Tri-Mack Plastics Manufacturing Corporation says that a recently completed test demonstrates the bond strength of Tri-Mack’s overmolded thermoplastic composite hybrid parts. The comparative test, similar to the ASTM 4501 block shear test, was conducted by the company with test coupons manufactured in-house and reportedly helps validate the performance of hybrid composites. They could be suitable for aerospace and other industries where a lighter weight and lower cost are important.
Tri-Mack’s hybrid panel is made in a robotic injection-molding cell that forms the composite geometry and produces a multi-piece assembly (including hardware) from the mold. Tri-Mack tested the strength of hybrid overmolded coupons, all-laminate coupons (to establish a baseline), and laminate coupons bonded together with industry-standard thermoset film adhesive.
Results revealed that the bond between the unidirectional thermoplastic composite and the injection-molded thermoplastic was 85% the strength of the base laminate and twice as strong as the industry standard adhesive. A video of the test can be found here.
‘Aircraft manufacturers face huge backlogs and some of this is attributed to supply chain capacity and coordination,’ said Tom Kneath, director of sales and marketing at Tri-Mack. ‘But innovation in part design and commitment to technology can help to solve these problems. Our hybrid parts are an example of meeting expanded functionality requirements and customer business goals in one stroke.’
This story uses material fromTri-Mack, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
