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Some of the products developed successfully under the Mission have already recorded significant milestone achievements and reached the threshold of commercialization. The salient Mission achievements include the following :
FRP Gear-Case for Railway Locomotives

Under the project FRP gear-cases for diesel & electric locomotives have been successfully developed and field-tested extensively. Against a development order received from Indian Railways, 60 nos. FRP gear-cases, have been fitted in the diesel locomotives and these are now fully operational. Another development order has been received from OEM supplier for the induction of 108 nos. FRP gear-cases in diesel locos.

FRP gear-cases for electric locomotives (Hitachi model) has also been developed. 36 nos. FRP gear-case for electric locomotives have been supplied against an order from Railways. The Indian Railways plan to induct FRP gear-cases for locomotives in a big way for regular use.

With the use of FRP beam , there has been a weight saving of 430 kgs. per loco. These gear-cases are expected to last for over 6 years in service as against merely 2 to 3 years of conventional steel gear-case. The cost benefit analysis has proved the superiority of FRP gear-case over MS ones on life-cycle basis.

 

No.	Tests	Observed Values (Avg.)	Specified Values
1.	Flexural Strength (MPa)	460	450
2.	Tensile Strength (MPa)	330	300
3.	Hardness (Rc)	119	115
4.	Izod Impact (Kg-Cm)	135	As Declared
5.	Water Absorption	0.12	0.5 Max
6.	Glass Content	64%	60% Min
7.	Specific Gravity	1.94	1.7-2.0
8.	Resistance to spread of flame	Passed (2 Sec)	To Pass (30Sec)
9.	Resistance to Boiling Water % Water Absorption % Reduction in Cross Breaking Strength	0.224 12.7	2% Max 20% Max

 

Extended life-cycle for the products along with a considerable weight savings, better maintainability makes it attractive against steel gear-cases.
Jute-Coir Composite Boards as Wood Substitutes

The project aimed at developing boards with oriented jute face veneer and coir/rubber wood waste inside as wood substitute. The jute-coir composite boards, being positioned as plywood & MDF substitutes have been developed & tested successfully.

Two major categories of composite boards namely, coir-ply boards (jute + rubber wood + coir) as plywood substitute and natural fibre reinforced boards (jute + coir) as MDF substitute have been developed under the project with superior performance, properties and great price advantages. The detailed properties of jute-coir boards tested as per IS-12406 against the specified values of MDF boards are given in Table 3.0.

 

Sl. No.	Tests	Observed Values (Average)			Specified Values
		Board Thickness
		8 mm	6 mm	4 mm	Exterior Grade	Interior Grade
1.	Cross Breaking Strength (Kgs./cm2) - Perpendicular to Grain Direction
a)	Before Boiling	318	391	373	275 (min.)
b)	After 8 Hrs. Boiling	266	270	240	150 (min.)
2.	Bulk Density (Kgs./cm3)	700	739	760	500-900
3.(a)	Moisture Content (%)	5.73	5.90	5.92	5-15	5-15
(b)	Variation from mean moisture content (%)	-2.1	+0.9	+1.2	+3.0	+3.0
4.	Max. water absorption (%)
(a)	After 2 Hrs. soaking	4.5	5.1	2.9	6	9
(b)	After 24 Hrs. soaking	9.1	9.2	6.8	12	18
5.	Max. linear expansion (% swelling in water)
(a)	Due to general absorption after 24 Hrs. soaking
i.	Thickness	Average value : 1.0			4	7
ii.	Length	Average value : 0.13			0.3	0.4
iii.	Width	Average value : 0.21			0.3	0.4

 

Two major categories of composite boards namely, coir-ply boards (jute + rubber wood + coir) as plywood substitute and natural fibre reinforced boards (jute + coir) as MDF substitute have been developed under the project with superior performance, properties and great price advantages. The detailed properties of jute-coir boards tested as per IS-12406 against the specified values of MDF boards are given in Table 3.0.Detailed evaluation of the jute-coir board samples has been carried out by Indian Railways for their applications as berth backings & partitions in railway coaches; the results conform to the railways' requirements. Based on the initial success of using 500 nos. jute-coir boards as MDF substitute in the railway coaches, the Indian Railways decided to induct 4000 nos. boards.

