R3 Composites, Inc., a custom compression molder and compounder of sheet-molding compound (SMC) with design and part-conversion capabilities headquartered in Grabill, IN and its wholly owned subsidiary, Carver Non-Woven Technologies LLC, which supplies innovative and high-quality, single- and multi-material nonwoven products from its Freemont, IN headquarters, are both expanding their operations.

Carver, which  began commercial production in July, is now underway with its phase 2 installation work. The new work, which should be done this month, involves adding three \ opening lines for a total of six. The company also will add an additional blending line, another cross-lapper and an additional card. The second opening and blending lines will bring Carver’s production volume for nonwovens to nearly 3,000 kgs per hour and will enable Carver researchers to expand their developmental work on hybrid nonwovens, by adding more synthetic fibers as well as carbon fiber to the mix, including compound development for applications where higher impact strength, acoustical damping, heat-deflection temperature and structural requirements are needed in a single application. The second line allows for construction of a single web incorporating up to six different fiber types in two different layers that will subsequently be combined into a single finished, needled product. This unique capability allows Carver to fully customize its nonwoven products to help customers optimize for cost, weight and aesthetics in their final molded composite parts and meet more challenging application requirements.

Carver is the first commercial nonwovens manufacturer in the world to install a line designed to run blends with up to 80% carbon fiber content. With this capability, the company already has begun discussions with commercial aircraft manufacturers about developing nonwoven carbon fiber blends for aircraft interior components that contain both virgin and recycled carbon fiber and has begun development with an automaker on a custom blend containing carbon fiber for lightweight door trim panels.
 
Since its July startup, Carver has been producing both synthetic (polymer-based) and blends of synthetic and E-glass or natural fiber mats for customers in a number of industries. Interestingly, one trend the company already is seeing is that customers who previously had been using a scrim backing between non-wovens and a fabric face skin have been able to eliminate the scrim. C\\ “We call this the winning trifecta,” notes Mark Glidden, president, R3 Composites and Carver Non-Woven. “By eliminating the scrim, customer save weight and cost, plus achieve better appearance.”
 
Carver and R3 is has opened a new shared testing laboratory at the Carver location. “We now can do our own fogging, moisture, burn and E84 simulation tests, as well as mechanical testing in-house following A2LA procedural rules,” adds Glidden.  “We used to have to send our samples out to external services and wait. Now we can work much more efficiently and respond to customer requests a lot faster.”
 
R3 itself is busy working with a resin supplier on formulating and compounding 1.2 specific gravity (SG) sheet-molding compound (SMC) grades for automotive Class A and structural applications. Once the 1.2 SG formulations are set, R3 and the resin supplier plan to continue working on 1.1 and 1.0 SG products, which R3 will then mold for its automotive customers.  Additionally, Glidden notes that R3 is molding more glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT) composites. Another change is that one of R3’s three paint lines has been refurbished and is up and running, allowing the company to offer additional service to customers in many industries.