CAMX 2022 exhibit preview: Kaneka Aerospace

Kaneka Aerospace LLC (Benecia, Calif., U.S.) announces two technical presentations it’s putting on at CAMX 2022, as well as the display of several fire-retardant (FR) resin products.

The first presentation is co-authored with AGY Holding Corp. (Aiken, S.C., U.S.) and features transparent glass fiber-reinforced composites made from Kaneka Aerospace’s proprietary resin and AGY’s proprietary E-glass fiber. In this presentation, a demonstration of the composite panels produced from this E-glass prepreg showcase both the high mechanical properties that are characteristic of traditional glass fiber-reinforced composites and the high degree of light transmission comparable to engineering plastics — such as polycarbonate and acrylic plastics. Such light-transmissive composite materials can enable the application of composites in areas where both light transmission and load-bearing properties are needed, according to the company.

The second presentation features a distinctive class of materials combining the advantage of thermoplastics and thermosets. While thermosets have been studied for decades and offer benefits including exceptional thermal and mechanical properties and chemical resistance, they typically require long cure times and cannot be reprocessed in shape after cure. Thermoplastics, on the other hand, feature advantages including remolding and reshaping capabilities with the application of heat, short process times and no exotherm risk. However, Kaneka Aerospace says, thermoplastics are also not immune to solvent and chemical attacks, could require extremely high process temperatures and do not adhere readily to other materials.

During this second presentation, Kaneka Aerospace will present a material it calls X-TP, which is said to combine the benefits of both material classes. The company reports that X-TP specifically behaves like a thermoplastic during the initial processing phase. In this phase, a rigid X-TP material has the potential to be reshaped and reprocessed with the application of heat at a relatively mild temperature, providing process benefits. After a final heat application, Kaneka Aerospace notes the X-TP material hardens and exhibits properties that are characteristic of a traditional thermoset. In this way, X-TP is said to offer thermoset-like properties with thermoplastic-like processing.

Lastly, some of Kaneka’s new FR resins are featured at its booth, optimized for vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), as well as wet lamination. Exhibiting exceptional flame retardancy, these resins cover a range of thermal and mechanical properties that balance easy processing with high performance.