Toho Tenax develops super-heat-resistant prepreg suited for automotive engine compartments
06 November 2014
Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., the core company of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibers and composites business, has developed a new prepreg (carbon fiber sheet pre-impregnated with matrix resin) that offers super-high-heat and -oxidation resistance suited to automotive and aircraft engine compartments.
The new bismaleimide resin pre-impregnated prepreg does not reach glass-transition below 320˚ thanks to Toho Tanax’s original resin-formulation technology. It also maintains oxidation resistance without heat cracks under continuous use in the range of upper 200˚.
Prepregs, which are used as intermediate materials of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs), are generally impregnated with lightweight high intensity epoxy resin. Conventional bismaleimide resin-impregnated prepreg has been already used for high-temperature applications such as automotive and motorbike engine compartments, but it degrades due to resin oxidation after continuous use at high temperatures, including the formation of microcracks after repeated heat expansion and contraction.
Toho Tenax, which has been developing technologies for new prepregs suited to aircraft, is now expanding the scope to include other high-heat applications, such as automotive.
To further expand its carbon fibers and composites business, Toho Tenax also intends to develop CFRP technologies to explore new applications in downstream industries, including materials for structural parts.
Salt-Calsium used on our roads and streets during the cold seasons rust our steel cars and reduce their useful duration by up to 50% and probably more some on long duration future EVs..
Composite parts and structure could fix that problem while making the e-vehicles up to 40% lighter.
The results could be extended range, longer duration at reduced total cost.
Posted by: HarveyD | 06 November 2014 at 07:21 AM