Toray achieves NCAMP qualification for 3960 prepreg system
Approved prepreg, featuring Torayca T1100 intermediate modulus plus carbon fiber, is qualified for primary aircraft, launch vehicle and satellite structures.
Toray 3960 unidirectional (UD) prepreg. Source | Toray Composite Materials America Inc.
Toray Composite Materials America Inc. (Tacoma, Wash., U.S.) has achieved NCAMP qualification for its next-generation, highly toughened 3960 prepreg system. The design allowable data, now available in the NCAMP database, enables aerospace and defense manufacturers to streamline material selection and certification.
“This qualification provides aerospace and defense manufacturers with a reliable, FAA-recognized material system that reduces certification risk and accelerates time to market,” notes Jeff Cross, principal director of defense programs at Toray.
Toray completed a NCAMP five-batch qualification testing of the 3960 prepreg system in a unidirectional (UD) format, with NCAMP reports approved. The prepreg system, featuring Torayca T1100 intermediate modulus plus (IM+) carbon fiber, delivers high toughness, hot/wet and tensile performance for primary structural materials used in aircraft, launch vehicles and satellites. This qualification establishes a substantiated material baseline for these applications.
Toray, in collaboration with NCAMP, developed NMS 397, an FAA- and EASA-accepted material and process specification along with test plans for the 3960/T1100 prepreg system. All products can be readily procured to NMS 397. Testing for the 3960/T1100 plain weave format under NMS 397/2 is complete, with the report under NCAMP review and release expected soon.
A three-batch allowable dataset for the 3960/T1100 prepreg system with automated fiber placement (AFP) processing was generated in support of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Modeling for Affordable Sustainable Composite (MASC) program. The dataset represents an industry-first public allowable for an automated fabrication approach, Toray reports. Fabrication and testing were managed by the National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR, Wichita, Kan., U.S.), further validating the performance and versatility of the 3960/T1100 system.
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