The usage of prepregs is nowadays an essential part of the production strategy for a multitude of industrial high-performance applications. The primary aspect for the application of prepregs is a high, consistent quality, as well as a certification of the materials that has already taken place in advance. Likewise, the competences for the production of fibre-reinforced materials and their processing can be separated from each other.
However, the advantages of this class of materials are also opposed by a number of disadvantages. For example, the energy-intensive cooling and the comparatively limited storage capacity. Disposal of the offcuts is also problematic, as the already impregnated textiles are difficult to recycle.
The innovative, resource-saving production process for online impregnated textile preforms developed at Clausthal University of Technology was able to address the disadvantages mentioned. The resulting process culminated in the development and production of the "online prepreg-machine" at the Clausthal Centre for Material Technology.
This paper deals with the detailed description of the process chain; starting with the automatically nested cutting of dry textiles of choice, a subsequent temperature-controlled textile drying; via the contour-accurate direct impregnation of selected individual textiles, up to the optional "B-staging".
With regard to this future-oriented, climate-friendly process, which is excellently integrated into the now indispensable, interdisciplinary research field of the Circular Economy, we hereby offer an adaptable key technology for industrial high-performance applications.