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Who is ELACO Pty Ltd?
ELACO Pty Ltd is a new, Canberra based and Australian owned company that has developed a novel and unique Technology - ELACO® for creating elastic, high impact resistant, cost effective laminates and composite materials. ELACO Pty Ltd is the owner of the intellectual property and licensor of the ELACO® and know how.
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What is 'composite material'?
Composite material is a type of material that is made up of a combination of two or more different materials.
They usually comprise a matrix material such as a polymer, metal or ceramic and reinforcing particles of fibre such as carbon, glass, polymer or ceramic.
In various combinations, they produce material that has superior physical and mechanical properties in comparison with the component materials on their own.
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What are major advantages of composite materials?
Major advantage of composite over non-composite, more conventional materials are:
- High weight to strength ratio,
- Ability to fabricate directional mechanical properties,
- Outstanding corrosion resistance,
- Better fatigue resistance,
- Lower tooling cost alternatives,
- Lower thermal expansion properties,
- Simplification of manufacturing by parts integration,
- Potential for rapid process cycles,
- Ability to meet stringent dimensional stability requirements.
Back to Top ^ What are major disadvantages of composite materials?
Major disadvantages of composite materials are their high price and brittleness (increasing the strength or stiffness generally results in a decrease of impact strength).
Composites based on the ELACO® Technology have the capacity to help industries overcome these two key problems.
Back to Top ^ What are advantages of ELACO® based composites?
Major advantages of ELACO® based composites are their:
- high impact resistance,
- high level of impact energy absorbed,
- exceptional elasticity,
- low-cost (manufacturing / materials), and
- low weight.
Back to Top ^ How are composites based on the ELACO® Technology created?
ELACO® is a new TECHNOLOGY - a novel way of creating high impact resistant, elastic composite structures, protected through intellectual property rights.
Novel High Impact Strength Elastic ELACO® ( ELA stic CO mposites) based laminates represent a new approach in damage tolerant design philosophy that, in their developed form, are a radical departure from both current thinking and industry practice in the World proportions.
E lastic properties of continuous and unidirectional fibrous composites are highly anisotropic and depend on fibre orientation with respect to the applied stress. The axial tensile strength of a unidirectional lamina is typically controlled by the fibre ultimate strain. The transversal tensile strength of a unidirectional lamina is mainly controlled by the matrix ultimate strain. The strength of a fibre reinforced structure is at least an order of magnitude greater in the longitudinal direction than in the transversal / perpendicular direction to the fibre's main axis.
ELACO® is offering a new Technology of creating composite structures with exceptionally high strength in transversal / perpendicular direction.
Back to Top ^ Which materials are used in creating ELACO® based laminates?
ELACO® based structures may be made from any already known and widely used sorts of reinforcements, matrixes, additives and metallic and non-metallic (rubber, wood, paper, etc.) components.
Back to Top ^ How are ELACO® based structures produced?
In the production of prototype versions of ELACO® based fibre metal laminate structures, a low cost, hand lay-up manufacturing process was used.
In considering their potential mass production, it is important to note that significant manufacturing savings, accompanied with additionally improved physical properties of the new ELACO® structures, could be achieved through the use of various materials and application of vacuuming / autoclave processes.
Back to Top ^ What testing has been done to verify the ELACO® Technology?
A number of samples based on the ELACO® Technology (500x500 mm, range of thicknesses from 2 to 18 mm) were tested through rigorous compliance with Formula 1 Technical Regulations 2001 for Side Impact.
The test specifications were:
- Loading direction: transversal (perpendicular to the sample - 90 o )
- impact speed: 55 km/h,
- impactor: solid steel weight 45 kg,
- impact area diameter 150 mm, and
- impact energy level up to 4000 J.
Back to Top ^ What did the test results show?
The new ELACO® based structures demonstrated:
- exceptionally high levels of impact energy
absorption
(almost as high as impact energy absorbed by steel sample 1.5 mm thick),
- no major damage,
- significantly lower plastic deformation, and
- high percentage of elastic recovery after impact.
Back to Top ^ What about weight of ELACO® based structures?
The ELACO® Technology - based materials are lightweight structures with specific weight up to 5 times lower than steel and up to 2 times lower than aluminium.
Back to Top ^ What are the average physical properties of ELACO® based structure made from E-Glass fibre and vinyl resin?
Some average physical properties of novel ELACO® laminates are:
- Impact Energy Absorbed up to 3985 J (without penetration),
- Peak Impact Force up to 184.3 kN (without penetration),
- Density range from 1304 - 2448 kg/m3,
- Deflection range; 13 - 43 mm,
- Tensile strength > 1000 MPa,
- Young's modulus of elasticity E = 33 GPA (average),
- Poison's ratio ? = 0.33 (average).
Back to Top ^ Where ELACO® based structures may be used?
ELACO® structures are used in place of conventional materials as well to replace existing composite in a variety of applications, such as:
- aviation industry (civil and military),
- space industry (civil and military),
- train and rail industry (civil and military),
- maritime industry (civil and military),
- automotive industry (civil and military),
- all sorts of building industry (civil and military),
- armoured / ballistic protective industry (civil and military),
- construction industry (civil and military),
- decoration industry,
- furniture and municipal industry / engineering,
- transportation industry/ road safety (barriers),
- multiple general applications (energy, etc.)
