CHOMARAT, a specialist in textile reinforcements for composites, is continuing to develop its advanced composites and carbon activities with the opening of an additional plant that will be fully equipped with new manufacturing equipment.

New spread-tow multiaxial capacity for the North American market in 2014

CHOMARAT establishes a new 58,500-ft² plant in South Carolina. The plant will be dedicated to the development of CHOMARAT’s advanced composite activities. It will open during the first quarter 2014 and start producing its first C-PLYTM spread multiaxial reinforcements mid year.

The South Carolina site will initially be equipped with the new LIBA MAX5 100- inch machine (variable width) for producing spread-tow carbon multiaxials. It will be the second liba max 5 machine operated by the Group, following the one installed in France. The state-of-the-art machine will help boost CHOMARAT’s development in the carbon markets and complement the spread/non-spread carbon fabric offerings already available in France and Asia.

These new capabilities will enable CHOMARAT to propose its innovative advanced composite solutions in the North American industrial, automotive and aerospace markets.

C-PLYTM: another way to design and produce competitive composites

These investments in the United States are part of a process that began in 2011 when CHOMARAT launched C-PLY in partnership with a group of manufacturers and academics. The partnership continues to be based on the research of Stanford University’s Dr. Steven Tsai that suggests it is possible to design and build better composite parts by escaping the rules of standard aluminium construction.

C-Ply is the industrial embodiment of that concept that can simultaneously reduce weight and manufacturing cost, which ultimately leads to composite structures that are more competitive.