What Is Thermoset Composite Material?

Thermoset composite material are polymer resin reinforced  with fiber glass strands.  The polymer molecules are bonded  through cross-linking process during the curing stage. Thermoset are materials that cure via an irreversible chemical reaction under heat and pressure, rather than cooling to a rigid state as thermoplastic injection molding do. Once cured, the materials cannot be melted or re-shaped (hence the term thermoset). This chemical reaction results in a strong highly cross-linked molecular structure and is the reason that thermoset materials have the ability to retain their properties at elevated temperatures.

Thermoset material comes in various forms. Here at Wisconsin Thermoset Molding, majority of our material usage is bulk molding compound (BMC) . We also mold sheet molding compound (SMC), phenolics, rubbers, melamine/urea and granular polyesters.