22 Jul The benefits of glass fiber reinforced plastic in pultruded composite profiles

Pultruded composite profiles, made from glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), have gained increasing popularity across various professional sectors due to their numerous advantages over traditional materials. These benefits include high mechanical strength, reduced weight, corrosion resistance, and more. Here are the detailed advantages:

• High mechanical strength: FRP offers superior mechanical strength, both in tension and compression, making it ideal for applications requiring robust and durable materials.
• Reduced weight: a significant advantage of FRP is its highly favorable strength-to-weight ratio, particularly appreciated in sectors such as aerospace and automotive.
• Thermal and electrical insulation: FRP has excellent insulating properties, both thermally and electrically, making it suitable for applications requiring prevention of heat or electricity conduction.
• Reduced maintenance: thanks to its corrosion resistance and durability, pultruded profiles require less maintenance compared to traditional materials, reducing operational costs.
• Weather resistance: pultruded FRP profiles withstand harsh weather conditions, including UV rays, rain, and wind, making them ideal for outdoor use.
• Competitive costs: although the initial cost of FRP may be higher than some traditional materials, its long-term benefits, such as durability and reduced maintenance, can lead to lower overall lifecycle costs.
• Sustainability: glass fiber reinforced plastic can be designed to have a reduced environmental impact due to its long lifespan and recyclability.

In conclusion, pultruded composite profiles made from glass fiber reinforced plastic offer a unique combination of strength, lightness, durability, and versatility, making them an ideal solution for many engineering and structural applications. Their use can lead to significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and sustainability.

Production methods of pultruded composite profiles

The production of pultruded composite profiles involves a process called pultrusion, a combination of the words “pull” and “extrusion.” This continuous and automated method allows for the creation of profiles with constant cross-sections and variable lengths. Here is a brief overview of the process:

1. Fiber preparation: glass fibers (or other reinforcing fibers like carbon or aramid) are unwound from reels and arranged in a specific format.
2. Impregnation: the fibers are impregnated with a liquid polymer resin, such as polyester, vinyl ester, or epoxy, typically in an impregnation bath.
3. Shaping: the resin-impregnated fibers are guided through a series of guides that arrange them into the desired shape and then pass through a heated forming die that gives them the final shape.
4. Polymerization: the impregnated material passes through a heated die where the resin fully polymerizes, solidifying and fixing the fibers in the desired shape.
5. Cooling, cutting, and finishing: after polymerization, the profile is cooled to further consolidate its shape. The cut profiles can undergo additional finishing treatments.

In summary, pultrusion is a highly efficient and versatile process for producing glass fiber reinforced composite profiles, ensuring products with high mechanical performance and long lifespan.

Recycling and shredding of pultruded composite profiles production waste

Glass fiber reinforced plastic is well-suited for recycling, allowing production waste to be reintroduced into the production cycle with clear economic and environmental benefits. An example is one of our leading clients in pultruded composite profiles production, where we installed a 22kW single-shaft shredder with a chair discharge belt, which discharges into a big-bag.

Both the hopper and the belt are fully enclosed and equipped with suction to prevent fiber dispersion in the work environment and ensure operator safety. Given the high abrasion caused by the glass fibers in the profiles, the shredder rotor is treated with a special anti-wear coating to extend its life and reduce maintenance intervals.

Another safety feature includes sensors that detect the presence of the collection bin: if the bin is not in place, the shredder and belt do not start, preventing material from falling to the ground without being collected.

All SatrindTech products are marketed considering the safety aspects of the machinery and operators, in compliance with mandatory requirements, even for environments with potentially explosive atmospheres (Atex).