General Plastics, Inc. is a global supplier of high-performance polyurethane foam products and composite parts. The company recently announced that it will launch a high-temperature mold foam board named LAST-A-FOAM® FR-4800 series. This foam board is a tool sheet with high thermal stability, which is suitable for aerospace industry, automotive industry and composite material manufacturing with high requirements on material properties. It also fills the company's gap in producing high-tolerance parts and solves the problem of finding a tool system that is cost-effective, predictable and stable.
LAST-A-FOAM® FR-4800 series boards are ideal materials for peak temperatures up to 480 ° F (249 ° C) and continuous use temperatures up to 400 ° F (204 ° C). Because its thermal expansion coefficient is comparable to aluminum, it is also an ideal replacement for metal tools. In addition, the FR-4800 is only one-third the density of aluminum and has a density of 48 pounds per cubic foot (0.77g / cm3).
[FR-4800 high temperature mold plate] FR-4800 mold plate has the advantages of high temperature resistance and low thermal expansion coefficient. With the increasing use of large graphite molds, the complexity and size of materials, and the ability and speed to accurately generate surfaces have become more challenging.
"GM Plastics Chief Executive Officer / President Mitchell Johnson Ph.D. said:" FR-4800 foam board is the latest generation of material and is well suited as the main material for carbon fiber or foam tools. It can easily and quickly process materials into very complex shapes, and it can produce the required foam body material in a shorter period of time and at a lower total cost than other mold methods. "
The application range of FR-4800 is similar to other high-temperature mold foam materials produced by General Plastics, namely LAST-A-FOAM® FR-4700, but FR-4800 also has advantages that other materials do not. FR-4800, because of its lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), high processing temperature and high thermal conductivity, can provide customers with a mold plate with good thermal properties.
Mitchell Johnson Ph.D also said, "The purpose of our LAST-A-FOAM® FR-4800 series is to produce a predictable and reliable mold foam board, and this material is suitable for those with dimensional stability for high pressure steam curing. Applications where the impact of the cycle is not significant. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of this material is also reliable and repeatable, and researchers can calculate the correction factor of the tool while improving the ability to produce a more accurate material surface. "
LAST-A-FOAM® FR-4800 can be easily machined. Even at continuous high temperatures, it still has the advantages of continuous cooling rate, no distortion and predictable size. Applications of this product include fiber-reinforced composite materials, high-temperature resin systems, prepreg laminated tools, foam body materials, bulk tools and molds, and prototype tools. Commercial high temperature adhesives and sealants, usually used with composite boards or polyurethane tool boards, can also be used with FR-4800.