Initial products made by the pultrusion process went into the recreational/sporting goods market
(fishing rods) and into the electrical market (transformer spacer sticks). In the early stages the
electrical market dominated the pultrusion business. As new pultruders entered the market, the
applications for pultruded products increased.
The consumer/recreational and electrical markets have dominated the pultrusion business since
1976. The latter has continued to expand and the list below contains opportunities for pultrusions
in electrical applications. These are the largest users of fiberglass reinforced plastics (FRP)
pultruded shapes.
ELECTRICAL APPLICATIONS FOR PULTRUDED SHAPES
1. Transformer air duct spacer sticks
2. Pole line hardware
3. Ladders
4. Bus bar supports
5. Motor top sticks
6. Cable support trays
7. U-shaped motor stator wedges
8. Service truck booms
9. Switch actuators
10. Fuse tubes
CONSUMER/RECREATIONAL APPLICATIONS FOR PULTRUDED SHAPES
1. Fishing rods
2. Sail battens
3. Tent poles
4. CB antennas
5. Skate boards
6. Tool handles
7. Ski poles
8. Hockey sticks
9. Fence posts
10. Bike flags
11. Paddle shafts
12. Bows and Arrows
13. Crossbows
14. Golf shafts
15. Flag poles
16. Pole vault poles
17. Xylophone bars
18. Umbrella shafts
19. Snowmobile track stiffeners
Both markets have continued to increase but not at the same rate as other areas, so that their
proportional share of the total market declined very slightly. During the period 1976-1981 the
corrosion resistant market expanded at a faster rate than any of the other areas, and by 1981 it
was second in volume to electrical markets.
Whilst the electrical and consumer/recreational markets have dominated the pultrusion business,
the fastest growing segment today is corrosion resistant markets as shown below:
CORROSION RESISTANT USES OF PULTRUDED SHAPES
1. Bridges and platforms
2. Floor gratings
3. Hand rails
4. Ladder cages
5. Pipe supports
6. Stairs
7. Structural supports
8. Pipes and tubes
9. Weir plates
10. Slide guides
11. Sucker rods for oil wells
12. Internal tank supports
13. Demister blades
14. Structural shapes
15. Wet scrubbers for power industry
16. Cable support trays
The transportation market for pultruded shapes has been disappointingly small to date, but there
is considerable development work involved in this area and if some of these developments mature
into products this area could see rapid growth in the future.
One of these developments involves the pultrusion of a B-staged product which is then molded in
matched metal molds.
TRANSPORTATION USES OF PULTRUDED SHAPES
1. Lading bars in trucks and railcars
2. Kick plates
3. Trailer jamb posts
4. Subway contact rail covers
5. Bus luggage racks
6. Seating
7. Flat sheets for refrigerated trucks
8. Leaf springs
CONSTRUCTION USES FOR PULTRUDED SHAPES (This area is much more developed in
Europe than in the United States.)
1. Portable work platforms
2. Sign posts
3. Lamp posts
4. Roof trim (Europe)
5. Gutters
6. Glazing systems (Europe)
7. Green house structures
8. Building panel sections
9. Sign support posts
10. Signs
11. Highway delineator markers
MISCELLANEOUS USES FOR PULTRUDED SHAPES
1. Heat shields on Xerox copiers
2. Slats for hog pens
3. Farm wagons
4. Pallets for food processing plants
Numerous applications in the agricultural field are the result of the high chemical resistance of
pultruded shapes when they come into contact with fertilizers, farm wastes, etc.
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