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Thermoplastic Composite and Carbon Fiber Tubes and Profiles

Re:Build Oribi Composites has taken our innovative manufacturing automation processes and applied them to high-volume production of thermoplastic composite tubes and profiles. The result is a line of tubes, shafts, sticks, or profiles available in a variety of thermoplastic composite materials that provide unparalleled performance at a price point competitive with traditional metals and plastics.

Advantages of Composite and Carbon Fiber Tubes and Profiles

Tube and tubing made of composite materials provide significant advantages over traditional metals or plastics. The benefits of composite tubing include:

Superior Strength-to-Weight Ratio: Tubes made of composite materials provide incredible strength and durability without the weight of traditional metals.

Corrosion and Weather Resistance: Composite tubes perform well regardless of the environmental conditions, making them ideal solutions for industries such as military, aerospace, and sporting goods.

High Impact Resistance: Tubes made of composite materials such as carbon fiber can withstand significant impacts without damaging the performance of the product.

Vibration Dampening: The vibration-dampening nature of composite materials ensures stability and reduced wear-and-tear. For applications such as sporting goods or safety products, transitioning to carbon fiber can be a game-changer for the user.

Consistent Thermal Stability: Composite tubes are stable and maintain their performance and integrity across a wide range of temperatures.

Electrical Insulation: This feature of carbon fiber tubes provides both enhanced functionality and safety for any type of electrical application.

Design Adaptability: Looking for a custom application for tubes or tubing? Since composite materials can be easily formed and reformed, they allow designers and engineers to create more intricate and better-optimized products than tubes made of traditional materials.

Applications of Composite and Carbon Fiber Tubes and Profiles

The performance advantages of composite tubes and profiles translates to significant opportunities in a variety of industries, including:

Transportation: Composite tubes are stronger, lighter, and more corrosive resistant, making them ideal candidates for the transportation industry, especially with electric vehicles where weight saving is critical.

Sporting Goods: The high strength-to-weight ratio combined with high impact resistance and vibration dampening make composite tubes the ideal material for products such as hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks, golf clubs, and bicycles. Carbon fiber tubes optimize the performance of sporting goods products without sacrificing durability.

Medical Devices: The precision and reliability created by composite materials is especially crucial for medical devices such as diagnostic equipment.

Robotics: The high and lightweight nature of composite tubes make them ideal for the structural components of robotics.

Marine: Durable and corrosive-resistant components are critical for any marine application.

Aerospace: Strong and lightweight composite tubes help with fuel efficiency and allow greater flexibility and design innovation.

Selecting the Best Composite Material Option for Tubes and Tubing

There are many options when it comes to composite materials manufacturing. Each fiber type has unique characteristics that need to be taken into account when developing products using composite tube.

Some of the more popular composite fiber options include:

Carbon Fiber: When most people think of composite materials they first think of carbon fiber. Tubes made from carbon fiber offer unparalleled strength and light weight, but at a premium price.

Glass Fibers (Fiberglass): Fiberglass composite tubes are a lower cost alternative to carbon fiber or Kevlar fiber. Tubes and tubing made from fiberglass have excellent strength-to-weight compared to traditional materials and are a great balance of performance and cost.

Kevlar Fiber: Tubes and profiles made from kevlar fibers are lightweight, have high tensile strength, and good abrasion resistance. While generally more expensive than fiberglass tubes, tubes made from Kevlar fibers offer advanced durability at a lower price point than carbon fiber.

All Re:Build Oribi Composites Tubes Are Made in the USA

Re:Build Oribi Composites makes all of our products, including tubes and profiles, in the USA. Our mission is to rebuild American manufacturing and to that end, we have made significant investments in plants and manufacturing technology in the US to allow us to compete with global production. Learn more about our commitment to rebuilding US manufacturing at https://rebuildmanufacturing.com/.

Specifications for Tubes and Profiles from Re:Build Oribi Composites:

The engineering and manufacturing wizards at ReBuild Oribi Composites can design and manufacture tubes to meet your specific requirements. The following are the general specifications for the tubes we manufacture:

Diameter:

• Min = .5 inches
• Max = 3 inches

Wall Thicknes:

• Min = .03
• Max = .25”

Length

• Max = 42 inches

Material options:

• Carbon Fiber
• Glass Fiber (Fiberglass)
• Any thermoplastic resin compatible fiber

Connect with the Composite Tube and Profile Experts at Re:Build Oribi Composites

The team at Re:Build Oribi Composites can work with you to make sure that you get composite tubes that meet your specific needs. From stock tube in standard sizes and materials to custom tube made from more exotic fibers, the team at Re:Build Oribi Composites can help you take your tubes to the next level.

Contact us to learn more about our composite tubes and innovative manufacturing processes.

Re:Build Manufacturing Announces A New Line of Thermoplastic Composite Tubes

Re:Build Manufacturing Announces A New Line of Advanced, Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite Tubes and Profiles

Re:Build Manufacturing is pleased to announce its latest breakthrough product: a new line of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) tubes and profiles, produced at Re:Build’s Oribi Composites facility in Denver, Colorado.

