EconCore to highlight lightweight honeycomb production technology for transportation at TMC19

Published on 19-03-2019

 

EconCore returns to the TMC exhibition to update the market on its latest innovations in lightweight honeycomb solutions and to listen to the needs of users in transportation. Building on its breakthrough in the transportation sector in North America with Wabash National Corporation licensing its patented production technology EconCore will highlight the benefits of the honeycomb core structure made with weight savings and performance in mind. By combining the honeycomb core with skins such as steel or fiber reinforced composites, solutions are much lighter than conventional alternatives yet with exceptional durability and rigidity. Following the current trend, we see more and more honeycomb-based solutions on the road as time moves forward both in North America and in Europe.

 

“EconCore brought the honeycomb structure once reserved for high end less cost sensitive domains to the higher volume mass markets and by doing so have furthered the efficient use of nature’s finite resources”, says Tomasz Czarnecki EconCore COO, “for users of the technology and products it is the cost efficiency of the process and the weight savings offered by the honeycomb structure that are the main drivers of success”.EconCore is excited to exhibit at TMC for the second time. “Built on the success of the journey so far, and addressing the increasingly challenging needs of the transportation industry, EconCore is keen to explore market opportunities with leading truck and trailer makers in the US” – adds John Sewell, Business Development Manager at EconCore.

 

EconCore’s technology footprint in transportation is growing in Europe as well where Tata Steel, one of EconCore’s licensees for the honeycomb technology, is making great strides with their Coretinium steel skinned sandwich materials. As in North America the value proposition is vehicle weight reduction leading to fuel savings. Recently Tata Steel announced their support of a consortium with goal of weight reduction for double deck trailers to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The consortium has achieved a total weight reduction of 22% with a substantial portion being a 1000kg weight reduction in the upper structure due to use of Coretinium. For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/TataTrailer 

 

EconCore’s daughter production company based in Germany is moving forward with commercialization of Organosandwich materials, which are sandwich panels having continuous glass fiber reinforced polymer skins bonded to the polypropylene cores in the continuous in-line production process offered by EconCore. These Organosandwich materials attract great interest in the domain of truck bodies with their exceptional performance to weight. Furthermore, next to the advantage that the panels when installed in roofing allow sun light to be transmitted into the cargo space, the ability to mold these thermoplastic based panels into 3D shapes gives additional application possibilities for vehicle and truck body design.

 

Founded in 2005 in Belgium, EconCore’s origin is in aerospace with the invention of an aerospace engineer who on one hand recognized the value of the honeycomb structure widely used for decades in aerospace and on the other hand applied the high speed, automatic production concepts used in the packaging industry. Since these beginnings EconCore has licensed its ThermHex technology to leading companies across the globe including among others Karton in Europe and Gifu Plastics in Japan for packaging, Renolit in Europe and Fynotej in Mexico for automotive, Wabash National in US for transportation, and Tata Steel in the UK for transportation and building. 

 

Visit us at TMC19 Exhibition in Atlanta March 18-21, booth 3361!