When Performance Makes DifferenceSTRUCTURAL COMPOSITES

When you want to exceed the top

Composites

Reinforced composite materials open up totally new horizons in a variety of industrial applications, compared with conventional materials. Whenever excellent performance, light weight, speed and outstanding mechanical and chemical properties are critical, it is worth considering the use of composite material structures and components.

FY-Composites’ powerful design tools, versatile manufacturing technologies and thorough knowledge of materials allow it to execute the most demanding of customer projects. The right combination of materials and design guarantees a competitive result.

FY-Composites’ wide selection of reinforcing materials (e.g. glass, carbon and aramide) and

resins (e.g. epoxies, vinylesters and phenolics) provide the necessary tools to optimise final product properties in terms of the environment in which they are used. No matter whether the desired properties are mechanical, chemical or thermal, etc, the right design and material selection will ensure that customer requirements can be fulfilled.

We serve our customers not only with technologies based on thermosetting resins, but also with reinforced thermoplastics. This gives more opportunities to accomplish versatile structural projects.

Composites – bridge between your challenge and goals

Composites – bridge between your challenge and goals

Composites – bridge between

FY-Composites Oy has 20 years’ experience in developing, designing and manufacturing complex products and structures made of advanced composites. We have executed numerous difficult projects in areas such as transportation, machinery, shipbuilding and ballistic protection. The successful execution of these projects has required extensive investments in R&D, design and manufacturing processes, thus bringing our expertise up to its current high level.

This expertise is at the disposal of our customers in joint projects. We can take total responsibility for the delivery of structural entities on the turnkey principle.

Our role in joint projects is system supplier. Although our key expertise is in composites, we are accustomed to including components in our delivered structures that reduce work loads at customer premises, thus shortening the total turnaround time.

Our expert knowledge of materials, powerful design tools and versatile manufacturing technolo-gies, combined with the skills and commitment ofour personnel, enable us to raise the competitiveness of our customers in their respective businesses.

Our Products

Materials – Key Elements of SuccessComposite materials consist of two main elements – fi bres and resins – which together result in optimal properties for the fi nal product.

Fibres are the structural basis of composites and have the main infl uence on their mechanical properties. Depending on the requirements of the fi nal application there are several fi bres available, made of glass, aramide and carbon.

Resins tie the fi bres together and form the matrix of the structure. There are several types of resins, each with different properties. The two main resin groups are thermosetting and thermoplastic resins. In composite applications the most widely

used thermosetting resins are epoxies, vinylesters and phenolics. There are several thermoplastic matrix materials that can be selected.

In structural applications, the sandwich structure results in the optimal construction and properties. Various features of the sandwich structure can be integrated to allow a combination of several segments with only one structure. Integration and optimisation of materials and unique properties into composite structures is the key to success.

The core material can be various formats of plastic foams, wood and honeycomb materials.

Figure 2. Tensile strength of various materials [ MPa ]. The fi gures in brackets indicate the fi bre orientation and content.

Figure 1. Young’s modulus of various materials [ GPa ]. The fi gures in brackets indicate the fi bre orientation and content.

Carbon M55J (0 60 vol.-%)Carbon M46J (0 60 vol.-%)Carbon M40J (0 60 vol.-%)Carbon T700 (0 60 vol.-%)

Carbon T700 (0/90 50 vol.-%)Aramide (0 60 vol.-%)

Aramide (0/90 50 vol.-%)Glass-epoxy (0 60 vol.-%)

Glass-epoxy (0/90 50 vol.-%)Glass-polyester (0/90 35 vol.-%)

Glass-polyester (random 20 vol.-%)Aluminium 2Aluminium 1

Steel 2Steel 1

Plywood

0 500 1000 1500 2000 25000 50 100 150 200 250 300

Tensile strength [ MPa ]Modulus [ GPa ]

Some Examples of Typical Composite Properties

Preliminary analyses and designs are made at an early phase of the negotiation process. This ensures the technical feasibility of the project before advancing further in the process.

After the contract has been concluded, the project will proceed with the experts of both parties co-operating closely. Typically it will include the following phases:

Project Expertise

The result of a FEM (Finite Element Model) analysis for the staircase of the ICS-coach

Our main production methods are hot pressing, vacuum infusion, Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM), wet lay-up with vacuum consolidation, and high-speed thermoplastic consolidation. We also have a solid background in working with various pre-preg materials.

Our production effi ciency and quality meet and exceed those typically found in the modern composites industry.

The increasing use of closed-mould manufac-turing methods, even for very large structures, is an example of the success of our ongoing production technology development programme.

