Teijin Limited announced today that it has qualified its carbon fiber materials Tenax® Dry Reinforcements (DR) for the Airbus A320neo wing spoilers using a Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process developed by Spirit AeroSystems Inc, one of the world's leading manufacturers of aircraft structural components. The highly automated RTM solution incorporates Tenax® Dry Reinforcements Non-Crimp Fabrics (DRNF) and Tenax® Braided Fibers (DRBF) to form skins and stiffeners while maintaining existing product interfaces, allowing direct replacement of the all final spoiler components.
Tenax® DRNF and Tenax® DRBF have been developed for resin infusion and resin transfer molding processes which can offer higher productivity and component integration than conventional autoclave molding. Tenax® DRNF are created of bundled carbon fiber filaments being spread out in one direction in multiple layers with different directions, depending on the final component`s structural requirements. The fabrics have excellent fiber orientation which results in better mechanical properties than conventional woven fabric and reaches properties equivalent to aerospace grade thermosetting unidirectional prepreg. Tenax® DRBF are applied within the spoiler component structure to act as cavity fillers, these materials have been qualified individually by Airbus specifically for this application.
The combination of the Tenax® DRNF and Tenax® DRBF achieve the Spirit AeroSystems criteria for aircraft component production such as effective process ability, productivity, and cost efficiency. A320neo spoiler components will be manufactured within a new high-volume production facility in Spirit AeroSystems, Prestwick, Scotland.
As one strategic focus of its medium-term management plan for 2020-2022. Teijin is intensively accelerating its development of mid- to downstream applications for aircraft, such as cost-effective carbon fibers with higher-tenacity and higher-tensile modulus, intermediate materials including Tenax® Dry Reinforcement carbon fiber materials, carbon fiber thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape (Tenax® TPUD), carbon fiber thermoplastic consolidated laminate (Tenax® TPCL) and thermoset prepreg. Going forward, Teijin intends to further strengthen its carbon fiber and its intermediate material business as a leading solution provider for aircraft applications, targeting annual sales in this field in excess of USD 900 million by around 2030.
Source: https://www.teijin.com/