R3 Composites, Inc, a specialist in sheet-molding compound (SMC), has announced the formation of a new, wholly owned subsidiary, Carver Non-Woven Technologies LLC. The new company will supply multi-material nonwoven products to both R3 and the broader North American composites industry. Carver will be headquartered nearby in Fremont, Indiana, USA in a renovated existing plant where it will produce its nonwoven products and offer them for commercial sale from in July 2016. The new company will offer nonwoven reinforcements for a wide variety of thermoset and thermoplastic composites. A broad combination of single-fiber and hybrid (multi-fiber) mats will be offered, including E-glass glass fiber, bast-type natural fibers (primarily jute), carbon fiber, and several types of polymer fibers (eg nylon and polyester) plus highly homogeneous resonated acrylic/latex binder-resin blends. Carver also plans to be the first to bring carbon fiber non-wovens to market at lower costs than conventional wrap-and-resonate processes. The production line will be full automated – from initial debaling, fiber opening, blending, and carding, all the way through to finished packaging. ‘From the start, we strategically positioned Carver's focus on design and technology in order to significantly raise the bar on non-woven product quality,’ said Mark Glidden, president, R3 Composites and Carver Non-Woven. ‘In order to meet the demanding performance requirements of the automotive, recreational vehicle, building/construction, and office-furniture markets, we knew it would be critical to maintain tight tolerances on fiber blending, coarse and fine fiber opening, product weight distribution, and line versatility.’
This story uses material from Carver Non-Woven Technologies, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
