DSM Rolls Out Dyneema® Carbon Lightweight Hybrid Composites
DSM Rolls Out Dyneema® Carbon Lightweight Hybrid Composites
DSM Rolls Out Dyneema® Carbon Lightweight Hybrid Composites
DSM’s Dyneema® Carbon hybrid composites were used in this bike’s seat and shell, driven in the 2016 Summer Paralympics by Dutch hand cyclist Laura de Vaan. Photo courtesy of DSM Dyneema
DSM’s Dyneema® Carbon hybrid composites were used in this bike’s seat and shell, driven in the 2016 Summer Paralympics by Dutch hand cyclist Laura de Vaan. Photo courtesy of DSM Dyneema
DSM Dyneema at K 2016 shone a spotlight on its Dyneema® Carbon hybrid composites. Dyneema® fiber — made of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMwPE) — is billed as “the world’s strongest fiber,” is 15 times stronger than steel and yet is so lightweight it can float on water.
Now the Heerlen, Netherlands-based company has found a way to combine Dyneema with carbon fiber to yield a composite material that significantly improves the performance of pure carbon composites in terms of weight, impact resistance, ductility and vibrational dampening.
The popularity of pure carbon is easy to explain: “It’s strong, stiff, lightweight and easy to mold. But it’s not so good at handling impacts,” notes Roel Marissen, a DSM Dyneema scientist who also is a part-time professor at Delft University of Technology. Carbon also splinters when it breaks, which can cause injuries. Marrying carbon with Dyneema can increase impact energy absorption by up to 100% while removing the risk of splintering. Dyneema Carbon hybrid composites are also lighter, less brittle and more vibration dampening than pure carbon composites.
Now as part of a hybrid composite, Dyneema can bring its lightweight strength to products currently using pure carbon composites – from golf clubs to racing bikes to steering wheels. As a fabric component, it’s becoming increasingly popular with high-performance sports apparel and athletic sportswear – from mountain climbing to motorcycling.
“We need to grow into other segments,” said DSM Dyneema President Golnar Motahari Pour in an Oct. 26 interview on her firm’s stand at the K Show. “We also want to educate designers” on the material’s properties and potential, she added.
DSM Dyneema is working with Toyota Motor Sports, and evaluating Dyneema Carbon for wider use in racing cars. Already being used in steering wheels, the composite hybrid was on display in the form of a high-end bicycle frame on DSM’s K stand. And world champion Dutch hand cyclist Laura de Vaan took silver and bronze medals in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Ro riding in an ultralight seat made of Dyneema Carbon. www.dyneema.com/composites