Munich, Germany - Polyurethane equipment supplier KraussMaffei has further developed its proprietary LFI-PUR (long-fibre injection polyurethane) technology to meet steadily rising demand for large-format structural parts with glassfibre reinforcement.
KraussMaffei's response to this trend is the launch of the MK 30/36-12 LFI-PUR processing unit with a large-volume mixing head. This has an output rate of 1500 g/s and allows processors to make very large LFI parts without complicated set-up effort -- even on an existing system, the company said. The new mixing head is also capable of handling new fillers, making it possible to produce parts with innovative properties in a simple, cost-competitive process, KraussMaffei added.
Current systems can handle up to 300 g/s glassfibre, which is fed in as rovings, and chopped in the cutter unit. The fibre is then wetted in the mixing head with the PU system at up to 1200 g/s, and simultaneously discharged into the open mould and pressed into shape.
According to KraussMaffei, such large glassfibre-reinforced parts are in increasing demand, especially for commercial and agricultural vehicles.
"As world market leader in LFI-PUR technology, we have the expertise to pursue new paths and to continuously develop our machinery and systems," points out Josef Renkl, R&D director of KraussMaffei's Reaction Process Machinery division. "Optimised fibre wetting and output rates mean that our customers can now also use their existing LFI-PUR systems to produce much larger formats - in the same cycle time."
In future, KraussMaffei said, it aims to offer LFI processing units capable of rates up to 2000 g/s.
PIC: Large-format LFI body parts for commercial vehicles can be produced easily and cost-effectively with KraussMaffei's new mixhead.
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