To enhance its range of fibre-based materials for composites in the wind industry, Saertex will introduce a new pultruded profiles range at JEC World 2022 in Paris from May 3-5.

The new SAERplanks complement the company’s non-crimp fabrics made of glass and carbon fibres for the spar cap section within rotor blades.

In recent years the company has been developing an in-house manufacturing capability for making pultruded profiles with elevated strength and stiffness. The first production line is about to start at the Saertex headquarters in Saerbeck, Germany. The SAERplanks are based on heavy tow carbon fibres produced in a newly developed pultrusion process, no longer based on a traditional resin bath.

There are two outstanding things about SAERplanks – firstly the carbon fibre is combined with a new hybrid resin system, developed in collaboration with AOC Resins, and secondly the manufacturing process is based on a closed resin injection system.

Saertex has been partnering with AOC Resins in this project to achieve the high requirements for reliable performance, high productivity and minimum scrap rates. AOC managed to develop a high-performance hybrid resin specifically for Saertex. Through multiple product development iterations and thorough experimental design, the teams experts have been able to optimise resin composition and key process settings. As a result, Saertex is now able to run its process consistently, with excellent quality and performance reliability.

In February this year Saertex opened its 17th site worldwide for the production of multiaxial glass fibre non-crimp fabrics for lightweight construction applications in Ciudad Juárez, northern Mexico. The site benefits from its proximity to key customers producing rotor blades for the wind power sector. Overall, 54 new jobs will be created at the newly founded Saertex Mexico.

www.saertex.com