TECHNOLOGY

www.reinforcedplastics.com 15REINFORCEDplastics JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014

Teijin Aramid develops new unidirectional laminate

Teijin Aramid has introduced

Twaron unidirectional laminate

UD22 for anti-ballistic vests,

which off ers enhanced

protection, low weight and

well-balanced price/performance

ratios. Anti-ballistic vests for

police and security forces need

to off er low weight, high

comfort and excellent protection

against bullets.

Twaron UD22 is a unidirectional

laminate, available for use in soft

body armour and consisting of

two plies of Twaron yarn plied in

a 0˚/90˚ confi guration. Teijin

Aramid adds that it uses smart

Unidirectional (UD) technology

which aligns the Twaron fi bres in

each layer in a parallel direction.

Each layer is individually

constructed within a resin matrix,

and thermoplastic fi lm is

laminated to the top and bottom

of the two UD plies to ensure

maximum abrasion resistance.

Current anti-ballistic products

need to meet increasingly

complex specifi cations, for

example, ballistic performance

and stab protection in one vest

or protection against a wider

spectrum of projectile and

fragment types. This requires

advanced hybrid solutions for

protective vests, such as Twaron

UD22 in combination with other

Twaron fabrics, laminates, shields

and coated materials. Twaron

UD22 has been subjected to a

range of stress and ballistic

performance tests and meets

the NIJ 0101.06 tumbling

requirements.

Teijin Aramid has also introduced

a Twaron PVB prepreg, which

consists of Twaron fabric and a

new, specially designed PVB

thermoplastic. Teijin Aramid adds

that the new prepreg off ers

advantages such as a longer

shelf life and a stable ballistic

performance over a broad

temperature range. The new

Twaron PVB prepreg features

good anti-ballistic performance.

Subjected to heat and pressure,

it can be shaped into all manner

of protective equipment. These

include helmets, insert panels for

ballistic vests or shaped panels

for vehicle protection.

Teijin Aramid;

www.teijinaramid.com

Twaron unidirectional laminate UD22 from Teijin Aramid.

Blade Dynamics progresses long blade project

Blade Dynamics is now prototyping the ‘Very Long Blade Project’.

Blade Dynamics has concluded

the design phase of its ‘Very

Long Blade Project’ for the

Energy Technologies Institute

(ETI) and confi rmed that the

prototyping phase will now

begin. Blade Dynamics will now

assemble an approximately

80-metre long blade prototype,

and will begin static and fatigue

tests before the end of 2014.

Siemens Wind Power has

confi rmed its continued support

to the development of this

advanced rotor technology. The

project is the fi rst application of

Blade Dynamics’ technology for

large off shore blades, with a

rotor designed specifi cally for

the Siemens SWT-6.0 turbine.

Henrik Stiesdal, chief technology

offi cer of Siemens Wind Power

said: “After this next phase of

further prototype testing, we will

consider a demonstration of a

full rotor on a 6.0 MW turbine.

Subject to successful conclusion

of the tests it is clear that the

potentials of the split-blade

technology of Blade Dynamics

would be expected to become

even more interesting as we

move to even larger turbine

platforms.”

Andrew Scott, programme

manager for Off shore Wind at the

ETI added: “The ETI’s vision is to

support the development of

next-generation blade technology

because improved rotor

performance is fundamental to

achieving the goal of reducing

the cost of off shore wind energy.

We greatly appreciate the

ongoing commitment of

Siemens to this project with

Blade Dynamics. As leaders in this

fi eld, this partnership for the

development of next-generation

rotor technology has the

potential to have a huge impact

on the cost of off shore wind

energy in the future.”

The £15.5m project was

launched in January 2013 and

will demonstrate blades that are

both longer and lighter than

those made from conventional

glass fi bre.

Blade Dynamics;

www.bladedynamics.com

RP0114_Technology News 15 20-01-14 08:38:14