ATLANTA, Jan. 11, 2010 – Huber Engineered Materials, a division of the J.M. Huber Corporation, announced today Gary Rex, Ph.D., thermoset manager for alumina trihydate (ATH) and magnesium hydroxide (MDH) products, and Bob Baker, technical service director for calcium carbonate and barium sulfate products, will deliver a key educational session at the upcoming Composites 2010 exhibition and convention. Rex and Baker will be featured at Composites 2010 Feb. 11 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., and present a discussion titled “How Fillers Affect Composites Manufacturing.”
The session will focus on the important role fillers play in composite part fabrication and how both common and uncommon fillers are used in developing the composites matrix. Participants will learn how filler chemistry, particle shape and size and even the mine location can affect the quality of the final part.
Baker has over 40 years of technical experience working with minerals and is looking forward to the opportunity to present the session and share his broad industry knowledge.
“The overview will be comprehensive, and Gary and I are looking forward to presenting the multiple benefits of raw material fillers to technical personnel and others interested in attending,” he says. “If you’ve ever wanted to strengthen your understanding about functional fillers, this is the perfect opportunity to fill in the gaps and also get your questions answered.”
Part one of the session will focus on calcium carbonate and other frequently used industry minerals used in composites, while the emphasis in part two will be how the physical properties, viscosity and color of flame retardants impact the manufacturing process.
“Our session will be full of educational information that will help companies make key filler input decisions for future processes,” says Rex. “An example is alumina trihydrate (ATH), a raw material used in composites. In the discussion, we will talk about how ATH is manufactured, its differences in color, applications, its particle-packing capabilities and how the material gives the formulator lower viscosity. We’ll also present similar information for other minerals.”
Also at its Composites 2010 booth in the exhibition hall, Huber is showcasing its Granite Elite® textured pigments and Hymod® surface-modified and MoldX® optimized grades of ATH along with its Marble Elite® Alpha cultured marble filler and Hubercarb® and Optifil® ground calcium carbonate grades for bulk and sheet molding compounds and contact molding applications. Huber’s booth #613 can be found at Composites 2010 in Mandalay Bay where technical and sales representatives will be discussing Huber’s product options and sharing its technical service expertise.
