HC Plastics News: According to the latest research of CarbonCompositese.V., "Global CFRP Market 2016", the average growth rate of carbon fiber composites (CFRP) in all industries will reach 11-12% in the next few years. . Leading carbon fiber manufacturers are looking for different ways of doing business and expanding the role of carbon fiber composites in more and more applications.
Develop new material solutions
SGL Group is based in the Fiber and Composites Business Unit (CFM) Operations Headquarters in Meitingen, Germany.
SGL Group's approach is to provide customers with a one-stop shop through the merger of fiber and material operations, while supporting their development of new material solutions based on automated production processes. “We don't think carbon fiber reinforced plastics and composites will replace aluminum and steel, they will be part of the future material portfolio,†said Andreas Wüllner, head of the SGL Group's “Composite – Fibers and Materials†business unit. “In particular, they maximize what they do, take advantage of their performance, and integrate them into existing production processes as easily as possible.â€
To achieve these goals, SGL Group has also established a new lightweight and application center in Meitingen near Augsburg, Germany. The center focuses on the development of production processes and products, as well as the production of prototypes and small series of components. In addition, in February of this year, SGL Group decided to combine the business of fiber and materials with lightweight applications. The group merged its composites business with the business of SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers to form a new business unit. The new business unit "Composite - Fibers and Materials" (CFM) is led by Andreas Wüllner.
The new BMW 7 Series body structure uses new materials called “carbon coreâ€. Hybrid vehicles are an area that SGL Group believes will help expand the use of carbon fiber composites. In this series of applications, the new model series of roof frames are made of carbon fiber braid combined with aluminum.
The carbon-car body structure of the new BMW 7 Series. (Source: BMW Group)
Andreas Wüllner said that one of the main challenges facing the composites industry today is to produce composites in an automated manner and combine them with existing production methods.
SGL Group has also developed a smart material blending concept that highlights new specific possibilities for the integrated use of different materials in automotive engineering in the future. These include pre-impregnated fiber bundles - SIGRAPREG® TowPregs based on 50k continuous carbon fiber tow. These are considered to be particularly suitable for automated production processes due to their width stability and good winding behavior. For example, they can be combined with new fast curing prepreg resins, such as the "fast curing" E420 epoxy system recently developed by SGL Group. The E420 material kit has the advantages of fast cure time (less than 3 minutes at 150 ° C) and good storage stability (normal temperature environment). Pre-dip semi-finished products also have optimized automated processing capabilities. A high glass transition temperature of 140-150 ° C allows the module to be demolded at higher temperatures.
At the same time, SGL Group has established a new carbon fiber raw silk production line in Portugal with a total investment of 30 million euros to complete its in-house complete carbon fiber-based solution value chain.
Carbon fiber in production. Source: SGL Group
In the composites and graphite materials and systems business, SGL Group's growth plan is to achieve a 50% sales growth rate, and raw silk production is part of this sustainable profit growth plan. In the future, the company will focus on supporting and accelerating developments related to transportation power, energy supply and digital megatrends.
Carbon fiber braiding machine. Source: SGL Group
High tensile modulus fiber
Hexcel's goal is to develop higher tensile and modulus fibers to meet the rapid growth of carbon fiber materials in the aerospace industry. According to Lyndon Smith, group director of Hexcel's reinforced fiber product management, carbon fiber applications are growing in many areas, including aerospace, wind, defense, space, automotive and in the current carbon fiber composites market. Global industrial applications.
Lyndon Smith said: "Continuous lightweight demand is a new impetus for industry development. Carbon fiber provides strength, durability, and unique design options." Hexcel believes that as designers learn how to optimize this in future designs The technology of carbon fiber will become more and more powerful. Higher tensile and modulus fiber growth will make design more flexible, but these parameters must take into account performance and cost.
To meet these needs, Hexcel has introduced high modulus fibers such as HexTow® HM63 and HexTow® IM10 – the highest tensile fibers on the market today.
Hexcel's HM or high modulus fibers are the latest developments on the market. The company says the HexTow® HM63 is an ideal material for any high-strength, high-rigidity applications, including space exploration, satellites, drones, commercial aircraft and helicopters, as well as high-end sports and entertainment applications such as Formula One. Ocean sports, bicycles and fishing rods.
Lyndon Smith added: "In exciting high-growth applications, Albany Engineered Composites and SAFRAN chose IM712K for the LEAP engine, an example of HexTow® carbon fiber.
For the future, Lyndon Smith believes that increasing the design and utilization of carbon fiber in the structure will benefit from lightweight and directional strength, which will further optimize a given application while minimizing fiber costs.
Hexcel also built a new plant in Roussillon, France, to expand its carbon fiber and raw silk production capacity.
SAFRAN uses a LEAP engine made of HexTow® IM7 carbon fiber from Hexcel.
Carbon fiber from the new plant will be supplied to Hexcel customers including the Airbus A350XWB and SAFRAN CFMLEAP engines. The plant will be fully operational in early 2018. The Roussillon plant is located near the Hexcel weaving and prepreg manufacturing plant in Lyon, and these facilities will also benefit from a further investment of $22 million.
The Airbus A350XWB is the main user of Hexcel carbon fiber, which provides prepregs for all major composite structures of the aircraft©AIRBUSS.A.S2014–photobymasterfilms/A.DOUMENJOU
Further market expansion
Solvay recently expanded its US production line to double the carbon fiber manufacturing capacity used in aircraft structures.
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