Fibre-reinforced composite solutions with non-crimp fabrics as reinforcement layers offer many advantages in lightweight construction and are therefore in demand in a wide range of applications, particularly when the price is right.

Karl Mayer’s Biaxtronic produces biaxial non-crimp fabrics highly efficiently. The high-performance warp knitting machine processes textile glass fibres and makes it possible to incorporate mats made from chopped textile glass fibres or other substrates directly into the reinforcement structure. This results in high-quality composite reinforcements that are firmly established in the transport, marine, construction and renewable energy sectors.

At the end of last year, the proven composite machine underwent a generational change. The new Biaxtronic II is characterised by a clear focus on the mid-range market and even more customer benefits, based on the technically mature concept developed for its predecessor. The machine has been further tailored to the needs of the commodity market in terms of its price-performance ratio, and changes have been made to the weft insertion.

Unlike before, the Biaxtronic II can work with both course-oriented and non course-oriented weft-insertion. A conversion kit – available as an optional extra – makes variable change possible, increasing flexibility.

“In the event of significant market changes, the machine can be converted, offering a real advantage,” says Jochen Schmidt, president of Karl Mayer’s Technical Textiles business unit.

The new weft-insertion system processes textile glass fibre material with a gauge of up to 2,400 tex into reinforcement structures with a maximum weight per unit area of 500 gsm. Glass mats weighing up to 600 gsm can therefore be integrated by means of a chopping unit , while maximum output of 1,100 square metres an hour can be achieved thanks to intelligent technical solutions and a coherent overall concept. Despite the high working speed, the Biaxtronic II handles the fibre material extremely delicately.

Other innovations include a state-of-the-art operator interface for simple, intuitive handling, as well as Kamcos and connectivity features from the latest Karl Mayer machine generation.

With its extended performance potential and sharper pricing profile, the Biaxtronic II has been well received by the market. The first machine has already been sold in Europe, and in-depth project discussions are currently underway with various Chinese customers.

The machine was most recently presented to selected manufacturers in China as part of a presentation at Karl Mayer (China). The performance demonstrations in Changzhou attracted significant interest.

“We had many excellent conversations,” says Zhang Bin, head of the technical textiles machinery department.  In particular, our guests from the areas such as of shipbuilding, sports and leisure and construction wanted to know more about the technical details and new possibilities. This should result in some promising projects.”

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