Milwaukee Composites Advanced Composite Panels
Milwaukee Composites Inc. (MCI) was founded in 1997 and has been recognized as the global leading supplier of advanced phenolic composite panels in the transit industry. MCI’s patented products have been designed to be maintenance free and last the service life of the car. Our technology can be found in over 14,000 transit cars around the world. Entering our 21st year, MCI’s phenolic composite products have never failed in the field.
Transit authorities and OEMs have leveraged MCI’s phenolic composite panels to meet their transit design requirements. MCI’s panels have saved customers weight on their railcars, which has reduced their annual energy costs. MCI’s patented technology is moisture resistant and utilizes a phenolic resin matrix globally recognized as the lowest flame-smoke-toxicity polymer in the industry without the use of additives.
Although MCI’s products have primarily been used in the rail sector, MCI’s material can be custom manufactured to any requirement and utilized in other sectors.
Transit Floor System
MCI custom engineers our floor panels to the structural requirements of the OEM while minimizing both cost and weight. The composite sandwich construction uses structural fiberglass fabrics that are impregnated with phenolic resin and co-cured to a lightweight core during the molding process.
MCI’s floor panels can be machined in complex geometries with guaranteed repeatability. When necessary, metal hardware complements the composite floor design to accommodate the assembly of various components (stanchion poles, seats, electrical lockers, driver platforms, etc.).
MCI’s maintenance free floor will not need to be replaced and therefore customers are able to allocate their maintenance budgets elsewhere.
Transit Door Solution
MCI’s engineered composite door is cost effective, innovative, and has been designed to be maintenance free for the service life of the vehicle. The door can achieve this by solving the biggest problem plaguing transit doors today; delamination.
Along with being lightweight and corrosion resistant, MCI doors are moisture resistant and meet all global transit fire safety standards. The door is a composite sandwich structure that utilizes a phenolic resin matrix globally recognized as the best flame-smoke-toxicity polymer. Fiberglass structural fabrics are impregnated with phenolic resin and co-cured to a lightweight core during the molding process.
MCI door panels have been tested to the industry standards and have successfully passed: internal load and pressure tests, external load and pressure tests, impact tests, and fatigue tests.
Transit Heated Floor System
MCI produced the world’s first phenolic composite radiant heated floor. Like our standard floors, the heated floors are light weight and maintenance free. MCI’s patented heated technology has eliminated the need for sidewall heaters and is currently in revenue service in Calgary and currently under evaluation for new projects all around the world.
MCI has developed an electrically insulated heating element that is co-cured to the top skin of our standard composite floor panel. This location provides the closest proximity to the air that is being heated and uses the benefits of the floor panels natural insulating properties. The wiring is routed through the core to a designated connector location.
MCI’s heated floor system works in combination with a control system to continuously regulate the floor panel temperature to ensure a consistent, safe, and controlled environment. Every MCI heated floor also has a temperature sensor that provides feedback to the control system, which applies power to the floor panel as required. MCI’s control system uses a “distributed power” approach, which allows for independent temperature control of each panel, or zone of panels, to precisely control the temperature regard-less of changes in conditions for optimal comfort. Additionally, MCI’s control system can contain a variety of system safeties.
