Elium® Liquid Resin A Breath of Fresh Air for Composite Materials
Arkema’s Elium® has the versatility of a liquid resin, along with all the advantages of a thermoplastic. A disruptive innovation in the composites market, it is destined to be a game changer in a number of manufacturing fields.
1. RECYCLABLE
Because Elium® is a thermoplastic resin, composite parts made with it can be shredded and then remelted to recover and reuse the resin. That’s a decisive advantage, and Arkema is working to prove its technical and economic feasibility. We have confirmed the recyclability of small parts in the lab, and are developing a competitive recycling process for large parts. A test is under way on a 25-meter wind turbine blade weighing two and a half tons. “We’re working to develop an efficient process to produce a competitive recycled resin with properties identical to those of a virgin resin,” says Guillaume Clédat, who heads up Elium® development.
2. COMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING PROCESSES
Elium® is a liquid resin, like the thermoset matrices (epoxy and polyesters) that today dominate the composites market. It can therefore be processed using any thermoset technology, without having to invest significantly in new equipment. That versatility was demonstrated through a series of pilot projects involving industrial partners for each process. They ranged from infusion (used for wind turbine blades and boat hulls) to pultrusion (production of ultra-strong rods and cables for the construction and building trades); and from prepreg tapes containing UV-set resin to the sheet molding compound or resin transfer molding processes used in the automotive industry.
3. THERMOFORMABLE
Unlike composite parts made of thermoset resin, an Elium® composite part is easily post-thermoformable. This makes it especially well suited for extra-strong rods for building and construction. It will eventually replace commonly used metal rods, or rebars, with the added benefit of being corrosion resistant in structures exposed to harsh environments, such as offshore areas. But they already have a significant edge over the rigid, thermoset composite rebars being used today in some types of construction: they can be bent using thermoforming, making them perfect for strengthening complex structures.
4. HIGH PERFORMANCE
Composite parts made of Elium® are 30 to 50% lighter than steel parts, with no sacrifice in mechanical strength. Tests conducted by Arkema’s R&D team have also proved they’re more durable than thermoset composite parts and offer ten times the fatigue strength. In addition, the resin’s formulation can be adjusted to fine-tune its properties, depending on the process used. For example, Elium® - based composite materials made using sheet molding compound combine an excellent surface appearance, good electrical insulation and flame-retardant properties that make them an ideal material for car body panels.
5. PRODUCTION GAINS
Not only is Elium® easy to integrate into existing production processes, the resin improves them in important ways. Its short set times at room temperature eat up less production time and energy than thermoset resins, which require that molds be heated, for example. Depending on the application, parts can be assembled simply by heat welding.
ENDLESS WIND TURBINE APPLICATIONS
More than 20,000 wind turbines are produced each year worldwide, with around 550,000 tons of composites going into their blades. In a market growing by 10 to 15% each year, the recyclability of Elium® - based composites, combined with their light weight, strength and toughness, is spurring strong interest among manufacturers. The different prototypes made by Arkema — from the nine-meter-long blades produced in 2017 with TPI, the top U.S. wind blade manufacturer, to the high-efficiency models designed in France for the Effiwind project — have made good on all their promises. “We forged key partnerships with top manufacturers, such as TPI and China’s Sinoma, for commercial scale-up by 2023,” says Guillaume Clédat, who heads up Elium® development. In addition to this booming market though, the many pilot projects we and our partners are conducting have highlighted all the potential uses of Elium® in a very wide range of applications. They include automotive structural and body parts; cable connectors and reinforced concrete rebars to replace steel in civil engineering projects; sailboat hulls and decks; and tennis rackets and hockey sticks.
