Dec 9 2010
Harper International, leader in the design of complete thermal processing solutions for advanced materials, has been awarded a project by Georgia Institute of Technology for the production of an innovative university scale carbon fiber (CF) thermal processing system.
Georgia Tech, one of the nation's top research institutions, has been provided DARPA funding in the area of carbon fibers and partnered with Harper to develop a customized process system for their research purposes.
Georgia Tech required an especially distinctive configuration in the line to accommodate fractional tow sizes in the range of less than 100 filaments. This condition pushes the boundaries for typical carbon fiber processing, as traditional commercial CF lines handle tow sizes of 3K, and rarely down to 1K. Harper’s expert design team was able to devise a proprietary solution to this challenge, enabling researchers to achieve their goals of processing material more quickly and utilizing less expensive additives.
“Harper’s thermal processing systems will be used in our advanced materials research at Georgia Tech,” commented Dr. Satish Kumar, Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering. “Solving tough problems with real world solutions is part of what we do at Tech. We are always interested in finding creative, technologically-focused partners to assist with our research."
Carbon fibers including carbon nanotube containing carbon fibers are a prime area of focus in advanced materials research due to their increased strength, flexibility, and unique electrical properties. CNTs are of potential use in many applications across almost all fields of science, engineering, and technology, and help expand the realm of nanotechnology through their utilization in controlling other nanoscale structures.
Source: http://www.HarperIntl.com/