A year on since Sekisui Kydex and KRD Group company Kasiglas first initiated a joint product venture – a collaboration initiated via an opportune meeting at AIX 2023 – the resulting advanced polymer product development has resulted in a product projected to fly this year.
Combining Klasiglas’ PC Flex sheet material with Kydex’s FST CLR coating, the new offering provides optimised opportunities for scratch-resistant, colour-optimised material, produced in a variety of finishes. These include frosted options with a polish, anti-abrasion solutions or Cleardex colourways: available in a variety of tints with optimised colour coatings.
The collaboration was a “chance outcome of the last show,” explains Michael Miller, senior business development analysis at Kydex, elaborating that the company had previously identified a lack of capacity in-house for adding provision for colour, tinting or scratch resistance to Kydex’s proprietary thermoplastics product. He says the initiative has since received a “good positive interest” so far from potential customers.
Additionally, Kasiglas’ coating opens up applications for coloured or tinted glass without negatively impacting weight, he says. While Kasiglas are “the experts” in compliant transparent and translucent sheets, Kydex’s experience with colour integration and light blocking is key to the collaboration.
“One of the most important things was that our sheet passes flammability requirements,” he adds, with Kydex having successfully conducted flammability testing on behalf of its collaborator.
Having passed flammability testing, Kydex and Kasiglas’ collaborative material is due to fly with an undisclosed airline later this year, says Gino Pieper, chief financial officer of KRD Luftfahrttechnik.
Pieper adds that his company are no strangers to aviation applications; having collaborated on some small projects from Lufthansa Technik before initiating the partnership with Kydex. “We’re here to seek out opportunities,” he confirms.
Kasiglas are also slated to produce window elements for both Embraer’s and Volocopter’s eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing craft), albeit a separate material from the collaborative concept; drawing on Kasiglas’ three decades of experience of producing durable products for German police vehicles.
