Gulf Composite Materials develops novel prepreg pipe-joining process

摘要

Gulf Composite Materials of Dubai has developed a new way to join composite pipes using a heat-activated prepreg.rnIn collaboration with a local Dubai pipe manufacturing company, the joining process was demonstrated, using the vinyl ester prepreg (brand name: Simprex M655-200), where a small diameter pipe (10 cm) was wrapped and then heated in an oven. The bond strength of the joint was determined by measuring the axial tensile strength, which was 422.8 MPa, verses 218 MPa for the traditional joint product.rnLarger-diameter pipes (33 cm) have been processed by the company for demonstration outside the oven, where the total wrapping and curing time was less than 40 min. Axial tensile strength and standardized internal pressure tests will be conducted to evaluate the overall performance of this new joining technique.