Afbeelding
Composites are materials used in structural applications such as buildings, boats, aviation or sports equipment. The main reasons for using them are their low weight, high strength, resilience and design freedom. These materials are usually manufactured from thermoset or thermoplastic polymers that bind reinforcing fibres, such as glass, carbon or aramid fibres.
Composite profiles of constant cross-section, such as tubes, I-beams or omega profiles, are typically produced using the pultrusion method, which allows continuous fabrication of infinite lengths. Traditional pultrusion uses thermosetting resins. Low-viscosity resins impregnate the fibres, which are then drawn through a heated channel to give the composite its final shape and allow the resin to cure.
Reason
In the case of thermoplastic pultrusion, the polymer is melted and injected into the heated impregnation channel through which the fibres are drawn. The last part of this channel is cooled to cool the profile. Impregnation with thermoplastics is more difficult because of the generally higher viscosity of the molten polymer. Today, only thin tapes are made by thermoplastic pultrusion.
A third, new and experimental technique would be to use monomers or oligomers and let the polymerisation take place in the impregnation channel. The low viscosity of monomers allows rapid impregnation.
What problem does the project solve?
The characteristic linearity of the pultrusion process allows for excellent fibre alignment with a very high fibre volume, offering superior mechanical properties compared to other methods for manufacturing composites. From an environmental perspective, the process is also interesting because of the low quantity of associated post-industrial waste.
Who is the project team?
How is the project team tackling this?
The project defines the following milestones:
- The optimisation of the basic production of the bio-composites.
- The basic testing of the machine with conventional composites, the optimisation of the processing of the bio-composites and the optimisation of the mechanical properties of the bio-composite profiles.
- The production of a demonstration piece.
