Vision

In the making of fibreglass-reinforced polyester parts, production technologies have not changed much in the past 50 years. The hand-lay up process is still the most used method of producing fibreglass-reinforced polyester products.

A main problem is the styrene emission. Both for the working conditions, as for the environment. Recent European policy has set new standards for the emission of styrene into the environment. Basically you can as of 2010 emit half of the amount of styrene that is permissible today.

One way to fulfil the new regulations is to use closed mould systems such as RTM (Resin Transfer Moulding), RIM (Reaction Injection Moulding), VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding) or combinations of the above methods. Production using closed moulds will give you negligible emission of styrene.

A drawback is that closed moulds usually require careful application of fibreglass by hand. This manual handling of fibreglass may lead to imperfections and overlaps of material. Labour costs will also make closed mould technology prohibitive.

Due to the fact that the fibreglass will need to be cut to size, you will be left with a fair amount of rest materials that will be thrown away.

Mechanisation and automation for the manufacturing of fibreglass reinforcements is thus essential.

Preform

Custom-Made Preform (CMPreform) has developed a reliable and low-cost method for fiberglass preform manufacturing. The process uses equipment that is available in the market worldwide and the application is also feasible for middle-size production volumes. Preforms are made out of glass roving which is the most affordable fiberglass product. Since preforms do not have overlaps resin flow in a closed mould is uniform and consistent.. This is the only 3D reinforcement that allows constant thickness and high glass content yielding superior and homogenous mechanical properties. The robotized process leaves no room for human mistakes or negligence and guarantees constant reproducible high quality.

A variety of binders, both thermoset and thermoplastic, are available. Preform configuration can be optimized depending on part requirements and production methods.

Manufacturing a preform requires a perforated mould. A significant advantage of the CMPreform process is that it allows any customer to build his own moulds, which in turn reduces the start-up costs of any part to be produced.

Preforming is now accessible to small and middle size composite manufacturers. Low cost moulds, low cost materials and reduced production cycles will increase profit in every part. Having predictable and uniform resin flow provides peace of mind knowing that every moulding is successful. Repairs on finished parts are rare with preforms.

Structural parts

Next to preforms made out of low-cost glass-fibre roving preformtechnology is also available for fabrics. Through this, production of high quality structural pasts in closed mould production has become economically available.

A complex product can be built up out of several differently shaped preforms, and can include core materials. Preforms can be made out of glass-fibres and carbon-fibres.

Please visit the site to inform yourself and contact us for more information.

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