- materials / structures developed through nanotechnology.
Back to Top ^ How quickly could the ELACO® based materials substitute other sorts of composites?
ELACO® - based composites consist of already known and widely used components for manufacturing composite materials.
Therefore, ELACO® - based structures could easily substitute various, less superior, existing composite structures with significant, immediate advantages for customers and end users.
Back to Top ^ What other materials can be used for creating ELACO® based composites?
Most of well-known and already used materials in composite manufacturing may be used in creating structures based on the ELACO® Technology.
The use of known and well-tested / certified / already used composite components (such as E-glass, R-glass, S2-glass, aramids, carbon and hybrid fibre reinforcements) that are applied as Quadriaxial, Unidirectional, Double-bias, Biaxial, Triaxial, Plain woven, Woven rovings , with use of matrixes (such as: Vinylester, Epoxy, Phenolic, high temperature / fire retardant, corrosion, UV resistant resins and a variety of adhesives, coatings and pigments is possible.
The Novel High Impact Strength, Elastic ELACO® based laminates may include structures based on a variety of materials such as: foam, wood, rubber, honeycomb structures, thermoplastics, plastics, ceramics, polymers, hybrid sandwiches, paper, etc.
The Novel High Impact Strength, Elastic ELACO® based laminates may be manufactured and used in a variety of applications in combination with: honeycomb structures, wood, foam, thermoplastics, ceramics, plastics, hybrid sandwiches, polymers, rubber, etc.
Back to Top ^ What influence these various materials have on physical properties of ELACO® structures?
It is expected that some of these components used in creating ELACO® based structures may enhance the mechanical properties of the structures - through increased strength, fatigue resistance, impact resistance, elasticity, etc.
Therefore, structures based on ELACO® Technology could be used widely in transport industry to increase overall passenger safety (automotive, aviation, maritime, rail transport, etc.)
According to the customer needs, the use of various components in ELACO® based structures may have influence on properties such as: low temperature resistance, high temperature/fire resistance, corrosion, UV resistance, osmosis, etc.
The potential for application of ELACO® - based structures is extremely wide. It will be necessary that manufacturers and end users tailor the substances used in manufacturing of specific ELACO® - based composites to their needs and perform appropriate testing before they progress with final application.
The application will be performed in compliance with instructions and manuals prepared by each manufacturer for each specifically developed composite material.
Back to Top ^ Is more information available about ELACO®?
Yes, it is available on this website and downloadable in PDF, PPT and WMV format.
Back to Top ^ What are customer rights?
Customer rights in exploiting the ELACO® Technology will strictly be defined in a Licensing Agreement.
Under such Agreement, each customer will have strictly defined legal rights to exploit the ELACO® Technology in order to create novel composite structures appropriate for their needs.
Such Agreement will be tailored according to the customer's specific manufacturing and processing needs without the right to apply for intellectual property protection for that product anywhere in the World.
Back to Top ^ What does ELACO Pty Ltd aim to achieve?
ELACO Pty Ltd's intention is to license the legal rights to exploit the new ELACO® Technology.
The main goal is to raise awareness of any likely customers of the enormous potential that the novel ELACO® Technology possesses and the superior characteristics of numerous types of laminates and composite materials that could be built based on this Technology.
Part of this awareness-rasing will be a strong and targeted campaign to commercialise the Technology.
The ultimate objective is to achieve such level of knowledge and industrial implementation of the ELACO® Technology that will enable the widest possible application of the Technology, resulting in:
increased passenger protection and safety in any type of transport devices (to reduce fatalities during accidents),
- reduced weight of transport devices,
- reduced fuel consumption, and
- ultimate environmental protection.
Back to Top ^ What are future steps of ELACO Pty Ltd?
With the combination of the know-how and its key personnel's expertise, the Company's intention is to continue with further research and development in the following two key directions, namely the research and development in the areas of:
transportation industry - application of the Technology towards lightweight and cost effective composite structures (crashworthiness in the automotive, rail, maritime and aviation industries) in accordance with new World trends and Company abilities, and
ballistic protection - application of the Technology towards lightweight and cost effective composite structures for ballistic protection for both civil and military use.
Back to Top ^ How can I contact ELACO?
ELACO Pty Ltd may be contacted on following address:
ELACO Pty Ltd
ACN 110 104 571
Postal address:
ELACO Pty Ltd
PO Box 1356
Tuggeranong ACT 2901
Australia
Street address:
ELACO Pty Ltd
Suite 3
Kambah Professional. Centre
21 Jenke Circuit
Kambah ACT 2902
Australia
Head office : + 61 ( 0)4 38 48 23 03
legal@elaco.com.au
contact@elaco.com.au
Business Development :
+ 61 (0)4 19 49 11 55
business@elaco.com.au
Technical R&D: + 61 (0)4 38 05 11 57
technical@elaco.com.au
All Rights Reserved by ELACO Pty Ltd
www.elaco.com.au
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