Manufacturing Technologies

One of our strengths is that our design and manufac-turing resources are located under the same roof. This facilitates open and quick communication and ensures optimal progress with minimal risk of failure.

Customer specifi cations

Product and composite design

Material specifi cations

Structural analyses

Production planning and manufacturing drawings

Manufacturing

Manuals and instructions

Life time care

Composite materials can be used in a wide variety of application areas. They are most useful in structures where the critical issue is how well the final product performs. Their superb properties (mechanical strength, fatigue resistance and chemical resistance, etc.) combined with the greater flexibility they give to design, result in cost-effective solutions.

Application Areas

Shipbuilding

Composite structures have been, or can be, used in many shipbuilding applications. They include:

• load-carrying parts of the hull• superstructures• chimneys and exhaust ducts• air-conditioning rooms• ramps• pylons• architectural structures• various equipment and fixtures• helicopter platforms

Transportation

Rapidly increasing fuel costs are the main reason for the trend towards lighter vehicles. Not surprisingly, composites have long been used in aircraft, as each kilogram in saved weight can be transformed into fuel consumption and cost savings. Simultaneously, this improves the properties and performance of vehicles.

Similar benefits are achievable in other transpor-tation applications such as:

• trains and trams• buses• trucks• tractors• harvesters

Composite structures not only allow savings in fuel costs, but also open up new design opportunities that improve the properties of vehicles.

Machine Building

Weight is always significant when machines parts rotate or otherwise move. On the other hand, the accuracy of these movements is also significant. Composites are ideal materials to meet both these requirements.

Composites are beneficial in almost all aspects of machine building and in almost all product areas, including:

• paper and board machines• the moving parts of milling machines• the rotating parts of high efficiency fans• textile machines

In machine building, the only limit is one’s imagination.

Construction

Turnaround time is a key driver in both new build-ings and renovations. Lightweight, fully-equipped elements and structures decrease the assembly time required on site, not only in house building, but also in fields such as bridge construction.

Some examples of the use of composites in construction include:

• balconies• bathroom elements• facade elements

By using the right combination of reinforcements and resins, it is possible to meet most official requirements and standards.

The mentioned application areas are just a few examples of how the excellent properties of composites can create new, cost-competitive design and business opportunities.

Stena Fast Aluminium CatamaransIn these large, spectacular vessels composites were used for the first time in large scale. Composite structures have saved 30% more weight than comparable optimised welded aluminium structures.

The structures were classified according to Det Norske Veritas HSLC rules. The design and dimensioning of these parts has set the guidelines for developing the classification of large composite parts for all vessels of this type.

References

T2000 Air Cushion Vehicle

As air cushion vehicles are highly weight-critical, the high strength/stiffness-to-weight ratios of composite materials are of great benefit to the performance of the craft. We have designed and constructed a composite superstructure and bow thrusters for this special vessel, ITA Tuuli.

Hamina Class Vessels

In new Hamina-class fast attack crafts all superstructures above main deck are made from carbon composite materials. This has allowed an increase in the size of superstructures to almost double, while still retaining the same weight. Most of the structures are sandwich structures with multishield properties for ballistic, radar and EMC protection. These unique shielding solutions are designed and made by FY-Composites.

Some examples of our past experience in demanding composite constructions.

Railway Construction

We have produced a series of 14 composite parts for the Intercity double-decker coaches of the Finnish State Railways and the cabins for the two fi rst Finnish “Pendolino” trains. These cabins have a sandwich construction and they are made of glass and aramide fi bres with an epoxy pre-preg matrix.

Machine Building

• High effi ciency composite fan impellers were designed to a specifi c customer demand of Fläkt Woods Oy. The fan impellers are manufactured according to modular design consept to allow fabrication of wide range of impellers with limited number of tools.• A composite main structure for military apparatus was developed to replace the existing aluminium structure. The main targets – low weight and chemical resistance – were met at reasonable cost.

Containers

• A composite twin container for transport and storage of a new generation of missiles was developed and produced. The novel concept utilises the weight-saving potential and fast serial production capabilities of composite materials.• Composite research and special-gear-storage containers were designed and delivered for naval applications.

AQAP 2110 certifi ed fi rm

FY-Composites Oy’s certifi ed quality system conforms to the ISO 9001 and AQAP 2110 standards. The certifi cates cover development, design, manufacturing, installation, after-sales service and the marketing of composite structures and products.

Quality

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www.fy-composites.com

FY-Composites OyMenotie 4FI - 33470 YlöjärviFinland

tel. +358 10 239 7810