A to Z of Pultruded Profiles
From Angles to Z-purlins FRP pultruded profiles come in a huge range of shapes and sizes.
Some common shapes include:
Square Tube
Round Tube
C Channel
I Beam
Equal Angle
H Beam
What are pultruded profiles?
Pultrusion, which is a combination of two terms ‘pull’ and ‘extrusion.’ The process involves pulling the raw materials through the machine.
During the process, continuous glass fibres, liquid resins, pigments, and other raw materials are normally pulled through a heated die, converting them into FRP profiles.
What is the Manufacturing Process?
The pultrusion process begins with the reinforcement materials, which can be glass, carbon, or aramid fibres in the form of rovings, mats, woven fabrics, or stitched materials. The materials are pulled into the infeed area, where they are accurately formed to the desired shape and impregnated with a resin matrix. The resin matrix can be polyester, vinylester, epoxy, or phenolic.
From the infeed area, the impregnated reinforcement is pulled into the heated pultrusion die. The resin matrix solidifies and cures within the die. The cured profile that exits the die is allowed to cool before being clamped and pulled by the reciprocating puller units. The puller units move back and forth in a hand-over-hand motion, with the return stroke being faster than the pulling stroke. This ensures a smooth, continuous pull at a constant speed, regardless of the pulling force required.
The profile then passes into the flying cutoff saw, where it is cut to the desired length.
Key Benefits of Pultruded Profiles
- Consistent quality: Pultruded products are consistently high in quality because the pultrusion process is a highly automated process that produces products with very little variation.
- Low weight: Pultruded products are lightweight, making them easy to transport and install.
- High strength and stiffness: Pultruded products are strong and stiff, making them ideal for applications where strength and durability are important.
- Good surface finish: Pultruded products have a smooth, finished surface that is free of defects.
- Continuous length: Pultruded products can be produced in continuous lengths.
- Excellent corrosion properties: Pultruded products are highly resistant to corrosion, making them ideal for applications where exposure to harsh environments is a concern.
- Electrical and thermal insulation: Pultruded products are good insulators of electricity and heat.
- Maintenance free: Pultruded products are virtually maintenance-free, making them a cost-effective choice for long-term applications.
- Non-magnetic: Pultruded products are non-magnetic, making them ideal for applications where magnetic fields are present.
- Fire retardant properties: Pultruded products have fire retardant properties, making them a safe choice for applications where fire safety is a concern.
- Excellent creep and fatigue performance.
- Transparent to radio frequencies.
- Colour: Pultruded products can be pigmented to any desired colour, typically from the RAL colour range.
Overall pultruded FRP profiles, like our MaxiSTRUCT products are ideal alternatives to steel, aluminium, or timber. The relative easy of fabrication, allows them to be used for a multitude applications and structures.
For more information on FRP profiles, download a copy of our FRP profile brochure.
Please contact us to discuss more information on FRP profiles or any other of our high quality products from the Maxi range.
