September 2021 Composites Blog
September 1, 2021
Carbon-Fiber Prepreg Could Have A Record For World’s Fastest Curing Time
DIC Seiren Co. Ltd. and Fukui Prefecture's Industrial Technology Center recently concluded a research study targeted at commercializing carbon-fiber composite-based fast-curing prepreg for automotive applications. The New Energy and Industrial Development Organization (NEDO) selected it as a significant research project and financed it for three years, from July 2018 to June 2021. In July, utilizing a demonstration facility run by Seiren, the three companies established a mass-production method and began supplying samples.
The research project combined DIC's radiation-curable resin, the Industrial Technology Center of Fukui Prefecture's high-speed tow spreading technology, and Seiren's high-precision impregnation technologies. These technologies take advantage of the company's resin film-forming and coating capabilities to create a carbon-fiber-reinforced prepreg sheet with a world-leading minimum curing time of 30 seconds. Furthermore, unlike traditional epoxy prepreg sheets, this innovative product may be kept at ambient temperature, removing the requirement for frozen or refrigerated storage and lowering storage expenses.
You can read more about this incredible new technology here.
The research project combined DIC's radiation-curable resin, the Industrial Technology Center of Fukui Prefecture's high-speed tow spreading technology, and Seiren's high-precision impregnation technologies. These technologies take advantage of the company's resin film-forming and coating capabilities to create a carbon-fiber-reinforced prepreg sheet with a world-leading minimum curing time of 30 seconds. Furthermore, unlike traditional epoxy prepreg sheets, this innovative product may be kept at ambient temperature, removing the requirement for frozen or refrigerated storage and lowering storage expenses.
You can read more about this incredible new technology here.
September 2, 2021
Advances in rocket fuel tanks could significantly reduce their weight
Advances in rocket fuel tanks could significantly reduce their weight
A team from MT Aerospace has created a new type of material that will be extremely beneficial in one of the most essential sections of any rocket engine, the fuel tanks. The material itself isn't new, it's known as Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP), and it's been used in the automotive, aerospace, and civil engineering industries for decades. However, until today, no one has been able to construct a rocket fuel tank out of it. Phoebus will provide the first significant cryogenic test of a full-sized CFRP system when it is ready in 2023. There's a stage in between for stand-alone tanks that use the technology.
Using a non metallic lining saves on weight and expenses, but several problems commonly faced by rocket fuel pressure vessel manufacturers had to be addressed initially, including making it leakproof and then enduring the severe cryogenic pressure associated with storing rocket fuel. Existing field tanks, even ones constructed largely of composite materials, featured an internal metal liner to keep the highly reactive gas from escaping.
Learn more about this amazing step for a carbon fiber reinforced plastic vessel here.
Using a non metallic lining saves on weight and expenses, but several problems commonly faced by rocket fuel pressure vessel manufacturers had to be addressed initially, including making it leakproof and then enduring the severe cryogenic pressure associated with storing rocket fuel. Existing field tanks, even ones constructed largely of composite materials, featured an internal metal liner to keep the highly reactive gas from escaping.
Learn more about this amazing step for a carbon fiber reinforced plastic vessel here.
