Published in Smart Manufacturing August 2020 Vol. 5 No. 4 (A publication of SME) - by Ilene Wollf (Contributing Editor)
One way of offsetting the high cost of carbon fiber is through recycling, and IACMI’s goals for re-using materials is what attracted Colorado-based Vartega, a carbon fiber recycler who joined the institute in 2015.
Vartega CEO Andrew Maxey said he’s in the final phases of an IACMI-sponsored project that uses his company’s chemical process to harvest the carbon fiber from scrap polymer thermoset matrix prepreg. The carbon fiber is then used in thermoplastic.
Through the institute, Vartega was able to partner with companies including Michelman, Ford Motor Company and BASF, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and academic partners the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Dayton and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
“Those are pretty big names and to have them involved in one project has been critical to moving this forward,” Maxey said. “Everyone’s been able to bring some specialized background and resources to bear to help us achieve success.”
Success for the project means being able to use Nylon 66 with 40% recycled carbon fiber that meets the automaker’s specifications to injection mold a fender at IACMI’s SURF facility in Detroit.
Maxey’s ultimate hope is that Ford would ultimately use the material in its vehicles.
Vartega is also involved in an IACMI-led project to use recycled carbon fiber in sheet molding compound that’s processed through compression molding.
“This is a big part of how we operate—collaboration is the key to success in our minds,” Maxey said. “It’s very rare for any single organization to be able to solve all the problems on their own but as we cooperate, as we work together as teams, we’re that much more effective at addressing these large-scale problems.”