Dieffenbacher North America Inc. Suppliers Showroom

LFT-D Thrives in Automotive and Other Durables

Teijin Automotive acquires its 10th direct long-fiber thermoplastic system as demand for this technology soars.

Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: Polyesters

Beyond PET, PBT and their analogues, development of polyester chemistry led to unsaturated thermosetting resins, copolyester thermoplastic elastomers, liquid-crystal polymers and, most recently, biopolymers.

Novel Single-Extruder Line For Direct Long-Fiber Thermoplastics

Dieffenbacher builds single-extruder line for LFT-D to compound recycled materials as powder, chips or pellets.

Arburg & Dieffenbacher Collaborate on Molding Thermoplastic Composites

Arburg’s Fiber Direct Compounding injection unit plus Dieffenbacher’s vertical press yields a system for structural automotive TP composites.

News in TP Composites At JEC 2017 Show

Thermoplastic composites were a large part of the innovations on display in Paris.

No News Shortage on Thermoplastic Composites at JEC World 2017

Sabic enters continuous carbon-fiber reinforced tape; TxV taps Fiberforge technology; Xenia introduces materials reinforced with hybrid (glass/carbon) fillers; and more.

Long-Fiber Thermoplastics Extend Their Reach

Smaller parts, a wider range of resins and reinforcements,and retrofittable molding equipment were among the news indirect-compounded long-fiber thermoplastics presented at a recent Plastics Technology conference. Extrusion and thermoforming are also new extensions of this process.

Composites Embrace Mass Production

The focus this year at the international JEC Composites Show in Paris was not so much on brand-new processes as on adapting existing processes and materials for mass production, especially of large parts with critical structural demands. Attracting the most attention was wind energy, where composite material usage is growing more than 17%/yr, according to Gurit (formerly SP Systems), a Swiss-based global prepreg supplier with U.S. operations.

Composites: Lightweight Materials Take on Bullets and Bombs

Topping the news from the year’s biggest composites show are PP ballistic panels, “stealth” composites, thermoplastic RTM, new tooling concepts, microwave curing, “instant” SMC, and laser projection for QC and ply layup.

D-LFT Composites Aim for Auto Body Panels

Direct long-fiber thermoplastic (D-LFT) compounding and molding is getting ready to expand beyond non-appearance structural automotive parts to exterior body panels.

In-Mold Lamination: U.S. Auto Market Is Catching Up

Although more widely used in Europe, in-mold laminating is gaining a foothold in U.S. automotive interiors. Molders can choose from a handful of different process technologies that promise labor and other cost savings.

Automotive Innovation Trend-Setting Technologies Garner SPE Awards

Paintless in-mold film decorating and carbon-fiber composites are making inroads in appearance and structural parts. Blow molding is finding new interior applications. And long-fiber thermoplastics are cutting weight and cost on the inside and outside of new passenger vehicles.

Long-Glass Leader-How Faurecia Helped Put TP Composites In the Driver's Seat

Europe's third largest automotive molder, Faurecia, uses five different long-glass thermoplastic molding processes, more than any other molder in the world. It invented half of them, including the world's first in-line compounding- and-injection process.

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