Airtech prepreg enables OOA cure, extends storage life

Airtech Advanced Materials Group (Huntington Beach, Calif., U.S.) has introduced its out-of-autoclave (OOA) beta prepreg, a benzoxazine composite tooling system that can be cured out-of-autoclave or in the autoclave. The prepreg is said to enable long-term storage at room temperature, offer low resin shrinkage during cure and has a high glass transition temperature.

Airtech offers three weights:

• OOA Beta Prepreg TMBG-3 is lightweight for surface plies.
• OOA Beta Prepreg TMBG-6 is a medium-weight prepreg for cauls and machined laminates.
• OOA Beta Prepreg TMBG-12 is a heavyweight prepreg for bulk ply build-ups. 

Benefits are said to include a reduced cost of manufacture and an increased flexibility with OOA processing, toughness for a long life in a composite shop environment, improved surface finish and reduced need for finishing due to low resin shrinkage, and low moisture absorption, which eliminates tool drying after storage and reduces risk of porosity in parts.The product’s longer prepreg outlife is albo said to enable asy shipping and more time available for mold fabrication.