Continuous Composite Manufacturing: Pultrusion
One of the biggest advantages of composites is the versatility of their manufacturing. Depending on the geometry, desired mechanical properties, and the materials used, different manufacturing methods can be utilized to manufacture the part. Most of the composite production is non-continuous. This issue increases the overall production time. On the other hand, pultrusion is a continuous manufacturing process.
What is pultrusion?
The pultrusion process is a composite manufacturing process for fibre-reinforced composite products with constant cross-section. The fibers are first impregnated with a resin solution. Then, they are shaped and pulled through a mould. Finally, they are cut to the desired shape.
What are the advantages of pultrusion?
In addition to being continuous, pultrusion offers several other advantages. Due to the unidirectional fibers that are used in the pultrusion process, the parts tend to have very high tensile strength. They also have high specific stiffness. Depending on the application, pultruded parts can be used for thermal and electrical insulation. They can be made to be corrosion resistant.
Pultruded parts are used in the automotive industry, aerospace industry, construction industry, infrastructure industry and marine.
Compared to other composite manufacturing methods, pultrusion is more suitable for mass manufacturing. As long as, a part has a uniform cross-section and is not subjected to three-dimensional stresses, pultrusion is the right mass manufacturing method for mass production.
