ROHACELL®

Unique lightweight
solutions for the
Aerospace Industry

Ron R. van Hoorn

May 2016. Sicomp Conference Linköping

1. Evonik supports the composite market
2. The advantages of using PMI foam
3. A new ductile PMI product development - HERO
4. Testing of HERO to fulfill structural requirements
5. Conclusion
Evonik worldwide

Europe
(incl.
Russia)
North
24,176
America
3,709
Asia-Pacific
Middle and 4,620
South America
Middle East,
611
Africa
125
Worldwide

33,241
employees

Status as of 31-12-2014
Products and expertise in almost all
composite sub-components
Composite sandwich system – schematic view

Thermoplastics Thermosets
VESTAKEEP® Matrix COMPIMIDE®
VESTAMID® HTplus Interface CALIDUR®
VESTAMID® L
Fiber
TROGAMID®

Foam cores Crosslinker

ROHACELL® VESTAMIN®
VESTANAT®
JAYHAWK™ Dianhydrides
Foam Core

VISIOMER®

Additives/rheological Thermoset modifier

modifier NANOPOX®
AEROSIL® ALBIPOX®
Dynasylan® Adhesive / ALBIDUR®
Sealant
TEGOMER ® P84®

Understanding all aspects of a complex system is important.

Production sides
Positioned to serve a global market

Darmstadt

Mobile Shanghai

Mobile, Alabama (USA) Darmstadt (Germany) Shanghai (China)

Production: Foaming·Cutting·Shaping Production: Casting·Foaming·Cutting·Shaping Production: Cutting·Shaping
Sandwich Technology Center Sandwich Technology Center Sandwich Technology Center
Production of ROHACELL®

6. Sandwich structure

Customer

5. Net-Shaped cores

4. Cut-to-Size Foam Sheets

3. Raw Foam Block

2. Co-Polymer Sheet

1. Liquid Monomer Solution

1. Evonik supports the composite market
2. The advantages of using PMI foam
3. A new ductile PMI product development - HERO
4. Testing of HERO to fulfill structural requirements
5. Conclusion
Get the best performance out of a
sandwich part by using ROHACELL® HERO

Design Design freedom: complex, integral, light, strong

Quick curing (fast, one shot co-curing)

Processing
Stable process with high yield, no core stabilization cycle

Logistics Fewer parts, no secondary bonding, ready-to-use

Excellent fatigue, impact visibility and bird strike behavior

In Service
Performance Low finished part weight

Multiple function e.g. isolation

1. Evonik supports the composite market
2. The advantages of using PMI foam
3. A new ductile PMI product development - HERO
4. Testing of HERO to fulfill structural requirements
5. Conclusion
The ROHACELL® HERO development challenge:
Improve a proven, high performing foam sandwich core
product for use in Class A and B parts.

Add: High damage tolerance & visibility

With: Greatly improved elongation at break
Keep: All existing advantages
Result: Reduced finished part costs
Increased elongation at break is key to
meeting the damage requirement

Standard
ROHACELL®
Tension grades 3 - 4%
9 - 10%

HERO offers the

highest elongation
at break of any
ROHACELL® grades

Elongation
1. Evonik supports the composite market
2. The advantages of using PMI foam
3. A new ductile PMI product development - HERO
4. Testing of HERO to fulfill structural requirements
5. Conclusion
Mechanical performance - standard tests

Compressive strength Shear Strength Tensile Strength Test Chamber

Impact damage visibility test

ROHACELL® HERO Sandwich NOMEX Honeycomb Sandwich

Density 75 kg/m³ Density 48 kg/m³ - Cell size 3.2 mm

Objective:
Prove that a ROHACELL® HERO sandwich provides the same damage visibility
after an impact as a honeycomb sandwich.
Test at -55°C
Impact depth after 48 hours

Foam-Sandwich after 48h Honeycomb-Sandwich after 48h

4,0
Impact-Depth [mm]

3,0

2,0

1,0

BVID (DVI) > 0.3 mm

0,0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21

Impact-Energy [J]
Impact 10J at 23°C X-cut specimen

Foam Sandwich Honeycomb Sandwich

Impact 35J at -55°C X-cut specimen

Foam Sandwich Honeycomb Sandwich

Fatigue testing

Test procedure
(ASTM C393)
 HERO outperforms Honeycomb
in comparison
1,00

0,80
Cycled fatigue specimens failed
due to core shear cracking

0,60
max/UL [-]

~ +52%
0,40
CFRP/71HERO Sandwich
CFRP/71WF Sandwich**
0,20
CFRP/NOMEX ECA 3.2/48 L*
CFRP/NOMEX ECA 3.2/48 W*
0,00
1,E+00 1,E+01 1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06 1,E+07

Load cycles [-]

