Inline compounding and compression molding is a process for the production of components from thermoplastic polymers and cellulosic continuous fibers.
In the area of long glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics the so-called direct processes
(LFT-D) entered the production of semi-structural automotive components in the last years.
These processes by-pass the step of producing semi-finished products, i.e. the components
are not produced from fiber reinforced granulates but directly from the raw materials polymer,
reinforcing fiber and, (if necessary) additives individually adapted to the application.
The Fraunhofer ICT at present develops an equivalent process for the production of commodity
fiber composite materials from thermoplastic polymers and cellulosic continuous fibers.
Thereby the fibers, in contrast to the glass fiber technology, are cut by a suitable cutting
unit directly before entering the compounding extruder in order to obtain a homogeneous
compound.
The processing method based on the LFT-D process is organized in form of a prototype equipment
at the ICT and is being constantly improved. For a larger scale implementation the plant
construction company Dieffenbacher
(www.dieffenbacher.com) could already
be won for a collaboration.
