KraussMaffei Group is targeting the construction rebar market with its second iPul pultrusion system installed at the TechCenter of its Reaction Process Machinery division in Munich.
The first iPul system installed there is designed for flat profiles.
Rebar is used to reinforce concrete on roads and bridges, and buildings prone to corrosion. Pultruded rebar is based on epoxy and reinforced with glass or carbon fibers.
“They are corrosion-resistant compared to classic steel reinforcements,” said Sebastian Schmidhuber, KM's head of development for reaction process machinery. “Therefore, the overlaying concrete layers can be considerably thinner.”
Other advantages include low weight, and therefore cheaper transportation costs, easier handling at construction sites, and the fact that fiber-reinforced rebar can be produced endlessly and wound onto drums.
And, KraussMaffei officials say, the iPul can run up to six times faster than traditional pultrusion,
where slow pull-through speeds are a barrier.
The first, flat-section iPul machine is aimed at window profiles and reinforcement elements for wind turbine blades.
KraussMaffei will be at Booth W403 during NPE2018.