Toray Industries has entered into a new five-year agreement to supply high-performance carbon fibers to TenCate Advanced Composites. The fibers will be used to produce lightweight thermoplastic composite material, TenCate Cetex RTL, for aerospace applications. It is anticipated that these composite materials will be utilized for automotive applications in the future.
Thermoplastic materials are gaining more importance in the aerospace industry and they are used in many structural components of new airplanes. The agreement with Toray Industries will help in meeting the needs of TenCate Advanced Composites’ contracts with Airbus. With TenCate Cetex product portfolio, TenCate Advanced Composites will continue to reach the market for regional jets and large commercial aircraft.
In addition to the long-term agreement, both companies have decided to conduct a research on joint development of thermoplastic composite materials utilized in the automotive sector.
The TenCate Cetex composites are ideal for volume markets requiring low cost processing and material. Hence, the composites have great potential in automotive markets where there is a higher need for weight reduction. The joint development initiatives by Toray Industries and TenCate Advanced Composites will lead to new applications for thermoplastic composite materials.
Source: http://www.toray.com/