Specialized mould release shows exceptional first-year performance
Mississauga, Ontario, July 2015 – PTFE Group of Companies is pleased to announce the first-year success of its new high-performing mould release used in the manufacturing of composite wind turbine blades.
GR6 Mould Release was officially launched in August 2014 after a successful 2-year development and testing period within a live wind-blade production environment. The objective and goals of the product development of the GR6 Mould Release were to assist wind blade manufacturers with reducing their blade manufacturing costs.
At the completion of the first year of post-launch production, results have shown a very high yield in terms of the number of ‘pulls’ or production cycles between replacement of the mould release material. With a typical expectation of 5 to 30 pulls, GR6 is consistently performing well into the mid-40’s, according to the live production/end-use results.
An equally impressive performance attribute of GR6 is the quality finish that is left on the blade surface after GR6 has been released from the mould, resulting in a 30-40% time savings in post-mould finishing.
A third performance benefit is realized when the release liner is eventually replaced. Clean and easy removal of the liner, facilitated by carefully engineered adhesive, reduces the need for mould clean-up in preparation for application of the next layer. The adhesive also makes application of the replacement mould release a much easier and less time-consuming effort.
GR6 Mould Release utilizes a specialized combination of a proprietary PTFE coating formulation on high-grade fiberglass cloth substrate with an engineered adhesive. The coating resists the wear, stress, and chemical exposure of repeated moulding cycles while providing a smooth, clean-releasing finish and delivering high quality blade surface with minimal post-mould processing. The use of a high-performance adhesive enables easy application as well as quick and clean removal.
The initiative to develop a high-yield, high-performing mould release is a combined result of the leadership of PTFE Group in producing high performance tapes, fabrics and belts, its culture of ongoing research and development, and the more recent growth in the Wind Energy industry which is driving the need for quality output, higher production efficiency and cost reduction.
About PTFE Group
PTFE Group of Companies includes Green Belting Industries Limited (Canada), Greenbelt Industries Inc. (US), Biscor Limited (UK) and Mapelli SRL (Italy) with plants and offices in each of these country locations. PTFE Group manufactures high performing industrial fabrics, belts, and tapes.
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For more details on Green Belting Industries about GR6 Mould Release please contact us at 905-564-6712 Ext. 5144 or by email at [email protected].
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Media contact: Linda McIntosh, Tel: 905-564-6712 Ext. 5161, Email: [email protected]
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