Hand laminate

The oldest and simplest process for producing fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) is hand lamination. The hand lamination process enables a high level of flexibility in the design of more complex geometries and the use of different fiber and reinforcing materials. There are almost no limits when it comes to component size. Furthermore, this process involves comparatively low investment costs. In addition to different wall thicknesses within a component, undercuts with split shapes are also possible. It is particularly suitable for small series or prototypes.

Hand laminating begins with manually inserting the semi-finished fiber products (fabric, scrim or fiber mats) into a mold. These are soaked with a resin (matrix). Pressing with a roller then removes air and excess resin. This process is repeated until the desired layer thickness is achieved. After all layers have been applied, the component, the so-called hand laminate, hardens through the reaction of the resin with the hardener.