Karl Mayer evolves multiaxial warp knitting systems to support natural fibers
The company is building opportunities to industrially produce sustainable technical textile composites, from its current COP Max 4/5 and Max Glass Eco offerings, to emerging future features.
Source | Karl Mayer
Karl Mayer Textilmaschinenfabrik GmbH (Obertshausen, Germany), is expanding the production capabilities of its multiaxial warp knitting machines with the ability to process natural and eco-friendly fibers like hemp, flax and lyocell.
Because natural fibers are quickly becoming essential in industrial sustainability strategies, Karl Mayer aims to provide new possibilities for their production. Multiaxial machines such as the COP Max 4/5 — high-performance warp-knitting machines for multiaxial textiles and composites materials — or the Max Glass Eco for the production of multiaxial noncrimp glass fiber fabrics, enable the processing of natural fibers into thin, multilayered, highly drapable and easily impregnated noncrimp fabrics.
According to the company, these materials are already used in the automotive, sports equipment and technical sectors, where lightweight structures and sustainability are key.
Future opportunities include:
- Broader integration of bio-based fibers in serial production
- Emerging applications in construction (such as textile-reinforced concrete), interior design and packaging
- Symmetrical, custom fiber orientations through advanced warp knitting technology
- Resource-efficient manufacturing with reduced manual processing steps.
Karl Mayer anticipates that its machinery solutions provide the ideal platform to drive this evolution toward natural fibers, both technologically and economically.
Related Content
-
Plant tour: Teijin Carbon America Inc., Greenwood, S.C., U.S.
In 2018, Teijin broke ground on a facility that is reportedly the largest capacity carbon fiber line currently in existence. The line has been fully functional for nearly two years and has plenty of room for expansion.
-
Carbon fiber, bionic design achieve peak performance in race-ready production vehicle
Porsche worked with Action Composites to design and manufacture an innovative carbon fiber safety cage option to lightweight one of its series race vehicles, built in a one-shot compression molding process.
-
Plant tour: Airbus, Illescas, Spain
Airbus’ Illescas facility, featuring highly automated composites processes for the A350 lower wing cover and one-piece Section 19 fuselage barrels, works toward production ramp-ups and next-generation aircraft.