Evonik constructs acrylic sheet production plant

Parsippany, New Jersey – With its Acrylite aircraft materials, Evonik has been among the leading global producers in this field for more than 80 years. Well-known aircraft manufacturers, both commercial and military, have long used the company’s products. Due to its high optical quality, low weight, and good processability, Acrylite acrylic sheet has traditionally been used for the cabin windows of commercial airliners and in the cockpit glazing of planes and helicopters.

Evonik’s decision to construct a stretching, grinding, and polishing plant for acrylic sheeting at its Weiterstadt, Germany site has further consolidated its market position through systematic forward integration. At the same time, it is rounding out its product portfolio to become a full-range supplier of cast and stretched acrylic sheet for the aviation industry.

Stretched acrylic sheet has enhanced impact and chemical resistance, making this material particularly suitable for the extremely high requirements of the aviation industry.

The new plant producing stretched Acrylite aircraft is being built directly beside the existing production facility for the cast acrylic block that are the base materials for the stretching process.

The investment will, in the future, allow production of sheet more than 2x as large as is customary at present. This will enable Evonik, as the world’s only supplier of larger sheet, to satisfy the trend toward larger aircraft windows and the resulting increase in demand for oversized dimensions. For more traditional applications, this larger sheet will result in increased yields per stretched sheet while maintaining the highest standards of quality and supply security.

Martin Krämer, head of Evonik’s acrylic products business line in the Performance Materials segment says: “The new plant will ideally supplement our product portfolio in this extremely fast-growing sector. This investment is perfectly aligned with our strategic focus on acrylic specialties and demonstrates our commitment to being a reliable partner to the aviation industry.”

“Demand is growing in the aviation industry for stretched acrylic sheeting that meets the highest requirements on quality and supply security. With the new production plant and the experience of our employees, we are in a position to work alongside our customers to support their growth and promote innovation within the aviation industry,” says Roland Mickal, head of the transportation market segment at Acrylic Products BL.

Steve C. duPont, senior strategic market manager at Acrylic Products, adds: “The current supply chains are based on technologies that have been in existence for more than 50 years, so the market urgently needs an innovation leader. Our investment enables us to supply the customer with the largest acrylic sheet available anywhere and the lowest possible thickness tolerances. In this way we’re improving standards for stretched acrylic sheet and opening up new innovation and design possibilities for our customers.”

With production facilities in Europe, North America, South Africa and Russia and a global sales network, AP is one of the leading producers of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) worldwide. 

Evonik’s PMMA products are sold under the Plexiglas trademark on the European, Asian, African and Australian continents and under the Acrylite trademark in the Americas.

Source: Evonik Corp.