High-hardness functional fiberglass not only has great development prospects in the automotive industry, but also in the aviation industry. Therefore, the German Institute of Industrial Plastics Processing (IKV) and the Institute of Skills and Processes at the University of Aachen are focusing their efforts. R & D using plastic injection molding process, based on thermoset plastics, with economic benefits of glass steel 1 (FRP).
Due to the high mechanical strength of FRP and the low density (only 25% of metal)2, the demand for FRP in industrial production is increasing. Therefore, How to improve the economic benefits of FRP and shorten the production cycle time has always been the subject of various research projects. Since thermoplastic glass-based FRP is already in large-scale industrial production and is widely used, the German Industrial Plastics Processing Institute will For the first time, glass fiber reinforced plastics are used as the base for the production of FRP. Because thermosetting plastics have low temperature resistance, high mechanical strength, and good heat resistance, thermosetting plastics are superior to thermoplastics in many applications.
In the current research project, the research team of the German Institute of Industrial Plastics Processing is studying the possibility of producing lightweight parts based on thermosetting plastics. It is similar to the one-piece molding and recycling of known thermoplastic glass-based FRP-3. The purpose of the process is to combine good lightweight properties with the complexity that injection molding can produce and apply it to thermoset plastic parts. The research team used two process innovation routes: One of them is a two-step process. The route, involves the back molding technology of the parts that have been established for the RTM4 process; the other is a one-step process route, involving a backside molding technique for bunched dip/prepreg, combined with the process, curing in the injection molding process. Compared with traditional production processes (such as bonding and riveting), two process routes can simplify the production steps and shorten the production cycle.
RTM4 back-side molded sample produced by thermoset injection molding process (Source: German Institute of Industrial Plastics Processing)
The IGF 9EWN project is funded by AiF as part of the German Federal Government’s Economic Affairs and Federal Parliament Energy Industry Research (IGF).
Note: 1 FRP, scientific name fiber-reinforced plastic, commonly known as FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastics), ie, fiber-reinforced plastics, is made of glass fiber and its products (glass cloth, tape, felt, yarn, etc.) as reinforcing materials, synthetic resin As a matrix material of a composite material.
2 The relative density is between 1.5~2.0, only 20%~25% of carbon steel, but the tensile strength is close to or even exceeds that of carbon steel, and the specific strength can be compared with high-grade alloy steel.
3 The German Industrial Plastics Processing Research Institute had selected a football visor as an exhibit in 2014, demonstrating the use of injection molding to process thermoplastics-based fiber-reinforced plastics. The project uses in situ polymerization and other technologies to melt the impregnation process. The advantage of being able to process fabric preforms is combined with the advantages of the thermoplastic matrix.
4RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) is an abbreviation for resin transfer molding and is one of the main development directions of the aerospace advanced composite material low cost manufacturing technology (Cost Effective Manufacture Technology). RTM molding technology is from the injection molding process and the wet process. A new composite material molding technology evolved in the lamination process. Since the 1980s, RTM technology has been widely used in foreign countries to produce automobile dashboards, bumpers, engine covers, car bodies and other auto parts.