Sustainable composites

The TCKT – Transfer Centre for Plastics Technology is the specialist for fibre-reinforced plastics applications in the lightweight construction of the future. Aerospace, automotive or bicycle industry - the industries and applications are versatile. Especially in mobility, when it has to be light and stable and fibre-reinforced plastics (FRP) are used. This composite material has huge lightweight construction potential and will see increasing use in other industries, such as mechanical engineering and the building sector, in the future.
 

Material development

The TCKT has many years of experience in plastics development, and particularly for lightweight applications in combination with short or continuous filaments. In the past few years, work has focused primarily on the subject of thermoplastic composites and recycled carbon fibres (rCF) – starting with the evaluation of different fibre-matrix combinations, process and property optimisation of tapes and thermoplastic sheets from in-house production, through to the production of various test specimen geometries for material characterisation tasks. TCKT is also trying to make the future of FRPs more sustainable with biopolymers, which are already being used successfully in the packaging industry and agriculture, in combination with natural fibres.
 

Smart production

The magic word for smart and resource-conserving composites production is Automated Fibre Placement (AFP). The TCKT takes deep insights into the entire spectrum from producing the tapes and fabricating them downstream up to the finished preform by means of an automated laying process on the AFP plant. A modern thermoforming station is then used for forming into finished parts or demonstrators. The experts can process both thermoset and thermoplastic unidirectional tapes for customers.
 

Recycling of composites

Plastics recycling is one of the biggest challenges of our age. Unfortunately, there are very few economically and ecologically meaningful recycling techniques for fibre reinforced plastics so far. This is why the TCKT is researching innovative solutions for recycling these waste flows to create high-quality recycled materials, which in turn can be used to manufacture new, equally high-quality products. Among other things, tests are being carried on introducing pyrolysed rCF into new applications in the form of nonwovens. Glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) waste can also find its way back into new parts after shredding and reprocessing with a compatible matrix.
 

Material testing and characterisation

When characterising materials, TCKT employees test both plastics and parts for customers in line with a wide range of standards and processes for mechanical, thermal, rheological or physical characterisation. The plastics experts draw on years of experience, especially in material testing of composites, coupled with expertise in the interpretation of the results, for the benefit of customers and purchasers alike.
 

Transfercenter für Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Franz-Fritsch-Straße 11, A-4600 Wels
+43 7242 2088 1000
office@tckt.at
www.tckt.at