Abstract
In the KIT-COI project of KIT, we developed the continuous molding technology for large-sized long-members made of thermoplastic composites for infrastructure applications, which are 100 times more productive and 1/10 of the cost than before. We succeeded in the super high-speed continuous molding of large plates and long members by innovative double belt press, roll forming, sequential pressing, and twisting pultrusion technology. In addition, by using thermoplastic epoxy resins that can be adapted to various molding processes, we have also succeeded in fast rod pultrusion, which integrates resin curing/polymerization and the molding process. The main R&D activities for this project were carried out at the ICC, which has an under-one-roof platform capability. In this paper, an overview of KIT-COI's efforts and examples of innovative high-cycle molding applications were presented.
