Mako Advanced Materials Launches Creel-Free UD Carbon Fiber Prepreg
Creel-free process pairs custom UD carbon fiber with Mako's HyperCure epoxy system to reduce lead times and minimum order quantities.
Source | Mako Advanced Materials
Composite materials manufacturer Mako Advanced Materials (Henderson, Nev., U.S.) announces the availability of creel-free unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber prepreg built around the company’s HyperCure epoxy resin system. Mako says the new product line shortens lead times and lowers minimum order quantities compared with conventional UD prepregs, targeting the aerospace, defense, motorsports, medical, marine and sporting goods sectors.
UD prepregs align all reinforcing fibers in a single direction rather than interlacing them as in woven materials, letting designers orient individual plies to match a structure’s anticipated load paths. That alignment can improve stiffness and strength along the fiber direction and reduce laminate weight; moreover, UD plies are often paired with woven plies used for impact resistance or cosmetic surface finishes.
Conventional UD manufacturing requires a large creel setup, which Mako says drives the high minimum order quantities and long lead times associated with standard UD material supply, along with less flexibility for custom weights, fibers or resin formulations. To address this, Mako developed the creel-free process, which starts from carbon fibers already aligned and stabilized for coating, bypassing the traditional creel stage. The company says this allows it to manufacture UD prepregs in smaller batch sizes with lead times comparable to its standard woven carbon prepregs, while also simplifying custom resin substitutions such as HyperCure epoxy, flame-retardant epoxy or other formulations for applications including honeycomb core bonding and sporting goods.
The creel-free UD line is offered with standard modulus T700 and intermediate modulus T800 carbon fibers, with custom widths and areal weights available on request, and select high modulus fiber configurations. Areal weights start at 55 g/m2, with stitched UD options available at 250 g/m2 or higher; standard widths include 12", 24", 39" and 50", depending on fiber type.
When paired with HyperCure, Mako reports a complete cure cycle of approximately 9-10 min depending on thickness — matching the cure rate of its HyperCure woven prepregs within the same laminate stack — while maintaining a room-temperature outlife of 30 days.
Mako points to aerospace and defense prototyping and low-volume space and satellite manufacturing as target applications, citing the ability to source custom areal weights in small batches to support early stage builds before committing to full-rate production. The company also frames the shorter cure times as a contributor to lower energy use during manufacturing.
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