Pultrusion of advanced fibre-reinforced polymer FRP composites

Pultrusion of advanced fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites 

Pultrusion is a manufacturing process that converts fibre reinforcements and resin matrices into finished composite parts. Unlike other processes, pultrusion enables continuous production in a highly automated and low-labour process that uses a heated die to give shape to the composite part. These features mean that, of the different manufacturing processes developed in the last five decades, pultrusion offers the best productivity/cost ratio (Zureick and Scott, 2000). 

Since then, pultrusion technology has developed in several ways, not only in the process itself but also in the raw materials used, in particular fibre reinforcements and polymeric matrices. New types and more complex arrangements of reinforcements were introduced in the process, together with 

The performance of FRP pultraded composites greatly depends on the characteristics of their eonstituent materials (particularly the mechanical properties of the fibres and the matrix), on the composition and arrangement of the reinforcing fibres (i.e. their type, length, orientation and architecture) and also on the interaction between the fibres and the matrix, i.e. the fibre-matrix bonding. 

The product development of pultruded composites offers an enormous diversity of possibilities, sinee a wide variety of resins, additives and fillers can be combined for use in the matrix, with several reinforcing fibres (type, content, orientation, arehiteeture). The philosophy underlying the development of FRPs has been to design materials for specific requirements (such as mechanical performance, lightness and ehemical resistanee) through a judicious combination of the above-mentioned eonstituent materials. 

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The mechanical properties of FRP composites are dependent upon the ratio of fibre and matrix material, the mechanical properties of the constituent materials, the fibre orientation in the matrix, and ultimately the processing and methods of fabrication, which are the subject of Part II. Chapters discuss prepreg processing, liquid composite moulding (LCM), filament winding processes and pultrusion of advanced fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. 

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