Press Release:
News for Immediate Release

Automotive Engineers Win Best Overall Technical Paper at COMPOSITES 2010

February 12, 2010 (Arlington, Va.) - A team of automotive engineers won Best Overall Technical Paper at COMPOSITES 2010, held February 9-11 in Las Vegas, for the paper "The Influence of Bond Stand-Offs and Adhesive Cure Temperature on Bond-Line Read-Through Severity.”  The paper, awarded by the Technical Papers Committee of the American Composites Manufacturers Association  (ACMA), was written by the following:  K.D. Fernholz and K. Lazarz, Ford Motor Company; H. Fuchs and P. Deslauriers, Multimatic Engineering Services Group, and C.S. Wang, General Motors.  Ford Motor Research Engineer K.D. Fernholz presented the paper at the event.

The paper, which also received the Best in Track Technical Paper Award: Materials, discusses the development of a method for quantifying the severity of bond-line read-through (BLRT) distortion in a Class "A" surface, the process variables that influence BLRT, and the validation of a finite element model capable of predicting the severity of BLRT before parts are available.

The paper explains a method that will allow designers to predict the surface profile of quality bonded parts before actual production of parts, which can result in significant cost savings by reducing excessive finishing that could otherwise be required to obtain surface smoothness. In addition, this method would enable engineers to specify composites to reduce weight and produce more energy efficient vehicles that have the desired surface finish.

42 final papers were reviewed by the committee this year, which were narrowed to the best of six categories. Winners in each were presented plaques during COMPOSITES 2010:

Manufacturing and Processes
Investigation of a Composite Repair Method by Liquid Resin Infiltration
By M. Hautier, Onera, D. Lévêque, and C. Huchette, Onera, The French Aerospace Lab

Fire Resistance
Property Estimation for Pyrolysis Modeling Applied to Flame Retarded Modified Acrylic FRP Composites
By Ester Kim and Nicholas Dembsey, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Charles Dorè, Abate Fire Technologies, LLC

High Performance
Damage Assessment in FRP through Digital Imaging and Computed Tomography
By Mohammad Abdelghani, Kari Arnston, YuChin Wu, Michael Doschak, Pierre Mertiny, University of Alberta, and Renke Scheuer, Leibniz Universität Hannover

Infrastructure & Corrosion
Vacuum-Infused Composite Deck Plate Replacement for Deteriorated Steel Deck
By Kurt Feichtinger, Russell Elkin, and Edison Ospina, Alcan Baltek Corporation
Wenguang Ma, Fabwell--Division of Owens Corning

Pultrusion
Comparison of Composite Properties from Different Test Standards - A Case Study from the Development of a Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Standard for Pultruded Composites
By Ellen Lackey, and James G. Vaughan, University of Mississippi; Kevin Spoo, Owens Corning, and Chris Gill, Owens Corning Science and Technology

Materials
The Influence of Bond Stand-Offs and Adhesive Cure Temperature on Bond-Line Read-Through Severity
By K.D. Fernholz, Ford Motor Company; H. Fuchs, and P. Deslauriers, Multimatic Engineering Services Group; K. Lazarz, Ford Motor Company, and C.S. Wang, General Motors

The Technical Paper Awards are presented each year at COMPOSITES, ACMA’s  annual conference and trade show. All ACMA technical papers are maintained in an electronic library (www.compositesresearch.org) as part of the overall mission of the association to develop and enhance shared opportunities and address common challenges.

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Press Contact:
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P: 703-682-1654 • F: 703-525-0743 • ghampson@acmanet.org

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The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) is the world’s largest trade group representing the composites industry. ACMA publishes a quarterly magazine, offers a comprehensive training/certification program, provides technical, regulatory and legislative leadership and hosts the largest composites tradeshow in North America. Visit ACMA’s website at www.acmanet.org.