Services | Polymer Processing

Range of services offered by the Thermoplastic Semi-Finished Fiber Composites group

• application specific material development for fiber-reinforced semi-finished products and molded parts in short, long and continuous fiber reinforcement
• use of various types of fibers (organic and non-organic fibers as well as natural fibers)
• process development and optimization in the continuous thermoplastic processing procedure
  • UD tape development with continuous and long fibers
  • extrusion of semi-finished products like hollow chamber profiles
  • compounding of fiber-reinforced thermoplastics
• scale-up of processing procedures
• optimization of compounding processes on twin screw extruders such as considering screw profiles and addition of fibers
• development and production of prototypical components for a market launch
• determination and evaluation of the influence of the material systems and the technological conditions on the characteristics of the material in thermoplastic composites (TPC)
• destructive and non-destructive test procedures

Range of services offered by the High Performance Thermoplastics group

• sampling of prototypes and series tools in the injection molding process
• direct processing of long-fiber thermoplastics (D-LFT) and thermoplastic blends through the process of Injection Molding Compounding (IMC)
• production of thermoplastic lightweight structures in hybrid injection molding processes through forming and reshaping of continuous reinforced depositors
• equal strain design of fiber composite components
• computer supported structural design and process simulation
• determination of the influences of process parameters on the resulting properties material in components
• development of processing techniques and optimization of the injection molding process and hybrid technology
• destructive and non-destructive test procedures

In the Polymer Processing department, the Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center PAZ has extensive knowledge in all areas of polymer processing as well as in the characterization of structure feature relationships for thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and fiber composites. Our core competencies are in material, procedure and component development for long fiber reinforced thermoplastic (LFT), continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (TPC), highly filled plastics, and blends; while taking into special consideration the resulting material and component properties. One point of emphasis is the systematic evaluation of the influence of material systems and manufacturing conditions on the mechanical characteristics of unidirectional fiber, reinforced semi-finished products and multidirectional fiber reinforced laminates. In this way, statements about the performance and reliability of the produced synthetic materials can be made through the experimental characterization and numerical description of the materials behavior.

The emphasis of the research subject is the micro and mesostructure based technology development for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic based lightweight structures.

The Thermoplastic Semi-Finished Fiber Composites group does research and development in areas related to material and manufacturing processes of thermoplastic prepregs. Their most commonly processed materials are polyolefin, polyamide and technical thermoplastics as well as biopolymers. Reinforcement materials like non-organic and organic fibers such as natural fibers in short, long and continuous forms as well as a wide range of further additives are treated very intensely.

Special attention is put into improving effectiveness and quality in the production of UD Tapes, unidirectional fiber-reinforced semi-finished products that, according to the proper fiber orientation, are laminated with one another. In this way they obtain the necessary requirements of surface rigidity and consistency. The plant at the Fraunhofer PAZ has unique possibilities in the world of UD Tapes production with regards to tape-width and facilities speed.

The focus of the High Performance Thermoplastics group lies in component and technology development for thermoplastic based lightweight structures from semi-finished fiber composite products up to prototypical manufacture. This includes first of all the load paths structural design through continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites. For component production, efficient manufacturing concepts with corresponding machine technique and hybrid technologies suitable for series are developed as well as applied. The whole development process is supported virtually through process and structure simulation. The materials considered include non-reinforced and filled thermoplastics or blends, short, long and continuous reinforced thermoplastics (TPC), as well as thermoplastic hybrid composites, and metal-TPC-hybrid composites.

• technology development and scale-up in the area of tape production and compounding of application specific composite materials
• optimization of compounding processes, for example taking into consideration screw profiles and fiber addition locations
• further development of the hybrid injection molding technique as well as research and optimization of the warm forming procedure of continuous fiber thermoplastics
• appropriate composite based component design, design of the load, joints and function integration especially in hybrid composite structures
• examinations of the influence of the gating system and molding parameters on reachable fiber length