Application and trend of composite prepreg

Application and trend of composite prepreg

What is prepreg

With the development of The Times and the progress of science and technology, common metal materials are gradually difficult to meet people's needs. Automobile lightweight, manned aerospace and so on all urge us to accelerate the pace of exploration of new materials. Therefore, the successful emergence of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite and thermosetting composite has solved people's special needs for materials. In order to break the foreign technical barriers, we actively devote ourselves to the research and development of composite materials, and have achieved good results. Composite materials, as the name suggests, are a mixture of different materials in a certain proportion to achieve the properties we want.

Speaking of composite materials, we must mention "prepreg (prepreg zone)". Prepreg, commonly known as molding plastic, is a composite made by impregnating continuous fibers and fabrics with resin under strict control conditions, and is an intermediate in the manufacture of composite materials. According to the type of selected resin can be divided into thermoplastic prepreg and thermosetting prepreg according to the type of selected resin is divided into: epoxy prepreg, polyamide prepreg, phenolic prepreg, cyanate prepreg, polysulfone prepreg, polyether prepreg, etc.; According to the type of reinforcement material, it can be divided into carbon fiber prepreg, glass fiber prepreg, aramong fiber prepreg, basalt fiber prepreg, boron fiber prepreg, etc. According to the structure type of reinforcement material, it can be divided into one-way fiber prepreg, cut fiber prepreg, fabric prepreg, etc.

The difference between thermoplastic and thermosetting prepregs

Thermoplastic prepregs are composite reinforced materials (glass fiber, carbon fiber, arylon, etc.) that have been preimpregnated with thermoplastic resins. Common resins used in thermoplastic prepregs include PP, PET, PE, PPS, and PEEK. Thermoplastic prepreg can be supplied in the form of one-way tape or woven or stitched fabric. The main difference between thermosetting and thermoplastic prepregs is that thermoplastic prepregs are stable at room temperature and usually have no shelf life. This is a direct result of the difference between thermosetting and thermoplastic resins.

Thermosetting prepreg is more commonly used in the manufacture of composite materials. The main resin matrix used is epoxy resin. Prepreg other thermosetting resins, including BMI and phenolic resins. Using a thermosetting prepreg, the thermosetting resin starts with a liquid and is fully impregnated with the fiber reinforced material. The excess resin is precisely removed from the reinforcement. At the same time, the epoxy resin undergoes partial curing, which changes the state of the resin from liquid to solid. This is called "Phase B". At stage B, the resin is partially cured and usually sticky. When the resin is raised to high temperatures, it usually returns to the liquid state briefly before fully hardening. After curing, the thermosetting resin in stage b is now fully crosslinked. The prepared composite materials have been widely used in aerospace, wind power generation, high-speed rail, automobile, fishing gear, rowing and other fields. After prepreg, we will introduce four kinds of processing technology.

Application field of prepreg

With mature technology and stable performance, thermosetting resin is currently the mainstream matrix resin of prepreg. With the breakthrough of varieties and quality of high-performance carbon fiber, as well as the improvement of composite material structure design and manufacturing technology, especially the formation of domestic large aircraft industry, the application of high-end prepreg in the aerospace field will be greatly improved. Aviation prepreg supply will face the situation of short supply.

In the field of new energy, the application of carbon fiber composite materials has been relatively popular in many related secondary markets, such as wind power blades, photovoltaic polysilicon crucible and carbon fiber winding gas cylinders, and the proportion of its application has been continuously increased through technological progress, thus becoming the "ballast stone" that drives the rapid growth of demand for carbon fiber. Taking the continuous development of the hydrogen industry as an example, the continuous production of hydrogen cars, hydrogen heavy trucks, logistics vehicles and even trains directly prompted the demand for a large number of carbon fiber vehicle-mounted winding gas cylinders.

In the automotive field, no matter traditional fuel vehicles or new energy vehicles, important components such as body, frame and drive shaft are in urgent need of new materials to reduce weight and consumption. Carbon fiber is one of the best choices. More and more high-end new models of carbon fiber composite materials are adopted by mainstream automobile manufacturers at home and abroad, and the market demand for prepreg in the automotive field will continue to increase.

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