The industry partner has been offering the technology know-how (hard board grade, MDF grade, plywood grade & doors) for transfer to other industries to enable replication of the benefits accrued. The panel & flush doors made of jute-coir composite boards have also been introduced. These are fast gaining the market acceptance by construction agencies and others.

The project aiming at improving fan design to provide optimum efficiency suitable for specific air-flow and system pressure applications was launched in 1998 with technology support from IIT-Bombay, Mumbai. Five types of fans for cooling towers, mine ventilation, textile humidification, radiator cooling for diesel locomotives & air heat-exchangers were developed & tested successfully; an efficiency differential of around 20-30% with commensurate energy saving was achieved over conventional fans with aluminium impellers.

The test results of FRP grating vis-a-vis metallic fans are listed in Table 4.0. These fans promise a pay-back period of 2-3 months at current energy rates. Based on extensive field trials of two radiator cooling FRP fans fitted in diesel locomotives, the Indian Railways have inducted 10 nos. fans for such application.

The energy efficient FRP axial flow fans have been inducted for cooling tower, mine ventilation and other applications by leading Indian industries. The axial flow fans enjoy good export potential especially in the neighbouring countries, as there are very few manufacturers of FRP grating, mostly located in Europe and USA.

 

Sl. No.	Type of FRP Fan	Flow Rate M3/Sec.	Total Pressure mm water gauge	Shaft Power kW	FRP Fan Efficiency as Certified by User Agencies	Efficiency Improvement over Conventional Fan	FRP Fan Energy Savings over Conventional Fan
1.	Cooling Tower Fan+	240.47	8.48	23.24	86.06%	Superior	Superior
2.	Textile Mill Humidifier Fan *	19.04	34.83	-	78.01%	24.58%	Superior
3.	Mine Ventilation Fan+	48.60 to 81.00	92.83	89.63	59.40%	8.22%	21.96%
4.	Radiator Cooling Fan for Railway Diesel Locomotives*	49.76 to 60.21	88.56 to 102.98	74.95 to 78.60	65.67% to 70.24%	2.33% to 9.62%	1.86% to 4.60%
5.	Air-heat Exchanger Fan+	91.43 to 96.94	8.26 to 8.56	10.1 to 10.17	74.01% to 80.04%	20.79% to 21.09%	28.96% to 34.93%

 

FRP Pultruded Profiles

The project aimed at developing FRP profiles for industrial gratings, solid rods for electrical insulation, cable trays, ladders etc. These products have been developed successfully with excellent surface finish and flame retardancy as per international standards. The comparison chart of the properties of FRP Pultruded Profiles sections and other structural materials are listed in table 5.0 & 6.0.

 

Properties	Pultruded FRP	Rigid PVC	Mild Steel	Stainless Steel	Wood
Tensile Strength (N/mm2)	382	44	340	340	80
Flexural Strength (N/mm2)	468.3	70	380	380	12
Flexural Modulus (N/mm2)	22489	2400	196000	196000	700
Izod Impact (Kg.m/cm)	2.15	0.09	1.5	0.53

 

Properties	Pultruded FRP	Rigid PVC	Mild Steel	Stainless Steel	Wood
Specific Gravity	1.8	1.38	7.8	7.92	0.52
Thermal Conductivity (Kcal/hr/m2/° C)	24.4	6.4	1220	732.00	0.4
Coeff. of Linear Expansion (cm/cm° C) x 10-6	5.2	37	8	10	1.7
Safe Working Temp. (° C)	130	55	600	600	160
Flame Resistance	Good*	Poor	Excellent	Excellent	Poor
Corrosion Resistance
a. Acidic	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Poor
b. Alkaline	Good	Fair	Good	Excellent	Poor
c. Solvents	Fair	Poor	Good	Excellent	Fair
d. Coastal Environment	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Fair
e. Outdoor Exposure	Excellent	Poor	Fair	Excellent	Fair
f. Effluent Water	Excellent	Good	Poor	Excellent	Fair
g. Steam	Good	Poor	Fair	Excellent	Fair

 

Towards the market seeding for commercialisation of the pultruded product, the Company targeted three major segments viz. new projects, replacement market in industrial & non-industrial applications. Cable trays, gratings, channels & strips & other accessories are being supplied regularly to various industries in India. 

