Thermoplastic composites are considered as the next generation of mass-produced structural materials for volume applications such as automotive. To avoid the high viscosity of standard thermoplastics, reactive thermoplastics (APA, CBT etc) are under development. However, their processing is complex and they are very sensitive to various parameters making their processing a real challenge for manufacturers.

Using our OptiMold technology, the reaction mouding can be fully monitored even at temperatures up to 230^oC so the real-time optimisation of the injection and polymerisation is possible. Furthermore the build-up of crystallinity can be also traced during heating and cooling. Processing deviations such as the existence of moisture in the matrix or the increase of crystallinity can be picked up as can be shown in the graph and controlled accordingly.