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Composites One Congratulates Vectorply on 25 Years and the Opening of New Advanced Composite Reinforcement Facility

Vectorply Corp. (Phenix City, AL, US), a manufacturer of high-performance non-crimp fabrics (NCF), celebrated its 25th anniversary and officially opened the doors of its new Advanced Composite Reinforcement Center with a grand opening ceremony in front of friends, customers and suppliers on June 14.

The new 53,000-ft2/5,000m2 facility features 38,000 ft2 /3,500m2 of manufacturing space dedicated to producing the company’s VectorUltra line of advanced multiaxial reinforcements. In addition, the new facility boasts 6,000 ft2/557m2 for Vectorply’s Technical Services and Engineering Team, including a fully equipped composite materials lab. The expansion also includes a two-story, 9,000-ft2/836 m2 office for the sales and service staff.

Currently, Vectorply produces 19 standard carbon products ranging from a 3-oz/100 gsm biaxial fabric to a 94-oz/3,193 gsm mirror-image quadriaxial tooling fabric. According to co-president Trey Sawtelle, the new manufacturing facility will be key to future product innovation for customers.

“This investment is important on many levels as it will give us the space and capacity to expand our carbon NCF product offerings while maintaining our commitment to our standard line of VectorUltra™ products,” he said. “This facility will be at the forefront of innovation of advanced carbon reinforcements, which will allow our customers to produce cutting-edge composite parts.”

Vectorply’s new composite materials lab was built with a goal of fabricating and mechanically testing composite laminates for customer project support and internal/external R&D efforts. The new lab provides the capability to fabricate laminates via hand lamination, vacuum infusion, wet bagging, LRTM, or oven-cured prepreg, with all relevant processing parameters tracked and recorded. The finished panels are then precisely machined for testing to determine tensile, compressive, flexural, in-plane shear or interlaminar shear properties on the company’s new United SFM SMART 1 Floor Model 100-kN test frame.

With the addition of the Advanced Composite Reinforcement Center, Vectorply says it is further establishing itself as a “premier supplier of high-performance carbon fabrics for demanding applications where weight savings and performance are key.” Targeted market segments include aerospace, defense, and transportation along with infrastructure, marine, and sports and recreation.

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