BURNSIDE - The UK's Technical Fibre Products (TFP) will be exhibiting their latest nonwoven solutions for composites at the 2019 China Composites Expo in September.
The Optiveil range, which is specifically designed for use in composites, is widely used as a surfacing veil and when incorporated at the surface of the composite consistently delivers a high quality surface finish with micro crack suppression.
The next generation veils have been designed to offer superior flexibility and surface smoothness. They are manufactured from a range of different fibre types, including micro denier polyester and Kuraray’s WRAMP fibre (a polyester-polyamide hybrid). These microfibers have a finer diameter than TFP’s standard polyester products, measuring 4 & 5 μm compared to 12 & 7 μm respectively. This means there is significantly more fibres per gram of material – nearly 18 million fibres versus 2 million in the company's standard polyester nonwovens; producing a different, closer, pore structure with a higher surface area.
According to TFP, this ultimately conveys increased flexibility to the nonwoven and enhances its conformability to more complex shapes during composite manufacturing.
The pore structure refinement also improves the surface smoothness as well processing ease; providing a further benefit in surface finish applications where it minimises micro porosity and micro-cracking.
The increased surface smoothness of these thermoplastic veils also makes them even more suitable for use as adhesive carrier or support veils, TFP says, an already popular application for Optiveil materials.
TFP’s nonwovens are used effectively in a wide range of composite applications ranging from aerospace and automotive to energy, transportation and sporting goods, fulfilling requirements including surfacing, electrical conductivity, EMI shielding, abrasion & corrosion resistance, as well as increasing fracture toughness or acting as an adhesive carrier.
China Composites Expo takes place from the 3-5 September 2019 in Shanghai.
