CT Engineering, the technology center Eurecat and Titania combined their capabilities to launch two years ago the R&D project called Pultrubeam, focused on the improvement of the pultrusion technique (or continuous manufacturing process) applied to composite materials, out of autoclave. In a first stage of the project Titania has characterized and selected the resin that best suits the manufacturing process under study. Different physical and thermal tests have been carried out to determine the optimal curing conditions of the material. Once the resin was selected, flat composite panels were produced using the pultrusion technique, which were again characterized by Titania in a second phase.

The validation tests plan to reach a TRL3 level has provided information on the mechanical and physical-thermal properties of the selected materials, as well as the pultrusion manufacturing process itself after a microstructural analysis with non-destructive testing techniques (NDT), as ultrasonics. These tests have made it possible to fine-tune the pultrusion technique before proceeding to manufacture more complex geometries, which will already be part of a third stage of Pultrubeam.

One of the objectives of the project is to achieve the manufacture of composite material through the pultrusion technique without depending on an autoclave. As result it will be possibe to save costs and the optimization of the production process. Although this is a manufacturing technique that is applicable to different sectors, it will be in aeronautics, rail and automobile where will achieve a greatest impact, facilitating access to this innovative technology to companies from different industrial areas.