Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : The Future of HEXCEL Carbon Fiber
Today's KNOWLEDGE Share
The Future of Carbon Fiber:
Manufacturers including Hexcel continue to innovate and build product portfolios based on carbon fiber production. Carbon fibers are now available across the full range of performance from standard modulus fibers (33 Msi), intermediate modulus fibers (42 Msi) and high modulus fibers (>50 Msi), with a range of tensile strengths from 500 ksi to > 1000 ksi. Carbon fibers are also available in a range of tow sizes (the number of filaments in the yarn bundle), ranging from 1K filaments to 320K filaments.
Composite parts producers now have a wide range of carbon fiber performance and product forms from which to choose. Advanced composite part manufacturing has matured in recent years, moving from hand layup of carbon prepregs to a number of automated and rapid production processes. The cost of manufacturing carbon fibers has declined over the years as the development of cost-effective manufacturing techniques for carbon composites has increased, leading to the broad adoption of advanced composites.
As the use of carbon fiber composites grows, the industry must focus on end-of-life technologies for composites. Economic recycling, reclamation and reprocessing techniques are showing great promise for carbon fiber. Methods now exist to separate the carbon fiber from the matrix with little degradation and to repurpose them into a wide variety of applications. Continued advancement in composite recycling will be essential to ensure continued competitiveness with traditional metals and plastics going forward.
Hexcel is proud to have been an important part of the early development and commercialization of carbon fibers. We also have technologies, products and value-added processes for carbon fiber including weaving, non-crimp fabrics, prepregs, and additive manufacturing materials. We have manufacturing scale and installed capacity to meet the needs of the industry going forward. And we will continue to be an industry leader in carbon fibers with a broad product portfolio and an unrivaled range of product offerings that deliver excellent performance across many aerospace and industrial applications.
source:Hexcel
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