Laminates

Laminates consist of layered carrier material soaked in thermosetting resin, which is pressed into solid semi-finished products under temperature and pressure. Rods and tubes are wound and then compression moulded.

These composite plastics were developed at the beginning of the last century and were used for a long time instead of thermoplastics in various technical applications.

Due to the layered carrier materials, the laminates have different properties parallel and perpendicular to the layers, depending on the type of carrier material and resin. The mechanical strength, for example, is significantly higher parallel than perpendicular to the layers.

Accordingly, the layering has a major impact on the component design. Certain geometries with multi-sided mechanical loads are either not possible at all or only possible through complex redesign. Gear wheels, for example, must always be manufactured from sheet material. The use of wound and pressed round bars is not possible, as the material would otherwise peel off when the tooth flanks are loaded.

Paper (Cellulose Paper = CP), cotton fabric (Cotton Carpet = CC), glass fabric (Glass Carpet = GC), glass fleece or glass mat (Glass Mat = GM) and wood veneer (Wood Veneer = WV) are used as carrier materials. The resins used consist of epoxy (EP), melamine (MF), phenol (PF), polyester (UP) or polyimide (PI).

POLYTRON Kunststofftechnik offers laminates made from the following carrier materials:

• Cotton fabric (CC)
• Glass fabric (GC)
• Paper (CP)
• Wood veneer (WV)

Information on the semi-finished laminates available can be obtained from here!