- Glass and carbon fibers in the right proportion
- Ready-to-mold hybrid long glass+carbon fiber products
- Frost & Sullivan recognizes compounder PlastiComp with award
Based on its recent analysis of the long fiber composites market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes compounder PlastiComp, Inc. of Winona, Minn., with the 2015 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for New Product Innovation. These composites help automotive companies adhere to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standard.
Pultrusion compounding method to manufacture material
PlastiComp uses a proprietary pultrusion compounding method to manufacture Complēt Hybrid long glass and carbon fiber-reinforced composites. This method assists in deriving a homogeneous injection-molding material apt for diverse industry applications that can make use of long fiber composites as an alternative to heavier metal materials.
Glass and carbon fibers in the right proportion
Integrating continuous glass and carbon fibers in the right proportion to obtain effective long fiber composites has been PlastiComp’s key focus. The company can tailor mixing ratios per the specifications of varied customers. When compared to conventional thermoplastic materials, long fiber composites are stronger, tougher, and lighter while offering a similar life cycle and ability to be recycled or re-ground. As a result, ready-to-mold hybrid long glass+carbon fiber products can provide infinite performance and costs steps in between using only glass or only carbon.
“Part of PlastiComp’s success must be attributed to its culture of innovation and excellence in addressing emerging industry requirements by gauging market trends and responding to them,” said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Soundarya Shankar. “For instance, when customers were skeptical about the fatigue- and creep-resistance properties of discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites, the company developed unidirectional continuous fiber inserts to be molded with the long fiber thermoplastic compounds. As a result, the material’s load-to-fatigue life of 1 million cycles was increased from 50 to 70 percent of the strength of the material.”
