Atlas Fibre has composite tubes available for your company to fabricate or machine in-house. Our Illinois facility has North America's largest selection of in-stock composite tubes.
Atlas Fibre can assist you in deciding which materials are appropriate for your project through our resource center. Our expert guidance will help reduce your project’s complexity and costs. We want to work with you, so please get in touch with any questions. In the meantime, learn more about our selection of custom and stock composite tubes.
Two methods are commonly used to produce composite tubes. The first method is filament winding. During filament winding, individual filaments get run through a resin bath before they are wound to a mandrel. We can adjust the wind angle to change the tube’s strength characteristics. A filament wound tube is fully cured and ready for fabrication.
The other method is convolute or prepreg winding. During convolute winding, prepreg material is wrapped around a mandrel before being cured. The resin content is added during the prepreg manufacturing process. Convolute winding typically has more material options than filament winding.
A notable difference between the two methods is the tube size produced. Tubes produced through convolute winding have a maximum length and diameter. There is no length maximum for filament wound tubes, although the maximum diameter is considerably smaller for filament wound tubes compared to composite.
Each option has its applications, advantages, and drawbacks. Based on the scope of your project, we’ll help you choose the right method.
Our composite tubes are available in several materials, including paper phenolic. Paper-based phenolic has good mechanical and electrical insulating properties. It’s made from a kraft paper base and resin binder and often costs less than other phenolic materials.
Another material option is canvas phenolic, which consists of a cotton canvas base and resin binder. Canvas phenolic has good mechanical strength and can be designed with electrical properties.
Phenolic materials differ in their strength, insulation properties, and machinability. The right materials for your tubes depend on how and where you plan on using them. We’ll help you choose the best material based on your project’s specifications. Material data sheets are available for all of our products so you can develop a better understanding of each one’s particular properties.
The method of creating a composite tube affects the final size. Generally speaking, filament wound tubes can be much longer than convolute wound tubes but are considerably narrower. A filament wound tube usually can’t be more than a few inches wide while convolute wound tubes can be several feet in diameter.
The tube size you need will depend on your project. You may also have the option of connecting several shorter tube lengths together.
Our composite tubes are in stock and ready to ship to you. Contact us today for pricing information and more details.
