Profol’s strong lightweight 

Progano®
organo-sheet

Profol’s strong lightweight

Progano®

Organo-Sheets

Material of the future

Our organo sheet Progano® is a highly developed lightweight composite material made of glass fibers and polypropylene that opens up new possibilities in the production of thermoplastic composite components. Whether in the automotive, construction or leisure industries, Progano® enables engineers to reduce the weight of components, increase their strength and make production more efficient. Hot formable and continuously available in large quantities, Progano® sets new standards in all areas of lightweight construction where aluminum or steel components are to be replaced. This paves the way for the production and use of stronger, more durable and more sustainable components.

Important functions

Lighter

Up to 35% less weight than aluminum, up to 75% weight saving compared to steel.

Stronger

Up to 50% stronger than aluminum alloys and excellent impact resistance.

Faster

Process cost and time savings through direct integration of several functional elements in just one process step of component manufacture.

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Applications

Progano® can be used in almost any thermoplastic application that replaces aluminum or steel components. Organo sheets are used particularly in the automotive industry, but there are also numerous opportunities and potential in construction and logistics, the leisure industry, the energy sector and other areas.

+ Automotive door panels

+ Sice impact protection

+ Bumper beam structures

+ Engine mounts

+ Seat backrests

+ Armrests

+ Trunk liners

+ Automotive battery boxes

+ Vehicle bodies

+ Trailer construction

+ Caravan equipment

+ Tranport boxes

+ Scaffolding panels

+ Concrete formwork panels

+ Solar panels

Advantages

Progano® is not only stiffer, lighter and more sustainable than metals, but also offers better mechanical properties in terms of tensile strength and thermal expansion. Thanks to its thermoformability, our organo sheet can be moulded into complex shapes and geometries. This makes it particularly attractive for applications where a high degree of design freedom is required. The structure and composition of the organo sheets can be adapted to the requirements of the subsequent application.

As Progano® has a lower density than aluminum, components can also be manufactured using less material. This further reduces the environmental impact. Find out more about the recycling concept of our lightweight composites here.

Progano® also achieves good results in fire tests, which is important, for example, when used in battery boxes for electric cars. Thanks to our large-scale production of proUD, Progano® is also continuously available in large quantities.

Specifications

  • Multilayer UD tape structure (0°/90°)
  • Glass fiber content 60% – 80% 
  • Width 1.200mm*
  • Length max. 3.000mm

* A production concept of Progano® for widths up to 2.500mm has been developed.

Processing

Progano® consists of up to 10 layers of proUD. The number and orientation of the layers are variable and depend on the subsequent application, whereby a symmetrical structure is always advantageous with regard to the flatness of the application. As standard, we use a 4:1 distribution of proUD 0° and proUD 90° for Progano®. Various functional elements such as threads, bushings or sensors can also be integrated directly into the component during the subsequent production of components.

Various methods are used to process our organo sheets. The most common include:

+ Sawing and punching

Progano® can be punched, laser-cut, sawn or milled using the appropriate processing tools and thus moulded into the desired shape. This enables the production of precise and customised components.

+ Bonding and gluing

Progano® can be thermally bonded to other materials or organo sheets. Gluing is also possible using adhesives suitable for polypropylene. This allows complex modules and structures to be created.

+ Forming and bending

Progano® can be moulded into the desired shape by heating and subsequent forming or bending. This process opens up further possibilities for the production of complex and three-dimensional components.

Recycling concept and sustainability

The recycling of lightweight composites is an important step towards promoting sustainability and reducing environmental impact. At the same time, reusing the materials helps to save energy and costs. As we are always looking for the best solution, we have had the recyclability of our organo sheets tested – with convincing results.

For this purpose, Progano® offcuts were shredded, enriched with additional polypropylene to reduce the glass fiber content and the material mix was plasticised. The resulting recycled granules were used for injection moulding tests. The results show: The regranulate can be processed in the injection moulding process just as well as virgin material and shows no significant differences in terms of fiber lengths and proportions. This process makes it possible to use 100% of the material and keep it in the cycle. An important step towards sustainability and the circular economy. You can find all the details about the trial and the resulting potential in this article.

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Do you have any questions? Contact us!

Lars Wilkening

Key Account Manager Lightweight Composites

Oliver Rüsseler

Senior Product Manager

Udo Steinhauer

Director Business Development & Marketing

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