Hexcel to display composite innovations at JEC Americas

Hexcel’s patented composite tooling material enables the tolerance accuracy achieved with metals to be combined with the extreme lightness of carbon fiber composites. HexTOOL molds are easy to repair and are simple to modify. This new concept for lightweight, efficient large-scale tools is cost-effective compared with conventional composite tools and metal molds, especially those made from Invar.

On display at JEC will be a monolithic carbon tool constructed of a HexTOOL M61 face sheet and high temperature carbon header boards. Formed in an egg crate support structure, the tool is attached using a classic wet tie process.

The tool’s construction simulates a section of a spar tool. Five plies of HEXTOOL M61 are laid up against an IML master manufactured from General Plastic’s FR 4718 high temperature foam and cured at 375° F with a 425° F post-cure. The HexTOOL face sheet is then machined to a nominal 0.4 inch thickness and benched to achieve the final surface profile suitable for aerospace production parts.

HexTow Carbon Fiber

30 years ago, Hexcel launched the revolutionary HexTow IM (Intermediate Modulus) Carbon Fiber for the world’s most advanced commercial and military programs including GEnx Engines, F35, 787 Landing Gear Brace, Eurofighter Typhoon and A350 XWB. Hexcel has since extended its IM Carbon Fiber product range by introducing HexTow IM10 – a true breakthrough in IM Carbon Fiber development offering the highest commercially available Tensile Strength Carbon Fiber meeting the demands for next generation aerospace programs and applications.

SpaceX a company that designs and manufactures the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft has included IM10 in a test program to further advance the boundaries of space technology; proving yet again Hexcel’s commitment in offering leading edge technologies that enable the success of the space industry’s most demanding missions.

Hexcel also offers a wide range of commercially available fibers to support the increasingly demanding world of the industrial marketplace including the automotive, sporting goods, and performance marine segments.

As the largest producer of intermediate modulus fibers, worldwide, Hexcel has successfully developed HexTow IM2 carbon fiber; uniquely combining superior mechanical performance with competitive pricing. Hexcel’s fiber portfolio of both high strength and intermediate modulus offerings can help provide solutions to the most ambitious applications in the industrial segment.

Hexcel is proud to partner with Innegra Technologies in accepting the JEC Americas Innovation Award for Fibers.  The award will be presented on October 3rd at the JEC Americas show in Boston in recognition of the highly successful combination of Hexcel’s HexTow carbon fiber with Innegra fiber to maximize the high strength and toughness in composite laminates.

Innegra S Fiber is an ultra-lightweight (0.84g/cc) high modulus polypropylene fiber technology that provides a significant weight reduction in composites while increasing the ability to absorb energy for impact resistance when combined with other fibers.

Innegra Technologies primarily uses Hexcel’s high strength HexTow carbon fiber as a co-mingled product with Innegra fiber.  Hexcel and Innegra worked in partnership to optimize the fiber mix, for which typical applications are safety helmets, automotive structures, and sporting goods.

Hexcel