I News
Composites Evolution, a British manufacturer of prepregs and natural fiber reinforced fabrics, recently announced that it has launched an innovative hybrid fiber composite mold that uses flax fiber reinforced fabric to reduce the production cost of traditional carbon fiber/epoxy resin molds.
Currently, when people use the autoclave molding process to produce carbon fiber composite products, they usually use molds made of carbon fiber prepreg. This can ensure that the mold and the part will have synchronous thermal expansion during the heating process to avoid deformation of the part. However, it is very expensive to make molds with carbon fiber composites.
To reduce the cost of mold production, Composites Evolution and mold manufacturer KS Composites jointly developed a new mold prepreg system. Because the thermal expansion properties of flax fiber and carbon fiber are very similar, they replaced some carbon fiber fabrics with flax fiber reinforced fabrics during the mold production process. Compared with traditional all-carbon fiber composite molds, the material cost of flax-carbon hybrid fiber molds has dropped by 15%, and the weight of the mold itself has dropped by 15%. At the same time, flax fiber, as a natural fiber, can be naturally recycled and is more environmentally friendly.
In tests conducted by KS Composites, the flax-carbon hybrid mould successfully withstood more than 400 heat treatment cycles and another mould has been put into production.
Gareth Davies, Commercial Manager at Composites Evolution, commented: "We are delighted to be able to offer our customers a wider range of material choices and bring tangible benefits. This new product not only has technical advantages and commercial value, but also fits in with the concept of sustainable development.”
Currently, when people use the autoclave molding process to produce carbon fiber composite products, they usually use molds made of carbon fiber prepreg. This can ensure that the mold and the part will have synchronous thermal expansion during the heating process to avoid deformation of the part. However, it is very expensive to make molds with carbon fiber composites.
To reduce the cost of mold production, Composites Evolution and mold manufacturer KS Composites jointly developed a new mold prepreg system. Because the thermal expansion properties of flax fiber and carbon fiber are very similar, they replaced some carbon fiber fabrics with flax fiber reinforced fabrics during the mold production process. Compared with traditional all-carbon fiber composite molds, the material cost of flax-carbon hybrid fiber molds has dropped by 15%, and the weight of the mold itself has dropped by 15%. At the same time, flax fiber, as a natural fiber, can be naturally recycled and is more environmentally friendly.
In tests conducted by KS Composites, the flax-carbon hybrid mould successfully withstood more than 400 heat treatment cycles and another mould has been put into production.
Gareth Davies, Commercial Manager at Composites Evolution, commented: "We are delighted to be able to offer our customers a wider range of material choices and bring tangible benefits. This new product not only has technical advantages and commercial value, but also fits in with the concept of sustainable development.”
