Composite Components

Composites are nothing new to the mobile equipment industries. Companies have been utilizing this plastic hybrid for years in order to meet weight requirements and rust-resistance. A unique twist on the composite component is molding it out of pre-dyed material.

The CE Model school bus, manufactured by IC Corp., Warrenville, IL, features two composite panels that transition the lines of the body from the smaller engine enclosure to the larger passenger compartment. The initial specification called for the composites to be molded and then painted to a customer’s required color, but since 2006, the company has been molding the parts in color while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in production costs. “Eliminating the painting process is saving more than $350,000 annually on this part alone,” says Troy Campbell, senior product development engineer, International Truck & Engine.

Not your average plastic

According to the American Composites Manufacturers Assn., Arlington, VA, not all plastics are composites. A majority of plastics are pure plastic, like toys and soda bottles, but when additional properties like strength are needed, reinforcing fibers are combined with the plastic to form some of the strongest materials for their weight.

Composites, or fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, are a combination of thermoplastic or thermoset resin with a fiber reinforcing material such as glass, carbon or aramid. FRP composite may also contain filler, additives or core materials for added benefits. “FRP has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than many alternative materials,” says Tom Pennington, technical sales representative, Wausaukee Composites Inc., Wausaukee, WI.

Mitsui Chemicals America Inc., Rye Brook, NY, the U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Tokyo, Japan, focuses on the development of specialty polymers and engineering plastics, functional materials and adhesive resins.

NOTIO is a flexible, low density, transparent elastomer offered by Mitsui. Adding NOTIO to a compound, particularly polypropylene (PP), achieves impact, scratch and heat resistance, elasticity, and no whitening when bent.

Combining different elements does not create an entirely new material, however. Instead, each element retains its identity which allows the material’s strengths to remain intact. The benefits that can be achieved by using composites on machines include, but are not limited to:

• Light weight
• High strength
• Corrosion resistance
• Flexibility with strength