Armacell Benelux S.C.S.
Company name
Armacell Benelux S.C.S.
Company description

Armacell is a pioneer in the field of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) technology and initiated the breakthrough of PET foams as a structural core material in the composite industry (2005). But our research did not stop there; as a technology leader, Armacell went on to further developed its unique and patented rPET process technology that enables PET foam products to be made entirely from recycled beverage bottles (2010). Today, Armacell offers a diverse product portfolio of environmentally friendly solutions based on 100% recycled PET: structural foam cores, thermoformable flexible sheets and particle foams.

Our portfolio of eco-friendly product solutions with lowest ecological footprints contains structural and insulating foam cores, thin flexible sheets for thermoformable micro sandwich solutions and particle foams to produce 3D foam parts. All ArmaPET™ products are made by Armacell’s unique and patented rPET technology, enabling the production of PET foam products based on 100% recycled PET. ArmaPET™ is used in a variety of applications, such as 90-metre-long wind turbine blades, the body structure of high-speed trains, surfboards, or even the 24-karat gilded roof of an Orthodox cathedral in Paris. As of today, we have used more than 1,5 bn recycled bottles in our ArmaPET™ production.

Design and Simulation

Sandwich design for specific applications

Materials

Sustainable Core Foams
ArmaPET™ Struct
ArmaPET™ Eco
ArmaPET™ Curve
ArmaPET™ Shape

Production

Foaming extrusion
Conversion for sheets:
Grooving
Double Contour
Scrim
Gridscoring + Scrim
Perforation
Surface Treatment

Our use cases

ROTOR BLADES:
Over 120,000 wind turbine blades globally are cored with ArmaPET Struct.
-Advantages: ArmaPET Struct globally supports sustainable wind energy market growth, from optimised blade manufacturing through to extended life spans and blade recycling management.
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct GR in densities from 100 to 250 kg/m³
-System and process: ArmaPET core is very versatile in its use and compatible with all regular sandwich set-up processes and resin systems.
-Further details: minimal fluctuation in material properties allow for increased process stability and excellent thermal and dimensional stability facilitates the repeatability in production.
-Development status: 120.000 rotos blades already in operations, further under delivery and in qualification
-Development partners: Armacell x main global wind OEMs and kitters

ECO HOUSE:
A 186 m² house in Nova Scotia (Canada) made entirely of 170 ArmaPET Struct cored panels.
-Advantages: ArmaPET Eco combines insulation and structural integrity, ensuring energy and emission efficiency for decades of use.: This innovative and eco-friendly new concept home complies with all building codes. In fact, it out-performs traditional construction in a number of categories: it is strong enough to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds, it has minimal maintenance requirements and its energy efficiency ratings put it in the upper levels of the energy guide. The building costs for their prototype home were similar to those for a conventional construction of the same size but homeowners benefit from added value due to savings in whole-life costs. Moreover, the house assembly time is less than a day (14 h), so it is a perfect solution for sheltering.
-Materials: This prototype house is made of around 170 panels, all made of low density ArmaPET Struct with 4.4 lb/ft³ (70 kg/m³) and thicknesses of 1 to 6 inches (25 to 150 mm). Using the hand lay-up process ArmaPET Struct is covered with fiberglass/polyester resin skins. Aluminum siding is then applied on the outside and drywall on the inside.
-System and process: structural panels, hand lay-up process
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x JD Composites

COMPOSITE DOME STRUCTURE - RUSSIAN CATHEDRALE:
ArmaPET Struct is used for the five gilded domes of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris, France.
-Advantages: In contrast to conventional construction techniques, the choice of a composite dome solution had two major aspects. Cored with ArmaPET Struct, the weight of the bigger dome was reduced by a factor five, from 42 tones to 8 tones. The domes’ reduced weight allowed for less supporting structures and facilitated, as well as, speeded up handling during assembly. It took only 15 minutes (!) to put the bigger dome of 12 x 12 meters by crane in place. Moreover, the composite allows complicated designs and combination of concave to convex shapes.
-Materials: 50 mm thick composite sandwich structure cored with ArmaPET ™ Struct, at a density of 80 kg/m³ with grid-score finishing and reinforced with glass fiber/epoxy resin skins by a vacuum infusion process.
-System and process: vacuum infusion process
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x Architect: Wilmotte & Associés x General contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France x Contractor domes: Multiplast

