New Pultrusion Applications in Brazil: Luggage Racks and Air Ducts for the Bus Market

摘要

The idea sprang from a meeting of Owens-Corning Molding Division engineers with their largest custoemr, Mercedes-Benz to Brasil. If Owens-Corning could supply the customer with pultruded parts for the new Mercedes-Benz bus in development, the bus would be significantly lighter, use less fuel and reduce the overall cost of materials and assembly. The success of this project would also help to prove the viability of the pultrusion process in Latin America. The only obstacle: most employees had never seen either a pultruded part or the pultrusion process. While pultrusion has been the fastest growing process for producing thermoset composites in the U.S. and Europe for several years, it has not been utilized to a great extent in Brazil or Latin America. The principal objectives of the Owens-Corning Molding Division Mission in Brazil are to increase the demand for fiber glass reinforcements and to prove the viability of FRP thermosets. This unique application was consistent with meeting these goals.