* Fatigue Crack Initiation and Propagation in Sandwich Structures, Magnus Burmann, Report No. 98-29, 1998, KTH **Burman M. and Zenkert D., “ Fatigue of Foam Core Sandwich Beams, Part 2: Damaged Specimens”
International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 19, No. 7, pp. 563-578, 1997
Residual strength test – 71 HERO

1,5
Shear strength [Mpa]

1,2 1,19

1,0

0,5

0,0
uncycled 55% UL, after 5 Mio. cycles

Fatigue loaded specimen of 55% UL with 5 Mio. load cycles failed in the
same force range as the uncycled specimen (= quasi-static test) !
Proven stability at high temperatures and
pressures

Compressive Creep
Compressive creep [%]

180°C/ 0.7 MPa

130°C/ 0.5 MPa
Curing conditions (2h)

Out-time investigation at
23°C / 50% RF and
27°C / 70% RF is running.
HERO outperforms honeycomb

4 - Superior
3 - Excellent Damage visibility Honeycomb
2 - Very good 4
1 - Good HERO
0 - Unacceptable
3

Part cost 2 Water ingress

Surface quality Part weight

Design freedom
Demonstrator and evaluation part:
Nose Landing Gear Door (NLGD)
Foam / Infusion
This foam sandwich part was originally constructed as a 71/200 WF core in infusion
technique for Do728. All qualification steps were made. Now, it was optimized for 71
HERO with dry fabrics to stay in infusion manufacturing technique.

Honeycomb / Prepreg
Baseline for the comparison is an NLG door similar to the A320 design and a process
using Nomex honeycomb (64 kg/m³ - 4,8 mm) and prepreg (Fibredux 913C-926-40%).

Foam / Prepreg
Additionally, we compare the foam with an Autoclave (Prepreg) process in a situation
where honeycomb is replaced by foam, but the process stays the same (180°C / 50psi).
The time advantage:
Where are the main differences?
Comparison of time by process step
10

Prepreg
8 instead of
infusion
Core
Time for each step [h]

2 shot
handling
curing
Honeycomb/Prepreg
6
Foam/Prepreg
Foam/Infusion
Core
4 handling

0
Cost advantage results:
Save 21 – 25 % using foam!

Cost comparison NLG door

Labor: 55€/h
100
Machine and Labor: 85€/h
100

79
75 75
75
Cost share [%]

Honeycomb/Prepreg
50 44
40 Foam/Infusion
35 34

25
25 Foam/Prepreg

0
Material cost Labor and Machine Total cost
cost
Weight advantage results:
Save 19 % using foam!

Weight comparison NLG door

100
100

81 81

75

Honeycomb/Prepreg
Weight [%]

No adhesive
film
50 Foam/Prepreg
No need for
potting Foam/Infusion

25

0
Design, analyze and test steps for the
NLG-demonstrator at a low cost

Building block approach at a low cost

Conducted same main load test as original part

Bird strike test by DLR Stuttgart: m= 1.9kg and
speed= 143m/s  First NLG door passes the test

Weight and cost analysis by CTC and evaluation

part build (by INVENT)

Load introduction for hinges, standard potting for

HC and weight optimized for foam (by CTC)

Details according to HC standard (A320) and foam

solution as used in aircraft design, e.g. no need for
potting with foam (by CTC)

Detailed testing to compare impact, mechanical

performance and fatigue, 48kg/m³ HC and
75kg/m³ HERO (by AIRBUS, IWM and Evonik)
Main load case: Bird Strike test details
The main structural load case for an NLG door is the bird strike test. To prove the weight and cost
optimization, the part must pass a typical bird strike test (1.8kg bird strike / speed of 540 km/h).

Part in the test rig at DLR Stuttgart

A bird strike is most critical when the NLGD

is closed during the landing approach!
Main load case: Bird Strike test results
Condition of the part after bird strike testing

Test parameters:
1.9 kg gel bird / speed: 515 km/h

Evaluation:
Local delamination, but the part is still working and
can withstand all required aerodynamic loads.
Even without any rivets on the structure!

The NLGD passes the test!

Main load case: Bird Strike test results

what´s a presentation without a video ?

1. Evonik supports the composite market
2. The advantages of using PMI foam
3. A new ductile PMI product development - HERO
4. Testing of HERO to fulfill structural requirements
5. Conclusion
Lay-up / process / part cost

Lower part cost and

weight (up to -25%)

Easy handling

Stable curing process

Fewer production steps

Ready-to-use parts
Conclusion

Solve Honeycomb
No water problem, better fit to CRFP
problems

Efficient
Reduce manufacturing costs
part production

Robust
damage behavior
Meet industry requirements for
damage tolerance and visibility
ROHACELL®
HERO
Excellent
Produce reliable structural components
mechanical properties
with long service life
and fatigue behavior

AIRBUS Spec. and MIL-PRF-46194a

Qualification
are in progress
 We’re making the WORLD lighter!

ROHACELL®
The Core of Sandwich Solutions Evonik Resource Efficiency
ron.vanhoorn@evonik.com
+31 612942791