Teijin Carbon, A&P Bimax TPUD braided fabric meets scalable composites manufacturing goals

Source | Teijin Carbon, A&P Technology

Teijin Carbon (Wuppertal, Germany) and A&P Technology (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), have jointly developed IMS65 PAEK Bimax biaxial fabric, a rate-enabling solution using Teijin Carbon’s Tenax TPUD IMS65 PAEK product, a thermoplastic unidirectional (UD) tape. Bimax is designed to meet growing demand for scalable, high-speed production of composites in aerospace, space, defense and other evolving markets.

Tenax TPUD IMS65 PAEK — a high-quality UD tape based on polyaryletherketone (PAEK) resin — is slit into narrow widths and braided by A&P Technology into a 65"-wide +/-45° fabric. The +/-45° braid architecture has minimal crimp, offering a high translation of tape properties while providing optimal drapability for complex geometries. With a fiber areal weight of 184 gsm and 34% PAEK content, IMS65 PAEK Bimax enables out-of-autoclave processing and vacuum bag only consolidation, thus reducing manufacturing time while enhancing mechanical performance and impact resistance.

IMS65 PAEK Bimax fabric’s features mentioned above translate into:

• High fiber volume and low crimp for high mechanical performance
• Extreme drapability for deep-draw parts
• Reduced layup time per layer. The wide fabric enables quick laydown of biaxial reinforcement
• Native air evacuation pathways for optimal consolidation of thick components
• Room temperature preform placement with spot tacking to simplify production workflows.

According to partners, the braided fabric meets or exceeds the properties of existing National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP)-qualified PAEK prepregs, offering a robust and scalable solution for next-generation composite structures.