Vaupell and Trexel announce a partnering and collaboration agreement to develop and advance

Vaupell and Trexel announced a partnering and collaboration agreement to develop and advance MuCell® Microcellular Foam molding for weight reduction in aircraft interiors.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Trexel to develop the MuCell® process using high temperature aircraft grades of engineering resins.” said Mike Hamm, VP of Aerospace and Defense for Vaupell. “We have been focused on strategies to bring weight reduction solutions to the aircraft cabin interior. We believe MuCell® Microcellular Foam is one of the most promising technologies offering weight reduction and increased design freedom for OEM and Tier 1 integrators of aircraft interiors,” said Hamm.

"We're excited about the opportunity to bring the benefits of significant lightweighting, design freedom and outstanding part performance inherent in the MuCell® process to the world's premier supplier of plastic components for aircraft interiors," said Brent Strawbridge, VP of North American Sales and Marketing for Trexel. "We understand from experience working with our global partners in the automotive industry that every pound saved is precious in terms of fuel economy, and we look forward to working in partnership with Vaupell to bring that same performance to aerospace applications," said Strawbridge.

Vaupell is the world’s leading global supplier of plastic interior assemblies to OEM and Tier-1 aerospace manufacturers. Vaupell has been in business since 1947 with aerospace as a primary market segment focus. Vaupell has six US operating divisions and a joint venture in China supporting customers with total product lifecycle solutions. Capabilities include design and development, qualification and testing, complete rapid prototyping technologies, tooling, injection molding, advanced composite components, assembly, painting, supply chain management and logistics. For more information, please visit www.vaupell.com.

The MuCell® Microcellular Foam technology from Trexel Inc. is a complete process and equipment technology that enables the production of high quality plastic parts with significantly enhanced dimensional stability, lower weight/material and reduced cycle time. MuCell® technology involves the introduction of precisely metered quantities of atmospheric gases (nitrogen or carbon dioxide) in the plasticizing unit of an injection molding machine to create a microcellular material structure in the end product. The creation of these microcellular structures brings a wide array of benefits including an increased part quality along with reduced production costs.

Trexel, Inc. has led the development of the MuCell® Microcellular foaming technology and has pioneered many plastic processing solutions. Process deployment as well as equipment is supported by teams of highly qualified engineers through Trexel subsidiaries in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Source: Trexel