Polygon Company introduces a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite air tank designed for the over-the-road Class 8 truck and trailer industry and the service vehicle market. The composite air tank is designed to meet the rugged environments encountered by truck fleets, while offering the benefits of new composite technology. It will provide unique opportunities for OEM truck and trailer manufacturers looking to enhance vehicle performance and saving fuel.

The composite air tank incorporates fundamental composite laminate theory, as well as advanced composite raw material inputs. The new tank uses thermoplastic resin matrices forming a pressure vessel that can be hammered without stress crack propagation.

Polygon's air tanks provide an impact-resistant tank that is 20 to 30 percent lighter than any metallic tank on the market, while being price competitive.

The transportation and trucking industry demands new technology that contributes to the working horsepower of the unit. Every pound saved can be used in a more productive manner, especially as new emission standards requirements approach in 2010. Skyrocketing fuel prices are making composites the material of choice by maximizing strength-to-weight ratios.

New advances in composite structural shapes and designs are taking over traditional metallic markets. The key in this evolving technology is to design with composites in mind, rather than designing around or replacing an existing metallic part.

Polygon is setting up an automated line in a new Indiana facility dedicated to the manufacturing of these air tanks. Proprietary technology has been developed to make the tank in a unique processing methodology deviating from the manufacturing queue currently used for making traditional thermoset pressure vessels.