Toray completes NCAMP qualification for Cetex low-melt PAEK

Toray Cetex semipreg material in laminating room at Toray Advanced Composites, Nijverdal, The Netherlands. Source | Toray Advanced Composites

Toray Advanced Composites B.V. (Nijverdal, The Netherlands) has achieved further National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) qualifications for Toray Cetex TC1225 low-melt PAEK.

The TC1225/T300 fabric-based thermoplastic composite (TPC) material, now available in the NCAMP database, comes in semipreg and large pre-consolidated reinforced TPC laminate formats, bringing versatility to design and processing options.

The fabric-based semipreg offers customers design flexibility and an expanded process window for manufacturing optimization, while the reinforced thermoplastic laminates can be tailored to customer-specific thicknesses and orientation requirements. Laminates can also be configured to include integrated functionalities, such as lightning strike protection and galvanic corrosion protection, bringing further processing and functional benefits.

With FAA-accepted, statistically validated material property data now publicly available, customers are able to leverage NCAMP material, process specification and design allowables to accelerate aircraft structural design and certification.

“Adding our fabric-based Toray Cetex TC1225 material to the NCAMP database reflects Toray’s ongoing commitment to advancing TPC and adoption of these materials across the aerospace supply chain,” notes Scott Unger, CEO of Toray Advanced Composites. “This milestone will be further strengthened by NCAMP qualifications on additional Cetex product types, which are expected to be finalized in the near future.”

Toray continues to expand its NCAMP-qualified portfolio, with resin-rich surface configurations of TC1225/T700 and TC1225/T1100 unidirectional tapes material qualifications in process. According to the company, these developments will deliver even greater processing flexibility for manufacturers to create structural components using a wide range of processing methods. Data for these two material types is expected to be available in the coming months.

Toray Cetex TC1225 is a semi-crystalline low-melt PAEK resin system known for its optimal mechanical properties and proven success for primary to secondary structures within the aerospace industry. The distinctive value of Toray Cetex TC1225 over other composites with a PAEK family matrix is its processability, vacuum bag only performance and suitability for a wide range of thermoplastic production methods. It was also the first approved thermoplastic material qualified by NIAR NCAMP in 2020.