EAS NEWS – Huntsman to focus on high performance chemistries at JEC 

Huntsman Advanced Materials has announced that it will focus on the growing importance of high performance chemistries as enablers for new, cost-competitive manufacturing techniques and the further penetration of composites across a number of industry sectors at JEC 2012, Paris, France from March 27-29.

Meeting growing demands for fast processing and shorter production cycles in automotive manufacturing Huntsman will highlight resin systems particularly suitable for out-of-autoclave processes such as high pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM) or compression moulding.

While aerospace-derived prepreg materials for autoclave cure have traditionally been used within the racing and high-value automotive sectors, out-of-autoclave processes are increasingly providing unparalleled efficiencies in terms of cost, production rates, quality and performance.

Huntsman’s resin systems for high pressure Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) and compression moulding are already proven in offering advanced processing properties and significant production time savings for out-of-autoclave processing – the former enabling production cycles as short as three minutes and the latter assisting with cycles of less than one minute.

Huntsman offers a comprehensive range of Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approved Araldite epoxy resin systems, which meet stringent processing and performance requirements for wind blades manufacturing.

The company has adapted its resin systems for a range of processes, including wet lay-up, infusion and prepreg systems. It will also have on display the high strength composite bonder Araldite AW 4858 / Hardener 4858 and the highly temperature resistant Araldite AW 4859 / Hardener HW 4859. These epoxy-based adhesives are available in cartridges and display lap shear strengths exceeding 35Mpa on composite parts.

Other highlights will include: Di-tri-tetra functional epoxies: providing formulators with a full set of ‘building blocks’ for formulated composite and adhesive systems to improve thermal, mechanical and processing properties; tougheners and flexibilisers; epoxy hardeners and Benzoxazine resins.