Environmentally friendly and energy efficient pultrusion

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The aim of this project is to develop a new pultrusion technique that is environmentally friendly and one that permits new and fast-curable resin systems to be evaluated. In the conventional process, the reinforcing fibres are impregnated in a resin bath and then passed through a heated die to cross-link the resin and to shape the pultruded component. In the new manufacturing technique, the components of the resin will be stored in separate containers and pumped on-demand using a custom-designed liquid delivery system. Efficient and effective impregnation of the fibres will be achieved using a novel combination of an injection-head and electro hydrodynamic atomisation, and fibre spreading using mechanical and electrostatic-based techniques. The background to this current proposal is the successful completion of an EPSRC/DTI project on Clean Filament Winding where the technology for injecting the reinforcing fibres without the use of a resin bath was demonstrated. However, in the current project, new technology will be developed for the pultrusion process where up to 20 individual fibre bundles will be impregnated without using a conventional resin bath. The cure kinetics of the fast-curing resins will be evaluated and appropriate models will be used to predict the impregnation rates for the spread fibre bundles. Previously developed fibre optic sensors will be used to enable real-time chemical process monitoring and structural integrity assessment in-service. The green credentials of this new manufacturing technique will be assessed using life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis.