One of the fastest growing industries is the civil infrastructure. Composites usage represent only a small percentage of the civil infrastructure market. In 1997, composite material shipments to this market were 700 million pounds. In just September of 1998, steel shipments in this market were 2.4 billion pounds. One of the main reasons for the small penetration of composites into this market is that they are too expensive. Two of the major cost drivers for composites are labor and raw materials. Labor costs can be reduced significantly through the use of pultrusion, which is a continuous low cost fabrication method for composites. However, there has not been much focus on the development of low cost, high performance raw materials for use on composites. The use of renewable raw materials such as Epoxidized Soybean Oil in resin formulations offer low cost ($.50 per pound) raw materials. Another problem with composites is that they are not ductile, therefore they fail catastrophically. Epoxidized Soybean Oil in resin formulations offer damage tolerance, ductility, and flexibility. Composite Products Inc. (CPI) and the University of Missouri - Rolla have teamed to propose to develop a new resin system for pultrusion base on this renewable raw material source. Preliminary work indicates that a pultrudable resin system can be made that is more ductile without much loss in strength. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The potential uses of pultruded composite products that are strong, damage tolerant, and flexible are numerous. CPI envisions implementation in applications where catastrophic failure could be life threatening such as hand railings in industrial sites, safety rails for off shore platforms, deck railing systems for boats, and road barriers. CPI is currently building several all composite bridges in Missouri. CPI will focus on the development of road barriers, which is a natural extension of the bridge effort.
