Pultruded products are in increasing demand for multiple industries. According to Business Insider, the latest Research And Markets "Pultrusion Market Report: Trends, Forecast and Competitive Analysis" report notes that the global pultrusion market is expected to reach $3.4 billion by 2024, with a 4% CAGR over the five years between 2019 and 2024.
Which Sectors Benefit the Most From Pultruded Products?
Prime opportunities are presenting themselves for pultruded products in the following industries, where demand for lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and durable products continues to increase:
- Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Consumer goods
- Construction
Collaboration with OEMs to meet their unique needs and identify new application areas for pultruded products is a significant driver of growth.
Consumer goods are expected to hold the top spot for the largest end-use industry by value and volume. This is primarily due to increased demand for tool handles, ladder rails, and recreational sporting goods.
Other high-growth verticals include window profiles, rebar, cable trays, electric insulators, road markers, utility poles, structural shapes, and antennas. Qualities available in pultrusions products are in high demand, and include various fiber and resin types as well as non-corrosive pultrusions that can withstand environments that cause metals to quickly lose structural and tensile strength.
Utilities are among the biggest spenders after the consumer market, as utility poles, chemical treatment plants, cooling towers, and wind energy are gaining ground through the switch to customized pultruded products to cut construction and transportation costs.
Infrastructure and construction tie with utilities in pultruded product use, thanks to the rise of rebar and gratings applications that deliver durable products that can withstand corrosive environments. Window reinforcements are among the top verticals for custom pultrusions by volume.
The total lifecycle cost of end products and the growing need for energy efficiency are powerful drivers for the global pultrusion market.
What Pultruded Products are in High Demand?
Custom pultruded products are penetrating every market, and advancements in composites and specialty resins are enabling more and more applications each month.
Hot Line Sticks
High-voltage “hot line sticks” are fiberglass poles in demand for electrical utility workers. Used on high-voltage electrical power lines, these sticks are durable, moisture-resistant, and capable of withstanding 1000 kV per foot. They are non-conductive for worker and power line safety, and are created using a specialized process that includes vinylester resin and special electrical glass.
Custom fiberglass
Custom pultrusions of fiberglass composite materials, including mesh fiber types such as E-glass and mat, carbon, and Kevlar, with polymers including standard, polyester, vinylester, epoxy, phenolic, and polyurethane.
These lightweight, high-strength pultrusions offer electrical and thermal insulation, corrosion resistance, and electromagnetic transparency, with superior multidimensional stability, and can be created to spec for almost any desired profile.
Custom fiberglass pultruded products are in demand by a wide range of markets, from construction, utility, and telecommunications to consumer and sporting goods.
They can be used as duct rods, isolation rods, or cable support rods; for plant and tree stakes; in food processing machines; for advertising panels; or as retaining wall pins, among other applications.
Coiled fiberglass
Coiled fiberglass pultrusions are made of polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, and urethane. Fiberglass rod lengths can range from 100' to 2,000', with diameters of 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8". Resin mixes can be customized to meet industry requirements, whether the end-use is guy wire, fabric frame, fish tape, cable strength core, or conductor rods.
Manufactured specialty fiberglass
Specialty fiberglass pultrusions use various resins or epoxies to deliver specific qualities as specified by the customer.
- High Temp Vinyl Ester Resin System: High temp resin systems create pultruded fiberglass, which can withstand applications in environments up to 200 degrees centigrade - temperature resistance that far exceeds that of standard PE and VE resin systems.
- Fire Retardant Polyester Resin System: Low smoke and low spread FR capabilities combined with a standard PE resin system allow users to maintain standard PE strengths and be fire-retardant at the same time.
- Fire Retardant Vinyl Ester Resin System: Combining FR additives with the higher corrosion resistance and higher strength of vinyl ester resins delivers a product that meets even more exacting specifications.
- Super High Strength Epoxies: For a tooling cost similar to PE and VE, but with higher material costs, super epoxies can deliver very high mechanical properties and fatigue resistance. Good for small batches with a short run and very specific strength needs.
- Super High Strength Polyurethanes: Conversely, for lower material costs than epoxies but higher tooling costs, super polyurethanes can also deliver very high mechanical properties and fatigue resistance. Good for large batches and long runs where durability is key.
Fiberglass Window Reinforcements
Fiberglass use in construction has skyrocketed due to its low thermal conductivity, high strength-to-weight ratio, and ease of transport and storage.
Corrosion-resistant window reinforcements add structural strength and stability to existing materials and enable economical planning of structural replacements, delivering cost savings on projects large and small.
U.S. infrastructure possibilities
As it becomes more and more clear that failing infrastructure must be restored rapidly with long-lasting, cost-effective steel replacements, the pultruded fiberglass market is poised to become the solution for failing bridges and more.
Pultruded composites weigh up to 75% less than steel, making them ideal for larger construction projects where weight is an issue and transport costs are heavily affected by large material loads.
Rebar, gratings, corrosion-free guardrails, and more can all be created using pultruded products, making them a natural choice for engineers and architects seeking new, improved ways to manage projects from the federal level to local municipalities, as well as on state and county levels.
Pultruded fiberglass meets the highest-profile needs in construction, infrastructure, and more, with superior dimensional stability across short and long lengths, tight tolerances and precision, ease of installation, low-cost transport, and even lower maintenance.
There is a bright future ahead for the pultrusion market, both at home and abroad.
