Ensinger commissions thermoplastic prepreg facility

The Ensinger Group (Nufringen, Germany) engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of compounds, semi-finished materials, composites, technical parts and profiles, announced on Oct. 1 that the commissioning of its new facility in Bavaria, Germany, for the production of thermoplastic prepreg will help the company invest further in the field of composite materials. According to Ensinger, its range now encompasses thermoplastic, continuous fiber-reinforced semipregs and prepregs, organosheets and compression-molded composite plates from a wide range of material combinations.

Among the composite materials being produced by Ensinger at the new facility are thermoplastic semipreg materials, Tecatec CP. Ensinger says these single layer semipregs made from carbon or glass fiber fabrics are coated with thermoplastic matrix materials. The materials are said to range from engineering polymers such as polycarbonate and polyamides, to high-performance plastics such as PEI (polyetherimide), PEEK (polyetheretherketone) and PEKK (polyetherketoneketone). Alongside stock materials, its in-house compounding allows Ensinger to also address most customer requests.

Also new to the portfolio, says the company, are thermoplastic prepreg materials, Tecatec IP, which are said to be fully impregnated and consolidated, single layer plies made from carbon or glass fiber fabrics. With these prepregs, the full range of matrix polymers is available. addition, Ensinger also says it offers customized matrix and fiber combinations, fiber architectures or matrix materials on request.

All semipreg and prepreg products from Ensinger can be processed further into organosheets, thermoplastic composite parts or stock shapes.

Further, Ensinger adds organosheets (Tecatec OS) to its portfolio, which consist of several layers of prepreg or semipreg material that are stacked according to the customer’s specification and then consolidated to form a laminated organosheet with a thickness of up to five millimeters. The organosheets offered on coils or as plates can be used for thermoformed parts or for the straightforward manufacture of thicker parts.

Finally, for applications in which the properties of unreinforced or short fiber-reinforced plastic stock shapes are insufficient, Ensinger offers carbon fiber-reinforced PEEK for medical applications, glass fiber-reinforced PEI and carbon fiber-reinforced PC and PPS as standard. Other material and fiber combinations, types of fabric or customized layer structures are produced on request.