Core technologies for future needs EconCore

corE tEcHnoLogiEs For FuturE nEEds

EconCore, the world leader in providing technologies for honeycomb sandwich material production, has seen its growth skyrocket since its establishment 13 years ago, demonstrating its ability to offer the right product at the right time. Tomasz Czarnecki, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, spoke to Romana Moares about its innovative focus that has won prime customers worldwide.

Founded just 13 years ago, the Belgian company EconCore, headquartered in Leuven, has managed an impressive breakthrough. The technologies that the company developed for the production of honeycomb cores have won the interest of leading companies from many industries. EconCore materials and processes combine a honeycomb structure long appreciated in aerospace with efficient packaging production technologies, enabling cost-effective continuous production of thermoplastic honeycombs with successive in-line operations for various applications.

“The company was established in 2005 with a view to providing technology for honeycomb core production and in the first few years the focus was on making sure the technology could be offered on an industrial scale,” recalls Mr Czarnecki. “A major milestone came in 2009 when we sold the first license to a Japanese customer. This was an important moment because the EconCore technology, which until then had basically been only a concept, was put into operation for the first time and duly verified.”

Soon after EconCore established a subsidiary in Germany for the production of polypropylene honeycomb cores using its own technology. This was another milestone, confirming that the company was on the right track and accelerating further growth.

Strong, lightweight and cost-effective

“So on one hand, we manufacture polypropylene honeycomb cores in the German plant, and on the other we license the technology to leading companies in different market segments. This really is our core business,” says Mr Czarnecki, summarising the company’s focus. Today, the list of EconCore licensees is growing and includes, among others, Renolit Group, Gifu Plastic, Tata Steel, Röplast, ThermHex Waben GmbH, Fynotej and Wabash National.

EconCore offers technologies for the continuous production of the most economic honeycomb core thermoplastic materials (ThermHex). The ThermHex core is produced from a single sheet by thermoforming, folding and bonding. ThermHex honeycombs have closed skin strips, allowing for the perfect bonding of skins onto the core. Due to the efficient process, the resulting sandwich panels are not only exceptionally strong and lightweight but also very cost-effective.

Furthermore, the versatility of the technology allows the direct lamination of thermoplastic skins as well as other facing layers (including, for instance, composites and metal) onto the thermoplastic honeycomb core to make the lightweight sandwich panels suitable for different applications.

“Our first sector was packaging but we soon moved to the automotive and other industries for which weight reduction has become essential. A good example is the solar energy sector, where the honeycomb core panels, with their minimal weight, high strength and sufficient heat tolerance, seem to meet all the requirements. Our focus on lightweighting has also opened up new opportunities in the mass transportation and aviation sectors, which we are now exploring. We have some really interesting projects coming up with some prominent partners,” says Mr Czarnecki.

New frontiers

In March 2018, EconCore presented its latest developments in the continuous production of high performance thermoplastic honeycombs for composites at JEC World 2018. “We have been working with various types of modified Polycarbonate (PC), Polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) and Polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) and we are continuing to pursue developments with these and other high-end polymers. We are now entering the final phase of product validation and we expect to work on several developments for application in the automotive, aerospace, transportation, and building and construction markets this year.”

Thermoplastic honeycomb cores for composites provide a ratio of performance to weight that is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with other types of core materials. ThermHex cores are around 90 per cent lighter than solid thermoplastic cores in use today, in such products as metal skinned panels for transportation and building applications. The lightweight cores also have positive implications for product handling, raw material inventory, outbound logistics and installation.

But honeycomb structures are not only superior in terms of their mechanical performance: their acoustic performance and thermal insulation is also beneficial for many applications.

EconCore is also preparing a variant of the ThermHex technology for the production of what it calls ‘Organosandwich’ materials. These are thermoplastic sandwich composite materials, again produced inline, which comprise a thermoplastic honeycomb core thermally bonded between thermoplastic composite skins reinforced with continuous glass fibres.

Growing potential

“All sorts of markets can benefit from the advantages that new honeycomb cores will offer in terms of weight reduction, cost reduction, improved performance and design flexibility,” says Mr Czarnecki. “These products can be produced and converted quickly and efficiently in processes that are highly automated. They are also highly recyclable, especially when core and skin are produced from the same thermoplastic polymer.”

He confirms that while the key markets for the high performance thermoplastics remain in Europe and North America, just last week the company won a new licensee from Asia – a tier 1 supplier to the automotive sector that is set to install EconCore’s technology in its plants in several Asian countries. “Among other things, we want to be part of the evolution in the automotive sector and we are already involved in development with several premium German OEMs. Lightweight is the buzzword in many industries and this is something we can provide.”

In the last few years, EconCore has been growing by 25 per cent each year and the pace is set to continue. “As the market has picked up, our own business grows and so do our licensees, so we are experiencing an avalanche type of development at the moment. In the next ten years or so, we would definitely offer some additional elements to the business and hopefully be growing in yet another domain, potentially in a partnership as a participant in a journey, not just a license provider. That is a direction we are now considering.” n