NIST
GCR 04-863
Composites Manufacturing Technologies: Applications in Automotive, Petroleum,
and Civil Infrastructure Industries
Economic Study of a Cluster of ATP-Funded Projects
1. Introduction
The Advanced Technology
Program (ATP), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
fosters partnerships among government, industry, and academia by cost-sharing
innovative, high-risk research to develop enabling technologies that
promise broad economic benefits for the nation. Improved manufacturing
processes for composite materials constitute an important class of enabling
technologies with substantial promise for large-scale industrial impact
and broad-based economic benefits. (See inside
back cover for a more detailed description of the ATP.)
More than 50,000 materials
are available to engineers for the design and manufacture of engineered
products, offering an extensive range of physical and cost characteristics.
While metals and plastics are currently the dominant materials, composite
materials with superior physical performance characteristics are increasingly
used to replace traditional metals and plastic materials in engineered
products (Mazumdar 2002).
Polymer composites are
hybrid systems of two or more materials, typically containing reinforcing
fibers in a polymer matrix. Reinforcing fibers provide strength and stiffness
to the composite. The polymer matrix material binds the fibers together,
provides form and rigidity, transfers load to the fibers, and protects
load-bearing fiber from corrosion and wear. The resulting composites
have superior physical properties, such as improved strength, electrical
conductivity, and corrosion resistance, which are not attainable by the
individual components acting alone. Despite superior physical properties,
the utilization of composites has been generally restricted to military
and small-scale commercial applications. Two key factors have been holding
back mass-market industrial utilization:
- Labor-intensive and
product-specific manufacturing practices that do not lend themselves
to high-volume, large-scale applications.
- High relative initial
cost of composite materials.
Given composites’ potential
for broad-based economic benefits as well as current manufacturing and
cost limitations, in 1994 ATP undertook a program to develop composites
manufacturing technologies in order to trigger the creation of a highperformance
manufacturing infrastructure for commercial composite parts. The program
would lead to significant innovations in composites manufacturing, resulting
in the following:
- Rapid, high-volume,
low-cost fabrication.
- Affordable, high-performance
composites.
- High strength, lightweight,
appropriate electrical conductivity, corrosion, resistance and less
maintenance.
- Substantially expanded
use of composites in the U.S. automotive, offshore oil production,
and civil infrastructure industries.
During 1994 and 1995,
ATP funded 22 high-risk projects. If successful, the program was expected
to “help U.S. companies develop the technical capability for producing
vast amounts of affordable high-performance composites for large-scale
commercial applications,” and to deliver the performance benefits
of composites to U.S. industry and to end users (ATP 2002).
CLUSTER STUDY OBJECTIVES
AND SCOPE
ATP conducts economic
analyses to assess the short- and long-term benefits of ATP-funded
projects to the nation. Economic analyses evaluate the impact of
ATP-funded technologies on project participants, on industrial users
of new products and processes, and on end users benefiting from new
technologies.
To assess the economic benefits
from the ATP-funded program for composites manufacturing technologies, a cluster
study approach was used to combine some of the methodological advantages of detailed
case studies and of higher-level overview studies (see Section
2). Using this hybrid analytical approach, a cluster of five projects from
the program was selected for analysis:
- Vapor-Grown Carbon
Fibers for Automotive Applications.
- Composite Production
Risers for Offshore Oil Production.
- Innovative Joining/Fitting
Systems for Composite Piping Systems.
- Innovative Manufacturing
Techniques for Large Composite Shapes.
- Synchronous CNC Machining
of Pultruded Lineals.
This cluster of projects
spanned automotive, offshore oil production, and civil infrastructure
applications and included only projects where all ATP-funded technical
tasks were completed. In addition, each project in the cluster possessed
near-term commercial prospects with identifiable economic benefits for
U.S. industry and society at large.
Within the cluster of
five projects, two projects were singled out as having the most probable
near-term prospects for commercial deployment and substantial associated
economic benefits: Vapor-Grown Carbon Fibers (VGCF) for Automotive Applications
and Composite Production Risers (CPR) for Offshore Oil Production.
