Park Electrochemical Corp. announced the introduction of ALPHA STRUT™ (patent pending), its new proprietary composite strut design. The ALPHA STRUT, which is designed for aircraft and other aerospace medium to high load bearing applications, joins Park’s patented SIGMA STRUT™ in Park’s proprietary aerospace composite strut product offering.
The SIGMA STRUT is designed for space and other aerospace very high load bearing applications. A strut is a structural load carrying element which transfers loads axially between two points. The ALPHA STRUT and SIGMA STRUT designs provide significant weight savings and load carrying reliability compared to metal struts and other composite struts by utilizing unique metal end-fittings, which are co-cured into each end of the struts without the use of adhesives. This technique allows the fittings to transfer the full load through the strut body without having to rely on bond areas to carry shear loads as with typical designs.
ALPHA STRUT designs have been developed to safely support working (limit) loads of 1,100 pounds in tension and compression with an ultimate load capability of 2,200 pounds. The ALPHA STRUT design has been successfully tested to over one million load cycles at load limits in both tension and compression. The ALPHA STRUT is suitable for a variety of aircraft and other aerospace medium to high load bearing applications, including primary and secondary aircraft structures, tie rods, push/pull control rods, monument bracing, truss structures and bulkheads. The ALPHA STRUT utilizes fully traceable materials which are acceptable for aircraft and other industry use.
Certain portions of this press release may be deemed to constitute forward looking statements that are subject to various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from Park’s expectations. Such factors include, but are not limited to, general conditions in the electronics and aerospace industries, Park’s competitive position, the status of Park’s relationships with its customers, economic conditions in international markets, the cost and availability of raw materials, transportation and utilities, and the various factors set forth in Item 1A “Risk Factors” and under the caption “Factors That May Affect Future Results” at the end of Item 7 of Park’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 3, 2013.
Park Electrochemical Corp. is a global advanced materials company which develops and manufactures high-technology digital and RF/microwave printed circuit materials principally for the telecommunications and internet infrastructure and high-end computing markets and advanced composite materials, parts and assemblies for the aerospace markets. Park’s core capabilities are in the areas of polymer chemistry formulation and coating technology. The Company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, France, Kansas, Arizona and California. The Company also maintains R & D facilities in Arizona, Kansas and Singapore.
Additional corporate information is available on the Company’s website at www.parkelectro.com.