dust from processing composites will build up over time making floors slippery, potentially causing electrical shorts (if its carbon dust) and causing potential health hazards.
Materials must be disposed of in the correct method (cured & uncured waste for example) if you're making parts this is part of your job! YOU are responsible for YOUR work area. This is especially important in a shared environment.

It's hard to wipe down benches, or notice mistakes if you work in  a mess. Sometimes working in chaos makes it difficult to know what you've done and what's left.  Avoiding accidents with knives, trips, cuts or falls is much easier in a tidy space.

Somebody here (mention no names) always works in a hurry & has a habit of not sliding snap off blades back into knives. At least with a tidy work space this is easy to spot (& rectify). If you want to make good parts you need the space to work & this means being tidy & putting tools and equipment back in the right place for the next person.

1. To provide consistency and accountability
How do you know the remaining work life of a pre-preg if you don't log it's freezer time/out time? Who has done what & when?

2. To make the parts suitable for end use
Someone has taken the time to ensure the part is suitable for it's end use. Follow the instructions to make sure it is. How do you know parts will behave the same way if they were made slightly differently?

3. To make the most of materials and consumables
Wasting a 'bit of' a bucket of resin, or not getting the most out of a piece of carbon doesn't seem a problem on one part, but multiply it over a year & a whole workforce and it's expensive and environmentally wasteful.

4. Make the most of YOUR time
If somebody has worked out the most time efficient method to do something following the process properly will save you time, effort & brain ache!

So see what you can do to make a positive improvement at work. We're all trying here too.