Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector

KraussMaffei held a competence day for its pultrusion technology on June 28, at its centre in Munich, where dedicated visitors from across the world attended to understand how to use the pultrusion techniques.

KraussMaffei presented iPul, the first complete system for continuous pultrusion. Nicolas Beyl, President of Reaction Process Machinery at KraussMaffei, described the firms move into pultrusion: “It is the easiest way of producing profiles, there are hardly any turnkey offers, and it is a growth sector. In addition, we are knowledgeable about fibres, metering technology and even about extrusion.”

Around 220 visitors attended to view the iPul system in operation live.

In pultrusion, continuous fibres - usually glass, carbon or aramide - are infiltrated with a reactive plastic matrix and formed to the desired profile in a heated mould. Grippers pull the cured profile continuously and feed it to a sawing unit.

The new iPul system by KraussMaffei uses this entire sequence and advances the technology to encapsulate the infiltration of the fibres, which so far mostly takes place in open vessels, in an injection box, which permits the use of fast-reacting systems (epoxy, polyurethane, polyamide six). And it increases production speed from the usual 0.5 to 1.5 metres per minute to approximately three metres per minute. With this, efficiency approaches the extrusion of PVC, which opens entirely new markets to this technology. The widespread interest was mirrored by the composition of the attendees. Four of the ten largest practitioners of pultrusion in the world came to Munich, as did manufacturers of sporting goods and windows and automakers. 

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The guests at the Competence Day Pultrusion at KraussMaffei examined the new iPul system very closely.

» Publication Date: 13/07/2017

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