For the remaining 17 projects
in the program (beyond the cluster of five projects), seven projects
closed out early and 10 projects reached completion. While the commercial
prospects and associated economic benefits of these 10 projects can not
be assessed at this time, they may also lead to broad-ranging future
benefits. These additional benefits can be captured and assessed through
future economic analysis.
FIVE PROJECTS IN THE CLUSTER
STUDY
Of the five projects
in the cluster, one ATP-funded technology focused on automotive applications,
two technologies focused on offshore oil production, and two technologies
focused on civil infrastructure applications.
Two of the five projects
involved large-scale industry joint ventures (JV). Within these JV structures,
the ATP cost-share provided financial support to companies leading high-risk
technical development efforts and their subcontractors. Industry collaborators,
who were typically successful major corporations, were recruited by the
JV to participate in technology development, to facilitate testing and
prototype development, and to advance commercialization, without receiving
ATP funding. In one of the two joint ventures, the Composite Production
Riser project, industrial collaborators provided net project funding
beyond supporting their own participation.
Vapor-Grown Carbon
Fibers for Automotive Applications
The project involved
the design, development, and manufacture of nanoscale process technology;
performance evaluation of different polymer composites with VGCF
reinforcement; and prototyping automotive components using VGCF-reinforced
thermoplastic, thermoset, and rubber matrices.
The major technology innovator
was Applied Sciences, Inc. (ASI). ASI and its subcontractors were the
recipients of ATP funding. The ATP joint venture also included General
Motors Corporation and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. as industry partners
in technology development, prototype testing, and commercialization.
The industry partners did not receive ATP funding.
Subsequent to the successful
completion of the ATP-funded program, ASI built a fullscale VGCF production
facility and is currently completing a second production facility in
its Pyrograf Products subsidiary.
Composite Production
Risers for Offshore Oil Production
The project involved
the design, development, manufacture, and qualification testing (to
demonstrate compliance with design requirements) of reliable composite-based
components that can significantly reduce platform weight and the
capital cost of offshore oil production. The project facilitates
oil and gas production from deepwater Gulf of Mexico petroleum reserves
by replacing costlier and heavier steel components.
The major technology innovator
was Lincoln Composites, formerly Brunswick Composites Corporation. Lincoln
Composites and its subcontractors were the recipients of ATP funding.
The ATP joint venture also included BP Amoco, Shell Development, and
ConocoPhillips as industry partners to participate in technology development,
CPR prototype testing, and commercialization. Industry partners did not
receive ATP funding. Instead they were a net source of project funding,
beyond supporting their own participation.
Innovative Joining/Fitting
Systems for Composite Piping Systems
The project developed
new processes for manufacturing composite pipe fittings at increased
production rates and reduced cost. Expected utilization is for offshore
oil and gas piping systems as well as for land-based oil and gas systems.
Specialty Plastics, Inc. was the recipient of ATP funding.
Innovative Manufacturing
Techniques to Produce Large Composite Shapes
The project developed
cost-effective manufacturing processes for large, highperformance composite
shapes that last longer and are maintained more easily than the concrete
and steel beams that are now aging and deteriorating in the country’s
civil infrastructure applications. Replacement of short-span bridges
is one important area of application. Morrison Molded Fiberglass Company
(now Strongwell Corporation) was the recipient of ATP funding.
Synchronous CNC Machining
of Pultruded Lineals
The project developed
cost-effective manufacturing processes for making compositebased “snap-and-build” systems
for rapid construction of large segmented structures such as electric
power transmission towers. Ebert Composites Corporation of San Diego,
CA was the recipient of ATP funding.
Appendices 1 and 2 provide
more details for the above projects and for the entire focused program
of 22 projects (including project title, single company or joint venture
project, lead company, year funded, length of project, and funding amounts).
An overview of how composite materials are formed and their characteristics
is provided in Appendix 3.
Return to Table
of Contents or go to next section.
Date created: July 14,
2004
Last updated:
August 3, 2005
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