 

 

from:tifac.com

Composites for Railways

    * FRP Gear-Case for Railway Locomotive
    * Jute-Coir Composite Boards for Coach Interiors
    * FRP Pultruded Profiles
    * Jute-Glass Composites for Coaches
    * FRP Sleepers for Railway Girder Bridges
    * FRP Modular Toilet Units for Railway
    * Coaches Composite Main Door for Passenger & EMU Coaches
    * Radiator Cooling FRP Fan for Diesel Locomotives

Composite for Automobiles

    * Composite CNG Cylinders for Automobiles
    * Jute-Coir Composite Boards for Bus Interiors

Composites for Bio-Medical Applications

    * Carbon Fibre External Ring Fixators for Orthopaedics
    * Endoskeleton Type Tomposite Artificial Limbs for Physically Handicapped

Composites for Industrial Applications

    * Energy Efficient Axial Flow FRP Fans for various applications
    * Vacuum Forming Press for CompositesFabrication
    * FRP ArmouredOptical Fibre Cables
    * FRP Pultruded Profiles
    * Double-Walled FRP Vessels for Chemical Storage

Composites for Building & Construction

    * Jute-Coir Composite Boards for wardrobes, furniture, paneling, doors
    * FRP Doors & Windows
    * FRP Pultruded Profiles

The Mission targeted the aspect of energy conservation & energy saving in the sectors like transportation (automobiles & railways), process equipment etc. Lightweight coupled with high strength composites can replace conventional components such as metals, wood etc. in transportation thus directly contributing to energy savings.

The Mission has launched a few projects based on natural fibre composites especially for partial replacement of high-cost glass fibres for low load bearing applications such as partitions, door, panels and other interiors. Commercial exploitation of jute composites for non-structural applications has provided an excellent application & market potential.

Natural fibre composites reinforced with quickly renewable natural fibres such as jute, coir, sisal etc. as wood substitute can help preventing depletion of precious forest resources. Simultaneously, such natural fibre composites can be excellent value-addition avenues for the farmers and converters for novel applications far from the traditional means of using the FRP grating . With increasing emphasis on fuel efficiency, jute composites enjoy wider applications in automobiles and railway coaches.

The Mission has made a visible impact on Indian Railways by launching nine projects having direct relevance to railways. A few products have gone in a big way towards commercialization. The product has catered to stringent technical and safety requirements. The painstaking and concerted efforts over a prolonged period have gone in the conceptualization, design & development and further improvement of these composite products for the railways.

Towards an industry oriented technology incubation process, the Mission attempted to source the knowledge from various centres of excellence across the country and catalyzed an active partnership with the industries for technology absorption, development & dissemination.

An industry partner was involved in the projects for bridging the gap between the product development and market penetration. The Mission thus enhanced the confidence levels in the industries as well as R&D agencies to promote commercialization of composite technologies.
The material characterization, design methodology, product development, process parameters, quality control, testing & certification of Fiberglass mat products are of utmost importance for accepting the products by the end users. This can be met by in-house development of such facilities meeting Indian & international standards. The Mission has identified the prime need for creating such in-house testing capabilities for the industries.

Under the projects supported by the Advanced Composites Mission, the industries have set up automated in-house production, testing & quality control facilities for manufacturing composite products meeting the international standards & quality norms.

This has contributed significantly to the upgradation of composite technology in terms of basic design parameters, raw material selection, process of fabrication, testing, quality assurance and certification resulting in the development of novel composite products for a wide array of applications.

This aspect generated confidence among industry & the user. The products developed with upgraded technology are successful in replacing some of the imported ones with better efficiency & enhanced life. This has paved the way for good business potential in the domestic market as well as avenues abroad.

 

 

from: tifac.com