Owens Corning Launches Multiple Composite Offerings at JEC 2003

PARIS, 1 April 2003 – Owens Corning’s Composite Solutions Business is introducing six new composite products at the 2003 JEC, including three Single End (Type 30®) rovings, OC® FM 8686 continuous filament mat, OC® VL 8101 glass reinforcement mat and an OC™ Veil Technologies reinforced composite core. A leader in the global composites industry, Owens Corning is putting significant focus on four key market segments that present tremendous growth opportunities for the company and its customers: automotive, wind energy, marine and thermoplastics.

“We’ve targeted these markets because they represent the Composite Solutions Business’ best opportunities for worldwide growth over the next five years,” said Dick Lantz, president, Owens Corning Composite Solutions. “We have an overall business strategy and organizational structure in place to ensure that we capitalize on the opportunities in these markets and realize significant, profitable growth.”

Owens Corning’s heightened commitment to composites science and technology has resulted in the development of innovative new offerings that provide added value to customers while driving the industry forward.

OC® VL 8101 Pultrusion Reinforcement Mat

Designed to add bulk to a pultruded laminate and provide very uniform reinforcement, Owens Corning’s high loft reinforcement mat, OC VL 8101, reduces the costs of pultrusions by replacing heavier A glass mats. OC VL 8101 is composed of Owens Corning’s patented, high-performance Advantex® glass fibers and bound together with a high strength, styrene insoluble binder system. This makeup gives OC VL 8101 pultrusion reinforcement mat comparable structural performance to A Glass CFM with a lower basis weight mat and provides the added benefits of more uniform processing and long term durability.

OC VL 8101 high loft reinforcement mat can be used as either a center mat or a surface mat, depending on the end use of the pultruded part. In combination with E Glass CFM or fabrics, OC VL 8101 mat serves as a cost effective laminate bulker in thick structural laminates to produce high transverse strength parts. The product can also be used as a surface mat in pultrusions with less demanding structural requirements, resulting in a very uniform surface appearance with a lightweight mat. Appropriate for a wide variety of applications, the versatile OC VL 8101 offers performance and cost savings to pultruders serving multiple markets. Available initially in North American and Europe, OC VL 8101 pultrusion reinforcement mat is being introduced globally as a compliment to the OC reinforcement product line for pultrusion.

“Our innovative OC VL 8101 pultrusion reinforcement mat offers a high performing and cost-effective product to the marketplace,” said Raymund Trost, vice president and general manager of Owens Corning’s veil business. “Its high versatility makes it appropriate for different uses in numerous kinds of pultrusion applications.”

OC™ FM 8686 Continuous Filament Mat

Owens Corning’s new FM 8686 is a continuous filament mat designed for pultrusion applications that require the fire retardant and low smoke generation properties of phenolic resins along with superior mechanical performance. Providing reinforcement in phenolic matrix, the product displays outstanding performance in the high temperature and heat load of phenolic

pultrusion. Ideal for applications in offshore oil and gas platforms, mass transit, airport systems, military and underground, OC FM 8686 continuous filament mat offers a solution to phenolic pultrusion applications where fire is a concern.

“OC FM 8686 continuous filament mat provides a solution for pultruders with applications that must be fire retardant yet have more demanding structural requirements,” said Gary Nieman, vice president and general manager of Owens Corning’s Continuous Filament Mat product line.

OC FM 8686 mat is particularly suitable for use in the pultrusion process because it po