Nearly all composite tubes and profiles available today utilize thermoset resin matrices to support the fiber reinforcement or use non-continuous fiber reinforcements. These materials, while light and stiff, are typically lower in toughness and durability, and are not recyclable. Re:Build’s newly developed production technology offers several key benefits for users including improved impact resistance, vibration dampening, corrosion resistance, high and low temperature resistance, durability, and recyclability. Ideal applications for these components include sporting goods shafts, aerospace and automotive tubes and tie rods, medical components, and robotic frames and arms.

By utilizing proprietary, highly automated processes developed by Re:Build Manufacturing’s automation team, the components will meet stringent performance requirements at a lower price when compared to thermoset materials. In addition, by using proprietary layup and modeling software, Re:Build’s engineers can optimize the composite layups virtually, and validate manufacturability of complex parts with less iteration, for a lower total cost. “By combining a unique, automated layup and forming process with robust modeling and simulation tools, we are able to develop and supply high performance structural thermoplastic tubes and profiles to fulfill demand in the industry” said Steven Mead, Chief Commercial Officer, Re:Build Manufacturing. He continued, “Our customers have been asking us for years for thermoplastic tubes and profiles, and we are now able to offer an affordable, high-volume production solution. When you combine this with our continuous compression molding and high-pressure thermoforming capabilities, Re:Build can design and produce nearly any geometry using continuous fiber thermoplastic materials.” The tubes will be available with a wide range of glass, carbon, and Kevlar fibers, and will employ a wide range of thermoplastic polymers, including PA6, PEI, PPS, and many others. Customer deliveries will commence in the first quarter of 2024.

Revolutionizing the Sporting Goods Industry with Thermoplastic Sporting Goods Components

The sporting goods industry is highly competitive, with manufacturers constantly looking for ways to improve the performance, durability, and sustainability of their products. One recent manufacturing innovation is the introduction of thermoplastic composites to sporting goods components. Thermoplastic materials are transforming the way we design and manufacture equipment, offering a wide range of benefits for both athletes and the environment. In this article, we’ll explore how using thermoplastic composites can revolutionize the sporting goods industry.

The advantages of thermoplastic composite components for the sporting good industry

Thermoplastics are a type of polymer that soften when heated to high temperatures and solidify when cooled, making them incredibly useful and versatile for high-volume manufacturing. For years, high performance parts made from thermoplastics were prohibitively expensive to manufacture (especially to mass-produce), which is why sporting goods manufacturers relied primarily on traditional materials such as plastics and metallics for their components. Now, however, Re:Build Oribi Composites has developed an innovative automation process that allows us to mass-produce thermoplastic composite components at a price competitive with traditional materials. This advancement in materials and manufacturing now allow sporting goods companies to radically improve the performance of their products by implementing thermoplastic parts and components into their product designs.

There are many advantages of thermoplastic sporting good parts and components, including their lightweight nature, high strength-to-weight ratio, and exceptional durability–and all of these benefits make them especially well-suited to the sporting goods industry.

Specific advantages of thermoplastic sporting good components include:

1. Enhanced performance: Thermoplastic components can be engineered to meet specific performance requirements. They offer exceptional stiffness and strength and are much lighter than traditional materials, providing athletes with superior responsiveness and control of their tennis rackets, ski boots, bicycle frames, etc.
2. Durability: Sporting equipment often must withstand rigorous wear-and-tear and harsh environmental conditions. Thermoplastics are highly resistant to impact, abrasion, and UV radiation, meaning they can contribute to longer-lasting products and greater sustainability.
3. Lightweight: For many athletes, every ounce matters. Thermoplastics are especially well-suited to sports like cycling or golf, where their lightweight nature can provide a significant competitive advantage and allow athletes reduced fatigue and increased maneuverability.
4. Sustainability: Sustainability is a priority for many companies and customers. Thermoplastics are recyclable and can be re-molded with minimal waste, reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.

Applications of thermoplastic sporting goods
There are myriad applications of thermoplastic composites in the sporting goods industry. Some of the most popular are thermoplastic hockey sticks and thermoplastic lacrosse sticks–thermoplastics offer superior strength, lower weight, and shock absorption creating a more comfortable and consistent experience.

Thermoplastics can also be used in products ranging from kayak oars to bicycle components to tennis rackets, for similar reasons. The stiffness, weight, and durability of thermoplastics means your products will perform better and last longer.

Thermoplastics are also revolutionizing sporting goods protective wear such as helmets, since they offer enhanced impact protection without adding unnecessary weight.

The future of thermoplastic sporting goods components
With the recent manufacturing innovations from Re:Build Oribi Composites, thermoplastics are starting to make a serious impact in the sporting goods industry, and companies can expect to see even more innovative applications in the future.

For more information on how you can create a brighter, more sustainable future for athletes around the world, contact us today!