FACADE CLADDING - KAFD WORLD TRADE CENTER:
ArmaPET Struct is used for the more than 3,000 façade panels of KAFD World Trade Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, providing a required stiffness while keeping them lightweight. The up to 15 metres long panels are tailor-
made to meet stringent high-speed wind loading criteria.
-Advantages: ArmaPET boosts sustainable building, providing a higher degree of freedom in design, while contributing to improved safety and comfort: 3,180 unique facade panels spanning an area of 47,000 square meters. The large variations in the geometry of the panels. Off-site manufacturing required tight dimensional tolerances to ensure smooth assembly on-site. Exposure to high-speed wind loads required high structural strength at low weight. External fire testing of the entire facade panels proved that ArmaPET Struct complies in all relevant aspects of ASTM E84 (class A) and NFPA 285. Stiffness and, at the same time, lightweight and dimensional tolerances were not the only challenges the designers and architects had to cope with: the Arabian climate, with its extremely large variations in temperature, from sub-zero at night to +55°C during the summer, in combination with wind and sand, required the use of very robust materials. ArmaPET Struct provided enough temperature stability to manage these temperature changes.
-Materials: Composite sandwich panels made of fiberglass/fire-retardant gelcoat polyester skins and cored with low-density ArmaPET Struct of 70 kg/m³.
-System and process: vacuum infusion process
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x Architect: Gensler x Cladding: BFG International, Bahrain
The Riyadh Story

MILLENNIUM WALKWAY:
ArmaPET Struct is used for the Millennium Walkway in Derbyshire, UK
-Advantages: lightweighting, lower total cost of ownership due to reduced maintenance activities and long term performance, use of recycled PET based ArmaPET improved carbon footprint of the construction compared to the traditional solutions.
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x various partners in EU

FLOORING OF CZECH TRAM FOR CITY:
ArmaPET Struct is used in the floor panels of Czech tram For City.
-Advantages: ArmaPET makes the construction of lighter vehicles viable, supports the reduction of CO2 emissions and the electrification of future mobility, and enhances payloads for commercial transport.
-Materials: ArmaForm Struct
-System and process: lamination
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x various partners in EU, APAC and US

TRUCK BODY STRUCTURE:
Penso’s Blue Ocean Home Delivery Pods are made of ArmaPET Struct
-Advantages: The innovative and aerodynamic design of combining ArmaPET and Carbon Pre-Preg skins allowed for a significant reduction in weight and related fuel consumption and significant CO2 emission savings. The high impact and damage resistance of the ArmaPET cored solution is designed for durability and thanks to structural testing, a warranty of 10 years can be granted. An overall payload increase of 33% could be realised with the innovative solution, ensuring operating efficiency and significantly reduced costs of ownership
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct, ArmaPET Curve + Carbon Pre-Preg Skins
-System and process: Pre-Preg Lamination
-Development status: finished, trucks are being produced
-Development partners: Armacell x Penso, Matrix Composites

CHR3 Train:
ArmaPET Struct for use in railway applications (front nose of Chinese bullet train CRH3A EMU)
-Advantages: ArmaPET Struct makes fire safety solutions possible that ensure passenger protection while enhancing the cost-effective operation of your rolling stock. Innovative composite solutions which are based on recyclable ArmaPET core foam significantly reduce the weight – from the driver´s cab, body shell and floor to doors, lavatory modules, compartment walls and tables. In this application floor solution has been developed without compromising passenger safety - composite meet the stringent fire, smoke and toxicity requirements of the rail standard EN 45545-2. In combination with appropriate laminates, ArmaPET cored sandwich structure achieved the highest classification, HL3, R1 – which qualifies the material for use in all types of trains including metro, sleeper and couchette cars.
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct FR
-System and process: lamination
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x various partners in EU, APAC and US

SPORTS EQUIPMENT:
ArmaPET is used in racing windsurf boards, SUP blades or skis.
-Advantages: ArmaPET Struct and ArmaPET Curve allow for versatile use in many sport equipment applications. For example, ArmaPET Curve as deck reinforcements and full skins in Kite- and Surfboards.
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct and ArmaPET Curve
-System and process: ArmaPET Curve is used as deck reinforcement in a composite sandwich with bamboo Innegra and fiberglass fabric and epoxy of performance kiteboards.
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x Quiver

