Brawn and Innegrity are a winning team

INNEGRA S FIBER CONTRIBUTING TO BRAWN GP'S UNPRECEDENTED SEASON

Both new to Formula One, Brawn GP and Innegrity LLC are a winning team.

15 September 2009 - Innegra S high performance fiber is one of the contributing factors to the Brawn GP Formula One Team's unprecedented start to the 2009 Formula One season which includes eight Grand Prix victories to date. The fiber adds durability while reducing the ever important weight of the Brawn GP cars.

Innegrity LLC, manufacturer of Innegra fiber and a Technical Partner to Brawn GP, started jointly developing the application of Innegra fiber in Formula One back in April of 2008 to explore the opportunities of improving the safety of the cars, both for the driver and for other cars on the track. After determining that Innegra does augment the toughness of carbon, the two companies have now formalized their partnership to further explore the benefits of the lightweight, tough fiber.

Ross Brawn, Team Principal at Brawn GP said: "We are very pleased to be working so closely with Innegrity and for the very valuable work that they are doing with the team. Strength, durability and reliability are all crucial for every single component on a Formula One car and Innegrity's product more than meets our expectations. We look forward to continuing the good work this season."

Innegra is a high performance fiber that, when used with carbon fiber, can increase the toughness, decrease the weight, and decrease the cost of carbon fiber composites. Typically used in a layered hybrid or a hybrid fabric, the fiber can be strategically placed to reduce the weight and increase the toughness. It also imparts a paradigm shifting difference in post-impact part integrity: the carbon/Innegra part does not break off as readily, shattering into pieces, but holds together often with a hinged break due to the Innegra fabric. "When Innegra composite is damaged there is a tendency to tear and pull out fibres from the matrix rather than form sharp debris" says Gary Savage, Brawn GP Operations Director. This sharp debris he refers to is that which flies through the air then onto the track after a crash often damaging tires and potentially causing more crashes during a race. Since Innegra helps to better maintain the integrity of the parts, the damaged cars may not have to pit immediately to replace the part saving precious seconds in the race.

Regarding the preparation of the fabric and fabrication of parts, Innegra fabrics proved to be a "drop-in" in the current process. " The Innegra fabric prepregged easily for us in our standard process" confirmed Cytec's Ian Williams. Gary Savage further commented that the Innegra fabric required "no special processing conditions and could be integrated into existing production runs at no extra cost", so the transition to using Innegra is an easy one.

"We love being a small part of the phoenix story which is Brawn GP," said Brian Morin, Innegrity's CEO. "They are a joy to work with and have a world class composites lab in which they have taken our fiber to performance levels above anything that had been achieved before. We look forward to supporting their winning team for years to come."

Innegrity manufactures high performance Innegra fiber for use in ballistic, composite and rope applications. The fiber delivers light weight and toughness at a cost that is reasonable compared to other high performance fibers, and has been used in combination with carbon, aramid and polyethylene fibers. Innegra fiber is being tested in sporting goods applications from tennis racquets, bicycle frames, baseball bats, kayaks, canoes and more. The company was founded in 2004, began pilot manufacturing in 2007 and started full-scale production in early 2009 in their 120,000 square foot facility in Simpsonville, SC.

-credit: innegrity