New process technology for high volume production of composites

Despite their outstanding properties, the use of composites is still limited. The absence of an appropriate and economic high volume production technology is the most important restriction for the use of composites. This paper presents results of the research on new high volume production chains for continuous fibre reinforced composites which are based on the separation and parallelisation of the process steps "impregnation" and "forming and curing". Two new impregnation processes for polyurethane and epoxy resin as well as a new compression moulding technology are introduced. The production of high performance parts with a fibre volume content higher than 50% in a cycle time below 10 min is described and analyses of the impregnation quality and the mechanical properties of the parts are presented.