+44 (0)1582 791001
Dark Matter
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Company Background
    • Our Facilities
    • Customer List
    • Customer Reviews
    • In The News
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Map, Travel & Accomodation
  • Training
    • Courses >
      • Introduction to Composites
      • Wet Layup Laminating
      • Spray Layup Laminating
      • Resin Infusion Overview >
        • Resin Infusion
        • Resin Infusion & Light RTM
      • Prepreg Overview >
        • Prepreg Laminating Stage 1
        • Prepreg Laminating Stage 2
        • Prepreg Mould Making
      • Composite Trimming, Finishing & Assembly
      • Composite Repair Overview >
        • Composite Repair Stage 1
        • Composite Repair Stage 2
        • Using the Step Sanding Tool Kit
      • Producing your Own Parts
      • Composites for Engineers & Designers Overview >
        • Stage 1 - Materials & Processes
        • Stage 2 - Next Steps
    • Course Booking
    • Course Structure
    • Bespoke Composite Courses
    • Training Programmes
    • NVQ Programmes
    • Training Facilities
  • Consultancy
    • Consultancy Overview
    • Composite Processing
    • Composite Design
    • Bespoke Production
    • Composite Facility Design
  • Equipment
    • Equipment Overview
    • Repair Overview >
      • Step Sanding Tool Kits
      • Step Sanding Training Videos
      • Repair Tool Kits
    • Extraction Overview >
      • Portable Dust Extraction
      • Dust & Fume Extraction Benches
    • Air Tool Kit Overview >
      • Cut Off Wheels
      • Routers
      • Sanders & Polishers
      • Pencil & Die Grinders
      • Drills
    • Spare Parts
  • Gallery
  • FAQs
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Links
    • PDF Documents

Welcome to dark matter composites blog

JEC World 2017 - Our Round Up

17/3/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
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.

Thermoplastics are 'Trending'

As expected, there is a concerted effort to get the benefits of composite materials into mass produced vehicles, but uptake has been slow to date. Even personnel in the automotive sector really don't know where the materials will be applied. 

What was apparent this year are the vast number of examples of thermoplastic composite parts and hybrid thermoplastic/metal/composite parts.  Many of these use carbon in various forms, from recycled materials, to short fibre sheet moulding compounds and long fibre pre-forms.
Picture

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.

Picture
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!):

Triaxial Woven Fabrics

For all of us that have the issue of dealing with double curvature and draping fabrics (easily and consistently) over complex 3D mould, this could be something of interest. 

Picture
Picture

Woven on looms with 2 warps, which can run in different angles, results in a hexagonal weave construction that can better accommodate double curvature.  Providing fibres at 60 degrees increments, rather than 90 degrees, gives a much more compliant material, and here are some images to show you.  Weblink is www.sakase.co.jp

High Tech Origami

Fed up with having to select a core material from a range of standard materials but nothing quite hits the mark? Using simple origami techniques, FOLDCORE can turn any sheet of material (from paper to metal to carbon) into a core material that can vary in density and accommodate changing curvature.  Right now, their website does not do them justice, so the images below will assist. It's such a great idea for shipping, strength and usability as well as providing solutions such as drainage where required.
Picture
Picture
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!
2 Comments

Giving things up...

2/3/2017

3 Comments

 
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.

Picture
It could be Chocolate, cakes or alcohol, whatever you decide, a bit like dry January just longer.

We're now encouraged to give up bad habits & try to do something positive during Lent. Get rid of some of the things we no longer use, stop spending money on wasteful things, generally try to be nicer to everyone.

So how about using this time to stop some of those bad habits at work?

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.

Some things are really easy to correct. I know I slump at my desk and that it's bad for me. I just need to remember to sit straight.

In theory it's an easy change. It will improve my health & make me feel better.

So if there are things you do which are bad for your health, the products you make or the tools you use, now is a good time to try and break those habits.

Picture
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.

Wear the correct PPE for the task


Wearing Gloves, Safety specs and Coveralls when needed, will protect you which is great. They can also help protect the parts you make.

Our skin produces oils which keep it healthy. Gloves might make laminating tricky sometimes, but introducing oils or barrier creams into laminated parts is a terrible idea and is only good for de-lamination.

Acetone, release agents & other chemicals will go through cloth footwear if you spill it so don't forget your feet!

Picture
If you're in an environment where carbon or glass dust is an issue you might be interested in our Composites UK seminar.

Clean up after yourself

You've got cleaners right?  Their job is hard enough without you giving them more to do, SO CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!
Picture
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.

Organise your workplace

The biggest issue we have on courses is to encourage people to keep work areas tidy. If your bench is a mess you'll have no idea what foreign bodies you've just laminated into your part, can't count your backing papers if you need to & can't find which ply you're on.

I'm just as guilty in the office with piles of paper on my desk.

Picture
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.

Follow the process

Picture
Do men ask for directions?
Do engineers read instructions?

It's a bit of a longstanding joke that engineers don't read instructions, just like men don't want to ask for directions. It isn't necessarily true, but generalisations rarely are!

Somebody has gone to the trouble of producing instructions.

These instructions, (be it a layup manual, a process control sheet or a simple timetable or tick list) were written for several reasons.
Picture


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.
3 Comments

      Leave your contact details to be kept up to date by email.

    Submit

    Categories

    All
    December
    January
    November

    Archives

    March 2017
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    RSS Feed

    Author

    This blog is written by a few of us here at dark Matter composites:
    Rodney
    Rosemary
    Paul
    Sharon
    A brief introduction is on it's way...........


    Picture

    RSS Feed

UPCOMING COURSES

DMSC60, Producing Your Own Composite Parts
12-16 May 2025


DMSC61, Composite for Engineers & Designers Stage 1
9-13 June  2025


DMSC62, Composite for Engineers & Designers Stage 2
16-20 June  2025

click here for composite training  information

dark matter composites ltd
Tel/Fax:  +44 (0)1582 791001
email: 
[email protected]
Home
Course  Booking/Information
Delivery Information
Sales Terms & Conditions
Website Terms & Conditions
Links
Contact Us
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture