US advanced composites producer Hexcel (Stamford, Connecticut; www.hexcel.com) has recently launched a new RTM resin, "HexFlow RTM230 ST", which performs at high temperatures and shows a high rate impact resistance. Targeting the aerospace industry, the company says the resin is particularly suitable for engine components such as fan blades and fan cases, spacers and outlet guide vanes.

In other developments for the same industry, the New England-based company has also introduced its HexSHIELD honeycomb technology, which provides high-temperature resistance in aircraft engine nacelles. By inserting a thermally resistant material into honeycomb cells Hexcel provides a core product with unique heat-shielding capabilities, that allows for the potential re-use of material after a fire at 1093°C.

The company took advantage of its participation at "JEC Europe" 2015 in Paris / France earlier this month to not only promote its latest aerospace solutions, but also to announce that it has now finished the installation of a fully automated production line at its Neumarkt / Austria location that converts UD prepreg into 2D preforms in a matter of seconds. According to the company, the process allows prepreg plies of varying weights and orientation to be combined in the same ply-book and includes automated cutting, camera-assisted ply positioning, integration of adhesive and automated packing.

Hexcel has also just launched its new advanced "Polyspeed" pre-cured, thick-ply carbon fibre elements for structural reinforcement applications for its wind energy customers. Carbon fibre tows are impregnated, shaped and cured in a continuous process which creates perfect fibre alignment and a uniform surfaced product. Polyspeed laminates have very high structural properties and are available with epoxy and polyurethane resins. A spokesperson for the company explained that these laminates form production-ready components for structural applications in marine, wind and automotive.

Finally, Hexcel’s "HiTape" technology took home an innovation award at the annual French event for the composite industry. The company states that its advanced dry carbon fibre reinforcements have been designed for the automated manufacture of preforms at very high deposition rates for aerospace customers. The preforms are then infused with Hexcel’s RTM6 resin 2 in a cost-efficient out-of-autoclave process. Parts produced with HiTape reinforcements and the company’s HexFlow infusion resins can be up to 30mm thick with a 58 to 60% fibre volume content, resulting in mechanical properties that are as high as ones achieved with primary structure prepregs, the company said.

Hexcel partnered with France’s Stelia Aerospace (formerly Aerolia), Coriolis Composites (Quéven / France; www.coriolis-composites.com) and robotics specialist Compositadour (Bayonne / France http://compositadour.estia.fr) to collaborate on the design, manufacture and testing of a primary aircraft structure – a self-stiffened fuselage demonstrator panel – using the HiTape technology.