New extrusion process creates the "first" long fiberglass composite wall panel
Customer demand for new thermoplastic wall panels has propelled GaMra into the realm of market innovation.
GaMra Composites, a custom fabrication company, has developed a new profile extrusion technology for producing wall panels, window frame profiles, fences, and other products for the construction market.
This patent-pending new technology uses a co-extrusion process with 40% by weight of long glass fibers and 60% of a polypropylene copolymer, employing a chemical foaming agent to reduce density. While most wall panel profiles on the market are extruded into a flat shape and then post-formed while still hot after leaving the die, GaMra's products are formed directly in the die. GaMra uses long glass fiber polypropylene granules for production, and its testing to date indicates that this new wall panel outperforms existing products.
GaMra has over 25 years of experience in the industry and operates 12 extrusion lines with 20 extruders in a 60,000-square-foot facility in Hudson, Wisconsin. This profile extrusion company processes a variety of materials, including high-density and low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, thermoplastic elastomers, ABS, polycarbonate, nylon, and polystyrene.
The processor has in-house mold-making capabilities and possesses advanced equipment including three Makino 5-axis EDM machines and three Haas vertical machining centers. GaMra was co-founded in Baldwin, Wisconsin in 2000 by current CEO Greg Mitch, who previously worked for 18 years at Intek Plastics, a custom extrusion company in Minnesota.
Product development began in 2023 when a customer contacted the company seeking to develop a new type of wall panel. GaMra was already exploring market expansion at the time, and Michael Diner, with 30 years of experience at Andersen Windows and described by Mitch as having "a wall full of patents," joined GaMra as chief engineer. Their goal was to develop a thermoplastic-based wall panel that could compete with products such as fiber cement board and oriented strand board.
As they envisioned, the product needed to be "directly nail-in," offering 16-foot-long panels that were lightweight (easily installed/moved by a single installer), possess good impact resistance, a heat distortion temperature above 200°F, excellent weather resistance, and be suitable for ground contact environments where existing materials couldn't be used. Of course, this wall panel also had to be manufactured at a reasonable cost.
Internal Die-Making Capabilities Accelerate Development
GaMra initially began the screening process using a small strip die, running various resins in trials before ultimately identifying a glass fiber-filled polypropylene composite. Mitch stated that the company's in-house die-making capabilities accelerated the product and process development process. "To my knowledge, no one is currently extruding long glass fiber composites," he said. "Long glass fibers are primarily used for injection molding or compression molding. We developed a proprietary extrusion process to manufacture our unique wall panels."
GaMra uses a co-extrusion process to produce the wall panels, with an outer layer of approximately 0.015 inches thick weather-resistant polyolefin protective coating. Mitch stated that this provides excellent surface finishes, being both weather-resistant and far superior to spray painting. “Over a year ago, we began outdoor exposure testing to examine the effects of direct and reflected sunlight on our products,” he explained. “In addition, we measured the temperature of these samples exposed to different locations at a frequency of one minute. We felt it was important to expose the products not only to direct south-facing sunlight but also to heat sources such as townhouses and garage roofs.” GaMra conducted outdoor exposure tests in Hudson and Kev Creek, Arizona.
GaMra is currently working with a wall panel processor to commercialize the new product. Mitch believes this technology will also be advantageous for manufacturers extruding dark-colored fence and window frame profiles. Therefore, the company is open to exploring licensing the technology to other processors in these and other markets.