Wittmann Battenfeld/Schwarz Plastic/Precupa tie-up for thermoset moulding

Late last year, Ingo Schwarz, Managing Director of Schwarz Plastic Solutions GmbH, Thomas März, Managing Director of Precupa GmbH and Andreas Schramm, Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld together with Rainer Weingraber, Managing Director/CEO of Wittmann Battenfeld, Austria, signed a contract for cooperation in the area of reactive plastics. The objective of this cooperation agreement is to advance the technologies in the fields of thermoset injection moulding and processing of other reactive plastic materials, as well as to strengthen the participating companies in the thermoset processing business.

The conviction that thermosets and other reactive plastic materials are gaining more and more significance above all in the electrical engineering sector has prompted the above-mentioned companies to pool their expertise in machine and automation technology, process technology and mould technology.

Schwarz Plastic Solutions is a technology service provider domiciled in Gilching, near Munich. This company supports plastics processors in all matters relating to thermosets, such as the selection of suitable thermosets, optimisation of components, filling simulations, thermal layout of moulds or strength calculations (FEA). Its range of services also includes user training courses and material characterisations. Schwarz Plastic Solutions also cooperates with several universities, including some outside Germany.

Precupa is based in Gaissach, near Bad Tölz, and engages in high-precision mould making. This company with its 40 associates produces injection moulding tools with weights of up to 3.5 tonnes and dimensions of up to 600 x 600 mm. In addition to its know-how in the area of thermoset moulds, Precupa also has experience with moulds for processing of thermosets and LSR. It has recently completed an in-house technical lab, where Schwarz Plastic and Precupa will produce samples with customers’ moulds as well as for thermoset training courses.

Prof. Dr. Ing. Sascha Englich from Steinbeis University Berlin provides the partnership with scientific support.

Precupa und Schwarz Plastic Solutions have jointly invested in an injection moulding machine from Wittmann Battenfeld specially equipped for thermoset processing.

This machine is a servo-hydraulic model from the SmartPower series with 2,400 kN clamping force. The SmartPower XL 240/3400 UNILOG B8 machine is equipped with a number of several different plasticising systems and consequently very versatile. It is capable of producing parts with small shot weights and dimensions of up to 200 cm³, but also large shot weights with volumes of up to 1.500 cm³, such as an encapsulation for electric motors, or over-moulding of inserts. Materials which can be processed include both granulated thermosets and pasty materials, such as wet polyester (BMC). With applications for parts exposed to high mechanical strain in view, the machine also comes with an additional hydraulic unit, which offers additional compression forces for processes such as injection compression or injection stamping.

A modular thermoset mould facilitates processing test series, including material tests and analyses. A large package of exchangeable inserts enables the production of testing samples, tests with winding goods (e-mobility) and rheological examinations. On the basis of the cooperation partners’ own technical equipment, both process technological and scientific-analytical evaluations and assessments of the tests are feasible. Thanks to a further cooperation agreement between Schwarz Plastic Solutions and the Netzsch Group, extensive sensor systems and evaluation facilities are also available inside the mould.

The companies say they expect to meet the challenges of the thermoset market and to drive the advancement of thermoset processing technology.

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