Advanced Composites Group Ltd. (ACG), part of theComposites Division of Umeco plc, has continued the development of HTM143, a ground breaking cyanate ester system which has been specified on a number of large satellite projects.
With a comprehensive data base to support it, HTM143, a low moisture pick-up resin matrix, which has a 0.55% weight gain on neat resin, exhibits one of the lowest moisture pick-up rates of all cyanate ester systems currently on the market. Measured on typical high modulus carbon laminate, the outgassing characteristics of HTM143 effortlessly meet the limits required by NASA: Total Mass Loss (TML) of 0.112%, Recovered Mass Loss (RML) of 0.023% and Collected Volatile Condensable Material (CVCM) of 0.002 % [ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C].
First launched in June 2009, HTM143, which is a non-ITAR listed resin system, can generate a very high glass transition temperature (Tg) after post-cure and is used to manufacture high accuracy, dimensionally stable space structures.
During recent tests, MTM44-1, one of ACG's new generation of Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) processing high performance, toughened epoxy resin matrices, also met the rigorous requirements set for space applications.
MTM44-1, which can generate a glass transition temperature (Tg) of a 180°C (356°F) after a suitable post-cure, offers a Total Mass Loss (TML) of 0.307%, Recovered Mass Loss (RML) of 0.056% and Collected Volatile Condensable Material (CVCM) of 0.002 % [ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C].
Both resin systems have an out life of 21 days and are available for use with a wide range of unidirectional, biaxial and woven carbon fibre materials.