Page 27 - Plastics News September 2022

FEATURE

Thin-Wall Tubing: Composites Are Worth Considering

atrick Loock, segment business composite solutions because of its rela- posite production, continuous manu-
Powner for products and applications tively low price, provides the desired facturing processes, such as pultrusion
at composite tubes manufacturer Exel weight savings compared to aluminium and pullwinding, are advantageous
Composites, explains why manufactur- for tubes of equal dimensions but only because they ensure consistent high-
ers should reconsider using composites has a stiffness of 35 GPa. Therefore, to quality production and high levels of
thanks to advances in customised hybrid match the stiffness of aluminium, usu- repeatability. Pullwinding is particu-
composites. When it comes to thin-wall ally thicker tubes are needed, impacting larly useful for manufacturing hybrid
tubes for applications where stiffness existing design specifications and reduc- composites because it allows for cross-
and robustness requirements have gen- ing weight savings. directional control of mechanical prop-
erally favoured the use of metals because Carbon fibre composites tick all the erties and selective reinforcement of the
of their high stiffness and relatively low boxes in terms of mechanical properties. thin-wall composite tubes, meaning
price. Traditionally, composites have not They are much lighter than metals and there is no wasted material and costs
been able to replace metals in these ap- boast much higher stiffnesses, with ba- are kept as low as possible. It does this
plications because glass fibre composites, sic carbon fibre tube having a stiffness by combining the unidirectional align-
while lighter, lack the necessary stiffness. of 120 GPa and high-modulus carbon ment of fibres with the helical winding
Alternatively, carbon fibre composites, fibre tube having stiffness up to 210 of reinforcements, resulting in the abil-
while being mechanically suitable, may GPa. However, carbon fibre composites ity to control unidirectional fibres and
be considered too expensive. are also more expensive than metals, helical winds, from a few degrees up to

Generally, thin wall composites are with solutions costing around five times 90 degrees. Manufacturing thin-wall
anything with a thickness between 0.9 as much. This is where hybrid compos- composite tubes is possible using other
mm and 2 mm and are used for a va- ites come in, providing the best of both manufacturing techniques, such as fila-
riety of applications across many differ- worlds. ment winding, however these require
ent industry sectors, including camera Hybrid composites, a combination of more manual steps and are more suited
tripods, window cleaning poles, IMR both glass and carbon fibres, allow man- for thick tubes with large diameters.
equipment, telescope poles, and camou- ufacturers to tailor mechanical proper- Furthermore, because they involve more
flage support poles. ties for any given application without manual steps and smaller manufacturing
volumes, it is often the case that thin-
Traditionally, metals such as alumini- changing the specified dimensions of wall composite tubes manufactured us-
um and steel are used in these applica- the tubes or poles by adjusting the ratio ing filament winding are more expen-
tions. Sustainability trends and light- of glass fibre to carbon fibre in the struc- sive. By working with an experienced
weighting are pushing manufacturers ture. For example, for window cleaning and knowledgeable composites partner
to improve operational efficiencies by poles, a customer might require a pole who understands your application’s re-
reducing weight without sacrificing me- predominantly made from glass fibre for quirements and operational challenges,
chanical properties. Typically, we see this cleaning two-story buildings but need you can ensure you get the optimal so-
is when composites are considered, and something with a higher ratio of carbon lution for any given application. Exel
we are always asked how could compos- fibre, providing extra stiffness, for poles Composites has over 40 years of indus-
ites replace metals in these applications? intended for cleaning five-story build- try experience manufacturing thin-wall

Tunable mechanical properties ings. This is a simple task for an expe- composite tubes and can work with you
rienced composites partner to produce
For thin-wall tubes in industrial appli- composites tailored for your specific ap- to develop the optimal hybrid compos-
cations, stiffness is a key consideration. plication. ite for your application, enabling you
Aluminum, which has been the tradi- to cost-efficiently reduce equipment
tional material of choice for many, has Benefits of volume pull-winding manu- weight without sacrificing mechanical
a stiffness of 70 gigapascals (GPa). Glass facturing performance.
fibre, which is often the first choice for For high volume cost-competitive com-

26 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022 27 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022