RADOMES:
ArmaPET Struct is used in Infinite Technologies’ ground based radomes (radar domes).
-Advantages: Recycled core material with good cost-performance ratio, thermoplastic nature of core foam enables thermoforming to 3D shapes (to create a spherical or double-curved surfaces); the material solution is light and strong, cope well with weather and operational conditions (impact resistance) and provide good transparency.
-Materials: glass fiber with epoxy or polyester resin
-System and process: resin infusion
-Development status: finished
-Development partners: Armacell x Infinite

THERMOFORMED PET FOIL:
ArmaPET Curve is designed for recyclable thermoformable micro sandwich solutions produced in continuous manufacturing processes.
-Advantages: the first 100% recyclable thermoplastic foil product entirely made of recycled PET, thermoformable, with unique technical properties as e.g., superior stiffness and compression combined with temperature and chemical stability; broad operating temperature window varying from -40°C to +180°C, smooth surface structure and fine cell structure for easy processing; fulfils FMVSS 302, customized formulations are available on request.
-Materials: ArmaPET Curve
-System and process: lamination, thermoforming, thermo-compression, thermal stamping
-Development status: finished, customised solutions are under continuous development
-Development partners: Armacell x various automotive customers

THERMOPLASTIC SANDWICH STRUCTURES:
Fully thermoplastic sandwich structures, providing very good adhesion even with glueless connection
-Advantages: good adhesion and ease of combinations with polyesters (veils, solid sheets, PET non-woven and fleece), polypropylene, polyurethane, thermoplastic elastomers, etc.; possibility of glue-free thermal lamination, allowing easier recycling and design for recyclability
-Materials: ArmaPET Shape
-System and process: lamination, thermoforming, thermo-compression, thermal stamping
-Development status: finished, customised solutions are under continuous development
-Development partners: Armacell x various automotive customers

NON-THERMOPLASTIC SANDWICH STRUCTURES:
ArmaPET Struct, Eco and Curve for in combination with natural fibres, glass, carbon fibres, bazalt mats, HPLs
-Advantages: lightweighting of the final parts, good adhesion of ArmaPET recycled foams to various reinforcing skins and substrates, compatibility with all the processing methods (hand lay-up, vacuum infusion, RTM, lamination, thermoforming); improved adhesion allowing lower quantities of resins, glues and adhesives. Compatibility with all the resin types used for infusion (epoxy, vinyl-ester, …).
-Materials: ArmaPET Struct, Eco and Curve for in combination with natural fibres, glass, carbon fibres, bazalt mats, HPLs
-Development status: finished, customised solutions are under continuous development
-Development partners: Armacell x various automotive customers

Further information

FULLY THERMOPLASTIC SANDWICH STRUCTURE
PET + PET:
PET Core + PET Fleece
Thermal lamination possible during thermoforming process due to material compatibility without intermediate layer, cycle times comparable to PP
No adhesive needed, no additional process steps required
Fully recyclable

PET + PP:
PET Foam + PP Skin
Sandwich structure by thermal lamination
The cell structure of the surface allows welding of the compatible materials
No adhesive needed, no additional process steps required -> increased labour productivity
Easily recyclable

PET + natural fibre PP mix:
ArmaPET Curve + needled natural fibre PP mix
Can be produced in large rolls
Easy thermoforming without any additional adhesive layer
For micro sandwich applications

PET + Glass PP:
Automotive parts
ArmaPET + Glass PP
Skin is combined with hotmelt adhesive layer for easy processing

PET CORE APPLICATIONS IN TRANSPORT AND AUTOMOTIVE
PET + HPL:
ArmaPET Curve + HPL
For air ducts / interiors in transport
(bus) applications
Adhesive lamination

PET + carbon:
ArmaPET + Carbon
Pre-preg or wet-layer
lamination

PET + glass fibre:
PET Foam + Polyester Resin and Glass Fibre
Different skins possible tailored for application
Low density PET foam for insulated trucks

Brochures to download
Looking for cooperation for

Final parts manufacturers
rPET flakes and granules Suppliers
Kitters & Converters
Panel Makers

End-users from below markets:
Wind Energy
Rail
Road Transport
Automotive
Marine
General Industry
Structural Insulation
Buildings and Construction

Contact details

Justyna Dolega

Global  Innovation Manager

+32 87 32 50 43
+32 496 565 076

Justyna.Dolega@armacell.com
www.armacell-core-foams.com
Rue des Trois Entités 9
4890 Thimister-Clermont
Belgium

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