Thermoplastic composites
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Tape winding by INOwell
Thermoplastics are a relatively new group of materials in the world of composites, but they are already widely used in the oil & gas industry. The term TCP – thermoplastic composite pipe, covers the production of flowlines, jumpers, risers and downlines in a continuous winding process. These products impress users with their low weight, high strength as well as the cost and efficiency advantages when installing and using the products.
In addition to continuous production, thermoplastic composites and the laser-assisted tape winding process have potential for a variety of applications in the oil & gas industry. The great temperature and chemical resistance as well as the favourable abrasion and impact behaviour of thermoplastic composites, plus the wide range of materials available, enable a composite solution tailored to your needs. Established materials in the oil and gas industry include, for example, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyamide 12 (PA12) and polypropylene (PP) in combination with glass or carbon fibers.
Thermoplastic tape winding manufacturing capacities
For component production using laser-assisted tape winding, we have a winding system with a winding length of up to 4,500 mm. The system has two winding axes so that all upstream and downstream steps in component production can take place in parallel to production. Depending on the requirements and component concept, pipes, segments, rings or sleeves with a diameter of 400 mm can be produced fully automatically. If you require larger diameters, please do not hesitate to contact us. Depending on the geometry, these can also be produced with minor modifications to the manufacturing equipment. The available production cell includes not only the winding process, but also the upstream and downstream steps for preheating the mandrels and extracting the parts from the mandrel. This allows up to eight cores to be preheated in the paternoster oven simultaneously.
The use of high-quality semi-finished products (tapes) allows excellent component qualities with low porosity to be achieved through laser-assisted tape winding. The process is also particularly suitable for the production of thin-walled components such as those required for carrier structures in swell packers.