Continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics: from raw materials to profiles in one step

摘要

Continuous fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) profiles are generally produced by pultrusion. This well-established, usually highly automated manufacturing process allows the production of profiles with high fibre volume contents. In spite of numerous advantages, only a few fabricators benefit from the potential of thermoplastic materials. This can be explained by the high melting temperature and the high melting viscosity of thermoplastic materials. Thus, thermoset materials have been the most commonly used in pultrusion techniques so far. When thermoplastic materials are applied in the pultrusion process, they are used in the form of pre-impregnated semi-finished materials (e.g. UD tapes, commingled yarns or prepregs).