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FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY
Fluiver Combines Long-Standing Expertise and Innovation for the Optimal Coating of Large-Sized Plastic Parts Monica Fumagalli ipcm
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The strength of Fluiver, a company specialising in the top-quality finishing of plastic, is its ability to reconcile the craftsmanship of manual application processes, the result of thirty year of experience in the sector, with innovative ideas, implemented to optimise its coating process.
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ibreglass (or Sheet Moulding Compound, SMC) is one of the plastics that, thanks to their excellent mechanical and chemical-physical performance degree, have experienced
rapid development in the automotive and ACE sectors in particular. Specifically, this is a thermosetting sheet material consisting of glass fibres, mineral fillers, pigments, and unsaturated polyester resins. One of the advantages that make it such a sought-after material is the possibility of modifying its components, e.g. the orientation or type of fibres, in order to obtain appreciable variations in the chemical-physical characteristics of end products and thus achieve the performance level required for different applications. This guarantees smooth, homogeneous surfaces (achieved by hot polymerisation following thermoforming in steel moulds), reduced weight, ease of transport (thanks to which it can replace more conventional materials such as steel to reduce vehicle weight by 15-20%), simple installation, long service life, and no need for maintenance. “However, it is also one of the most difficult materials to coat due to its extreme porosity,” explains Franco Bertolotti, the Production Manager of Fluiver (Albano S. Alessandro, Bergamo, Italy). “Specialising in the coating of this and other plastics used in the automotive and ACE Fluiver specialises in the coating of plastic components for the ACE and automotive sectors.
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N. 69 - MAY/JUNE 2021 - international PAINT&COATING magazine
industries was our first objective when we founded our company last year.”
