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Metawell Aluminium Sandwich Construction Answers the Railway Industry Strength with Lighness to a High Degree Railway Technology International 2010 Volume 1 (extract, PDF, size 1.85 MB) (source: Railway Technology International)
Lightweight floors for Metro New Delhi, InnoTrans Report 01/2010 (extract, PDF, size 1.6 MB) (source: Messe Berlin GmbH)
Information / New Products and Processes
Company profile Metawell GmbH - metal sandwich technology, a mid-sized company with about 100 employees based in Neuburg / Donau (Bavaria) produces the purely metal sandwich panel Metawell and distributes it in Germany and allover the world. This innovative lightweight panel Metawell has a structure which reminds that of corrugated board: one respectively two thin aluminium cover sheets are glued to a thin corrugated aluminium sheet - in a continuous production process. In 1982 Metawell GmbH was awarded the innovation prize of the German Economy for that technique. With Metawell planners and designers of all branches have a highly performing material at hand with substantive dynamic and optical characteristics as well as numerous approvals and an unlimited recyclability. Compared with solid aluminium of the same statical performance Metawell aluminium sandwich panels offer weight savings of up to 75%. Thanks to their even surface they are also an ideal carrier for many different finishes, can be coated with foils or paints and be printed on. The supply range covers semi-finished panels as well as machined or application-specific pre-finished components. Several CNC-machines, an own test laboratory, qualified employees as well as a team of engineers are available to assist the clientele with the technical and cost-effective implementation of their projects. The company's quality management system, set up already in 1996, is certified following to DIN EN ISO 9001. Core markets of Metawell GmbH are the transportation industry (marine, rail vehicle and automotive applications), the building sector (acoustic and radiant ceilings, facades, interior completions, lift systems) and general industrial applications. Meanwhile Metawell GmbH has an experience of more than 25 years with this product. Novelties from Metawell two-dimensionally shaped aluminium sandwich panels sandwich panels with a temperature resistance of up to 200° C for powder coating
Alu Rear Diffuser and Main Underfloor of KTM X-Bow
Metawell presents, for the first time, the aluminium rear diffuser of the KTM-X-Bow "Street", which, up to now, used to be made rather of a classical CFRP composite because of its complicated construction form. With Aluflex, a composite panel manufactured in a continuous production process and consisting out of a thin corrugated aluminium sheet bonded to a thin cover sheet, this part can now also be made in an aluminium light design - and at clearly lower cost. Aluflex is machined as flat semi-finished product. In the following assembly it is thus possible to exactly position the partly deep-drawn plastic dome sockets, fixing points and the gearbox cover. Afterwards the second top sheet is glued to it in a simple form. Therewith a complexly shaped composite structure consisting out of an aluminium sandwich panel (supporting geometry), aluminium sheets (fins) and integrated PG 6 GF (deep-drawn parts) is made. Apart from the rear diffuser Metawell also supplies the aluminium main underfloor for the KTM X-BOW "Street", which is made of a classical but "folded" Metawell aluminium sandwich.	photo 1: KTM X-BOW: Metawell Aluminium Rear-Diffusor und Aluminium Main-Underfloor (photo: KTM-Sportcar GmbH) photo 2: Complexly shaped aluminium composite panel: rear diffuser for KTM X-BOW "Street" (bottom view)
Flat ceilings for Velaro Russia
Thanks to their high rigidity and their low weight Metawell sandwich panels are perfectly suited for use as interior walls and ceilings in ships and rail vehicles. The displayed exhibit shows a pre-finished flat ceiling for the high speed train Velaro Russia by Siemens. The conventional wood ceilings, as used in present-day ICE trains, have been replaced by aluminium sandwich panels to meet the high fire regulations. For this project the special panel type Alu hl 10-10 hl /H10, with an overall thickness of 10 mm and cover sheets in alloy EN-AW 5754 H48 and 1 mm thickness was used. The panel has also been tested and approved for low temperature ranges of up to minus 50°C. Metawell supplied to Siemens Mobility not the trusted aluminium sandwich panel alone but a finished "plug-'n-play" ceiling element. The supply scope included machining with CNC machines, edge finishes, fixing accessories and painting, but also the integration of loud-speakers, the incorporation of electrical components such as cables, the fitting of acoustic dampening material and of course the documentation.	photo 3: Ready to install ceiling elements in various geometries photo 4: Finished flat ceiling photo 5: Velaro RUS: First high-speed train for Russia
Floor Metro New Delhi
Another highlight of Metawell GmbH is shown with the displayed floor section out of the new MOVIA fleet designed by Bombardier for India's capital city New Delhi. The extremely light floor panels consist out of a specially developped aluminium sandwich panel with the cover sheets having a thickness of 1.2 mm on the side with the floor cover and 1.0 mm on the bottom side. The thickness of the corrugated sheet is 0.3 mm. The floor has to meet substantial requirements. High surface loads of 520 kg/m² respectively 650 kg/m², extreme point loads (e.g. stiletto heels) of 27.5 N/mm² as well as large support widths in the sub-construction had to be considered. Further quality criteria to comply with were the low admitted floor thickness (max. thickness of the sandwich panel 12 mm), a maximum weight of less than 10 kg/m² including all fixing elements and connectors and the high ambient temperatures with 100% humidity. Additionally the floor construction meets the high fire regulations of BS 6853 Class 1a and BS EN 476-4. In order to be also prepared for the extreme case of an evacuation in case of fire, the glued floor construction has been additionally mechanically fixed.	photo 6: Loading of Metro coaches into a plane for the transport to New Delhi / India (photo: Bombardier)

last update: 26.07.2010