JEC Composites is announcing the new winners of the JEC Innovation Awards Programme 2010.

This year, 11 companies and their partners will receive awards at the JEC Composites Show which will be held April 13-15, 2010, open to all visitors. With the vision of promoting innovation, the programme was created in 1998. Since then each year, a jury of renowned international experts choose the best composite innovations, based on their technical interest, market potential, partnership, financial impact and originality.

The decision to give prominence to these projects was based on their atypical nature and various noteworthy aspects. This year, the winners were selected from the following categories:

Environment & Recycling

Winner: 3XN architects (DK)
Core partners: StageOne Freeform Composite (UK); COWI A/S (DK)
Other partners: Ashland Inc. (US); Amorim Cork Composites (PT); BASF (DE); Libeco-Lagae (BE); Flex Cell (CH); Phillips (DK); Scenetek (DK); 3M A/S (DK); Noliac Motion (DK); Optima Projects Limited (UK); NetComposites Ldt (UK); Danish Technological Institute (DK); Risø National Laboratory DTU (DK), NANO-X GmbH (DE).

The objective was to show that Green Architecture can be dynamic and active. The main value is that the project offers new answers to environmental concerns often raised when using polyester, epoxy, glass fibres, etc. There is a growing need for the composite industry to find answers to energy consumption during production and to the recycling process. For end users, the product offers an environmentally-friendly solution at a price comparable to other composite sandwich structures.

This demonstration part was built for an exhibition on display during the United Nations Climate Conference in December. The vision of the project has been to create an energy-self-sufficient sustainable pavilion using bio-based materials that can both belong to and decompose in the biological cycle after use. The result illustrates just how far bio-composites have come in an Architectural application based on commercially available components.

Bio-based Materials

Winner: Lineo (Belgium)
Partners: Artengo / Decathlon (Oxylane group) (France); Huntsman Advanced Materials (Switzerland); LRPMN d'Alencon (Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Propriétés des Matériaux Nouveaux) (France)

The ultimate technical goal was to combine the damping properties of flax with the well-known performance of carbon fibre. Lineo not only developed a flax-based commercial prepreg but also a unique yarn treatment and impregnation process overcoming the technological barrier imposed by flax properties.

Aeronautics

Winner: Fokker Aerostructures (NL)
Partners: Gulfstream (USA), KVE Composites Group (NL), Ten Cate (NL) and Ticona GmbH (Germany)

With a 4-m-long rudder and 6-m-long elevators, Fokker Aerostructures introduces the first induction-welded carbon/PPS thermoplastic composite-based primary structure aircraft control surfaces in series production for the new Gulfstream 650 business jet.

Building & Construction

Winner: D'Appolonia S.p.A. (Italy)
Partners: Sächsisches Textilforschungsinstitut e.V. (Germany); APC Composit AB (Switzerland); Karl Mayer Malimo Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH (Germany) and several associations, laboratories and end-users in Europe (30 partners in the project).

This Intelligent composite “seismic wallpaper” is used for the reinforcement, strengthening, monitoring and management of civil infrastructure vulnerable to earthquakes. The project team redoubled their efforts following the L’Aquila earthquake (Spring 2009, with 15,000 houses destroyed).

Sports and Leisure

Winner: Corima S.A. (France)
Partners: Hexcel Composites (France); Evonik (Germany)

This CORIMA AERO+ MCC is a 100%-carbon wheel produced using a complete composite process.

Transportation

Winner: Lomold Pty Ltd. (South Africa)
Partners: Chuan Lih Fa Machinery Works Co. Ltd. (Taiwan); KHS Consulting cc (South Africa); Addcomp Holland BV (NL)

Lomold developed a new Long Fibre Thermoplastic (LFT) manufacturing process. The development was carried out in-house by a team of engineers over a period of 10 years. The technology is now patented worldwide. The patented innovation achieves very long fibres in a very large and complex 3D product moulded through one gate (sprue). The resulting fibre length exceeds 20 mm (up to 50 mm). Consequently, very high mechanical properties are achieved and very strong, thin-walled lightweight designs are possible.

Wind Energy

Winner: LTP (France)
Partners: Groupe Depestele - Teillage Vandecandelaère (France); ACT ENER (France); Université Le Havre (Laboratoire Ondes et Milieux Complexes)

This wind turbine size can feed public lighting systems. The goal is to supply natural energy with a clean system. This wind turbine’s configuration makes it possible to produce energy in a very restricted volume and dimensions. Its safety control system allows it to operate even with strong winds. It uses a patented ACTENER technology. The material combines flax fabrics with a PLA matrix, so it is 100% biodegradable.

Raw Materials

Winner: Advanced Fiber Materials Technologies Co., Ltd. China
Partners: OCV Reinforcements (China); Shandong Shuangyi Group Co., Ltd. (China)

Han-3D-Fabrics is a new international patent-pending approach from Advanced Fiber Materials Technologies, Co., Ltd. that uses Velcro (hook-and-loop fasteners) on both sides of fibre sheets to produce 3D composites with increased interlaminate strength.

Process and Automation

Process Winner: S.A.B.C.A. (Belgium)
Partners: Biteam AB (Sweden); Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures (CRC-ACS) (Australia), Dassault Aviation (France), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) (Germany), EADS Deutschland GmbH (Germany), EADS Innovation Works (France), Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (Germany), KTH – University of Stockholm (Sweden), Premium AEROTEC GmbH (Germany), Secar Technologie GmbH (Austria), the University of Patras (Greece), Výzkumný a zkusební letecký ústav a.s.(VZLU a.s.) (Czech Republic).

The MOJO demonstrator (Modular Joints for composite aircraft components) is one of the very first representative aeronautical structures designed for assembly by structural adhesive bonding, which provides damage tolerance characteristics.

The 2010 Innovation Awards competition is supported actively by UMECO Composites (Official Partner) and Huntsman Advanced Materials (Platinum sponsor).

Automation had 2 innovations tie for first place:
Winners: Magestic Systems Inc. (USA) and EADS Deutchland GmbH (Germany)

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