[Industry News] Three important factors that trigger changes in the global carbon fiber market

According to market research, the global market based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fiber reinforced composite materials (CFRP) and carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite materials (CFRTP) is expected to grow to 3.58 trillion yen (32.06 billion US dollars) by 2030.

The doubling of the global carbon fiber market is mainly caused by the following important factors:

The rapid expansion of the demand market:

Carbon fiber composite materials, which were once only used in aerospace, military equipment and super sports cars, now have more application fields, such as smart machinery, high-end medical equipment, rail transit, precision electronics, and even mass-produced models. Use carbon fiber composite materials.

Carbon fiber composite material (CFRP) has a small specific gravity and high strength. Using it as an industrial component material can achieve lightness, safety, high efficiency and energy saving. Compared with other materials such as steel, carbon fiber composite materials are more expensive, but the long-term benefits they bring cannot be ignored. Lighter weight means less energy consumption, and stronger corrosion-resistant materials mean low maintenance costs. In a longer operating cycle, above the base of scale, this seemingly insignificant benefit can accumulate enough Surprisingly.

Not only that, some special advantages of carbon fiber composite materials can also meet the specific needs of some new products. For example, the telescopic manipulator bushing of the inspection robot equipped by the State Grid has won a significant energy consumption in addition to its ultra-light weight. Reduced and prolonged the working time of the machine, the good creep of carbon fiber composite material can also adapt to the working conditions of large temperature changes and harsh weather. Therefore, as the advantages of carbon fiber are widely recognized, more and more industries are beginning to try to use this advanced composite material as an effective "weapon" for their own quality upgrading, and the demand for carbon fiber continues to expand.

Steady decline in application costs:

As a basic strategic emerging industry of the country, the development of the domestic carbon fiber industry is supported by a number of favorable policies from the government. With T300, T700 and other general-purpose carbon fibers breaking the technological monopoly of international giants, the development of carbon fiber raw material manufacturing technology is gradually realized. Nationalization, the raw material cost of carbon fiber is no longer high.

Not only the cost of raw materials, but also the molding and production of carbon fiber parts are increasingly rationalized with the maturity of application technology. However, thermosetting carbon fiber composites are the most widely used at present. The application technology of thermoplastic carbon fiber composites is biased towards hysteresis. The main application form is chopped or powdered carbon fiber reinforcement. The thermoplastic matrix involved is also mainly low-end resins such as PP. , And did not fully demonstrate the application advantages of continuous carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites.

To this end, some domestic carbon fiber parts manufacturers are also actively engaged in technological breakthroughs. A composite material company in my country has successfully realized the mass production of continuous carbon fiber reinforced PPS, PA6 and other series of high-performance thermoplastic prepreg tapes after three years. The original process has been optimized through a self-designed production line. The carbon fiber content is maintained at 40%-60%, and the width is between 300-500mm. The price of its prepreg products only accounts for two-thirds of similar foreign products.

Under the general background, the high-end and advanced equipment manufacturing industry bears tremendous pressure, and high-performance advanced composite materials such as carbon fiber composite materials are like a pair of light "wings" that can provide acceleration "power" in disguised form. One of the important reasons why carbon fiber continues to "white-hot" globally.

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