The crosshead profile-dies used are designed to co-extrude fibre tows or unidirectional (UD) tapes as continuous axial reinforcement in the extruding profile.
Polymer is delivered from a 3.5 inch extruder, providing potential profile outputs up to 800 lbs/hour, depending upon profile thickness and reinforcing fibre content.
In two initial development applications, 2-inch wide rectangular beams and 6-inch diameter tubes were co-extruded with unidirectional glass fibre tapes as the axial reinforcement.
The matrix materials of these beams and tubes were polyethylene (PE) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) compounds.
The addition of extrusion manufacturing complements PlastiComp’s goal of expanding manufacturing options for fibre reinforced thermoplastics for its customers.
