Honeycomb technology expert EconCore has developed a new type of honeycomb core material for laminated sandwich panels. Among them, the sandwich panel is made of Sabic's Noryl GTX resin, that is, a mixture of polyphenylene ether (PPE) and polystyrene. In addition, the combination of the new honeycomb core and the thermoplastic composite skin can also be made into a full thermoplastic sandwich panel, thereby promoting the recycling of the combination with the polyamide skin.
Tomasz Czarnecki, chief operating officer of EconCore, said: "In order to use high-performance thermoplastic composite honeycomb panels, we sought help from Sabic experts to expand the product's use in various fields and overcome the limitations of existing materials. We believe that the material is good. The comprehensive performance will enable it to be more widely used in transportation, clean energy and electric vehicles."
According to EconCore, compared with other alternative materials (such as polyamide), the new honeycomb core has higher heat resistance, better dimensional stability, and lower water absorption. Therefore, it can be applied to electric vehicles and photovoltaic modules. And other high-end applications. In addition, the honeycomb core and the thermosetting composite skin also have good compatibility. Even at a temperature of 180°C, the honeycomb core can show ultra-high load-bearing capacity. Therefore, it can be used as a thermosetting prepreg laminate in a high curing temperature processing environment.
The EconCore honeycomb core uses its patented technology and is made of only one continuous thermoplastic sheet. During the process, the material can be extruded and formed into a honeycomb structure online without secondary operations. Specifically, the process involves a series of extrusion and thermoforming steps that can transform the extruded film into a semi-hexagonal mesh, which can be directly folded into a thermoplastic honeycomb structure.
This continuous production process is highly efficient, so the production cost can be reduced to a minimum, so that the product is extremely price-competitive. In addition, this technology also allows the surface layer lamination step to be integrated with the honeycomb core production line, so that laminated sandwich panels can be manufactured efficiently and continuously.
EconCore's technology has a large degree of freedom, and can design and produce various honeycomb cell sizes, core thicknesses and densities. At present, the company has authorized a number of leading companies in the industrial packaging, automotive, transportation, and construction industries to use the product for the production of integrated technology of light honeycomb panels with specific configurations.