Analysis of the mechanical composite properties of ii-chamber variations in the closed injection pultrusion process

Abstract

Pultrusion is an established and efficient process for producing continuous fiber-reinforced composites. The resin systems that are currently most frequently used are unsaturated polyesters and vinylesters. These have a long pot life, are well known, and have good processing properties. Highly reactive resins such as polyurethane (PU) and amine hardening epoxy have been in use for a few years. These resin classes are remarkable for their extended range of properties. This opens up new application fields for pultrusion technology but poses challenges for the processing technology. Short pot lives of just a few minutes require a modified process: closed injection pultrusion (CIP). Various approaches about the design and layout of the internal geometry of the injection and impregnation chambers (ii-chamber) are the subject of ongoing research. Numerous parameters influence the impregnation process in the ii-chamber and the quality of the resulting composite. In this study, two innovative, highly reactive resins for use in the pultrusion process were analyzed, both resins based on aliphatic polyurethanes. In phase 1 of the experiments, a commercial aliphatic polyurethane-system for pultrusion applications was used. In Phase 2, the recently developed bio-based aliphatic polyurethane-system for pultrusion applications was used for the study s main experiments. The aim of the study was to analyze the material and processing properties with various modifications of the impregnation setup. Therefore, a newly developed ii-chamber and die were tested. The ii-chamber was designed to enable easy adjustment of some of the main influencing parameters during the pultrusion process. A test strategy was developed to evaluate the properties of the composites. An assessment of the influence of the process- and die-based parameters should enable an evaluation of the optimal processing settings by analysis of the material characteristics. The most significant effect of variations in the pultrusion process was found in the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS). ILSS was analyzed for all process variations for both resin systems.