Effect of inhomogeneous temperature distribution on the impregnation process of the continuous compression molding technology

The demand for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics has steadily increased during the last years due to their specific properties. But considering the applications in large-scale production, the price for the organic sheets is still too high in order to compete with the metal counterparts. A starting point for the reduction of the total costs is the acceleration of the impregnation process by in-plane polymer flow. For this reason, this scientific report provides an insight into the production process using a continuous compression molding machine. In order to analyze the in-plane polymer flow and its driving forces, a method for the evaluation of the pressure distribution is presented in a first step. The examination revealed a significant inhomogeneous pressure distribution for the whole pressing area, which could be affected by different temperature settings. Afterward, the impregnation quality was correlated with the different settings, followed by the illustration of a huge potential for increasing the impregnation speed.