The market leader in flexible core materials for the composite industry, Lantor has specialised over the last four decades in developing a wide range of products that enable composite manufacturing processes to perform better in terms of quality and efficiency.
Lantor holds strong market positions in the traditional industries of marine, transportation, industrial, building and construction. In the last few years, the wind industry has also developed as a sector in which Lantor products excel.
Nacelle housings
The most important parts of the turbine made out of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) are, of course, the rotor blades. However, the nacelle covers, which house the wind turbine, and the spinners, which protect the rotor hub, are also generally manufactured from FRP. Significant reasons for FRP production are: the freedom it offers in geometry, mechanical properties, weight properties, cost and production cycle times. These benefits can be increased with Lantor composites products. Whether the nacelles are manufactured in open-mould processes or in closed-mould processes, Lantor has a solution for the core material.
Lantor Coremat
Lantor Coremat can help you shorten the cycle time of the production of a nacelle or spinner in open-mould manufacturing by building up thickness in one layer instead of using multiple reinforcement layers. The quick bulking of the laminate will meet the mechanical properties required – it increases the flexural properties of the laminate without adding any weight. Lantor Coremat can therefore save both materials and weight, to help reduce the production cycle times of the specific composite parts.
Lantor Soric
When using closed-mould processes, Lantor Soric helps to produce the FRP parts in multiple ways. The thickness loss introduced by vacuum infusion (VI) or light resin transfer moulding (RTML) (compared with the open-mould process), can be compensated for by using Lantor Soric as a core material. It is a compression-stable core that enables the use of an optimal amount of reinforcements. The mechanical properties can be optimised without compromising the total weight of the end product.
The channels between the hexagonal cells of the Lantor Soric core also help to distribute resin throughout the total laminate build-up. This controlled distribution allows optimal control of the infusion process and lowers the risk of dry spots, improving the quality of the product and the total production cycle time.
Rotor blades
The wind energy market uses Coremat and soric in nacelles, but has also started to use the new Soric XXF in blades because of its excellent flow and inter-laminar properties.
The transportation channels of Soric XXF are engineered to optimise resin transportation with optimal wet out of the multiaxial layers used in the shell of the blade. Soric XXF is easily handled so it can be positioned quickly between the shell and the prefab girder, where it supports and secures a good impregnation of the multiaxial glass layers of the shell during the infusion process. Due to the composition of soric, air bubbles will not stick to the material or remain in the laminate. Therefore, after demoulding the blade, the improved surface finish – where the girder is connected to the shell – requires less after-work. This increases production efficiency.
New innovation
After years of leadership in developing flexible cores for composite markets, Lantor continues to invest heavily in innovation and development. Translating market needs and developments into new products, it works to meet tomorrow’s requirements.
One of the innovative products Lantor is developing specifically for the wind industry is a flexible core material (Soric EMS) that has an integrated metal mesh for the reduction of electromagnetic radiation in the nacelle housing, which can also potentially help to protect carbon fibre spar caps in blades against direct lightning strikes. Another product, the new Lantor PowerSHEAT, could address the growing industry interest in de-icing rotor blades. This is a nonwoven conductive veil that can heat composite surfaces evenly up to 180°C and has the potential to be redesigned for the purpose of de-icing blades.