EconCore has become an expert in thermoplastic honeycomb core materials and technology. The step of attaching the honeycomb core to the skin in-line to create a lightweight and rigid sandwich panel enables EconCore to license its ThermHex process to companies operating in various market segments.
The key is technology's versatile materials, coupled with high-speed, continuous, low-cost production processes. EconCore's ThermHex process allows users to offer honeycomb-like performance - weight-optimized materials to accommodate larger applications than ever before. EconCore is not limited to small-volume and low-cost sensitive areas, but also brings cellular structures to the mass market. By using EconCore's continuous, cost-effective process technology and a combination of different core and skin materials, cellular core materials are entering an increasingly wide range of transportation applications. Lightweight can bring economic returns and reduce environmental impact. For example, for truck trailers and truck bodies, the honeycomb core material is 90% lighter than existing solid core materials, thereby reducing the potential for weight. For fleet operators who want to reduce fuel consumption to increase cargo capacity and minimize environmental impact, the benefits are obvious. Lightweight is valuable: for full-size trailers, the weight per trailer is reduced by 10% and fuel consumption can be saved by 6-8%. The lightweighting of innovative cellular materials has occurred and is growing rapidly. Commercial transportation leaders in North America and Europe are adopting EconCore's ThermHex technology and providing innovative product solutions to meet the challenges of commercial transportation and satisfy their customers.
Metal appearance
The thermoplastic honeycomb core material uses a metallic appearance in an online, continuous ThermHex process that draws the ability of leading innovation companies to combine interest and investment in Europe and North America. Leading in the UK is Tata Steel, which uses the EconCore technology to produce the Coretinium, a combination of in-situ polypropylene honeycomb cores and Colorcoat Prisma preforms. This breakthrough in the rigid weight performance of Tata Commercial Transportation customers brings tangible value. One notable example is Cartwright's new Streetwise Urban Delivery trailer deployed in a UK city, which is half a ton less than previously, thanks to the Tata Steel Coretinium composite made with EconCore technology.
Passenger transportation is a demanding area that requires performance and compliance. Coretinium and its refractory steel skin pass the industry standard R118-Attachment 6. Coretinium is ideal for passenger vehicle floors. It is ideal for buses, especially the engine compartment, where the Coretinium is actually a steel sandwich structure for floors and firewalls and offers manufacturers a lightweight, hard and fully compatible option.
Overall, with its unique combination of high performance aesthetics, the Coretinium is the ideal solution for reducing vehicle weight and emissions and increasing payload. We expect to see more Coretinium in transportation, such as bus floor and trailer side walls, as well as commercial trailer doors, flooring and recreational trailers.
In North America, Wabash National specializes in commercial transportation, and recently conducted informal statistics on the US highway, and found that four out of every ten truck trailers with the Wabash National logo were four. EconCore's integration into Wabash's innovation in commercial transportation is exciting. For a long time, DuraPlate has taken the lead in composite innovation, and for over 20 years, Wabash is taking it to a new level. Earlier this year, Wabash demonstrated their DuraPlate honeycomb core panels produced using EconCore technology. For truck bodies, the opportunity is obvious, and these panels are designed to provide the best performance for their last mile of application. Honeycomb core panels are 22% lighter than solid composite panels, and for truck bodies, lighter panels are more durable than current products.
Reinforced thermoplastic composite skin
Together with its subsidiaries ThermHex Waben and Fraunhofer IMWS, EconCore has made great efforts for the application and process development of the European Union-funded project Organosandwich, which is made of thermoplastic honeycomb core material and the composite skin is reinforced with continuous glass fiber. . Complementing and complementing the commercial trailer material portfolio, organic sandwich materials offer another means of reducing weight and increasing profitability. For example, Organosandwich, Organosandwiches made from conventional glass-reinforced laminated plywood-made trailers and PP/GF composite skin polypropylene (PP) honeycomb cores, the weight loss is more than 60%, while the traditional GRP and the initial weight of 6.5 metric tons of plywood, The weight reduction of about 18% (1.15 tons) is made of organically reinforced materials. This means saving a lot of fuel or increasing the capacity of a unit of cargo, and even for a medium-sized fleet, this is huge.
Considering that for a fleet manager with 100 units, a typical tractor trailer assembly with a total weight of 13 tons and an average truck of 100,000 km/year consume 40 litres of diesel per 100 km, such a reduction of 1.15 miles per ton may mean The equivalent of about 250,000 liters of fuel savings. After a few years, this fuel reduction will result in cost savings of millions of euros. The fleet manager decides how to apply the value of lightweight – whether it's fuel savings or increased payload, or a balance between the two.
Further innovative applications of Organosandwich materials may include the ability to make translucent panels that can be mounted on the sunroof of trailers and truck roofs.
Due to the low density honeycomb core, organic sandwiches are an inherently hard material and lightweight material. Organic mulberry materials are considering a wide range of transportation applications as drives replace lighter parts and ultimately reduce carbon dioxide emissions. These materials have excellent rigidity and impact resistance required by the automotive industry and are lower in weight than conventional heavy-duty parts. With the lightweight solutions of the transportation industry, the future is bright for organic sandwich materials, fleet managers and owners, and the environment.
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XIAMEN LFT COMPOSITE PLASTIC CO.,LTD.
Focus on (LFT-G, LFRT) R&D and production: PA, PP, TPU, PPS, PBT, PPA,PEI,PEEK long glass fiber & carbon fiber continuous infiltration thermoplastic composite reinforcement series engineering plastics.It can be used in aerospace, automotive, medical equipment, sports equipment, home appliances and other lightweight and cost-effective semi-structural parts that require high performance markets.
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Mike Lee
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