Brussels-based chemical company, Solvay, has launched Tegralite, a family of high performance lightweighting materials which offer the aeronautics industry new downstream solutions and part making capabilities that improve fuel efficiency and speed up the production, refurbishment and maintenance of planes at a lower cost.

Solvay’s Tegralite integrates the world’s broadest range of high performance polymer products from Solvay’s Specialty Polymers Global Business Unit and the complementary skills of its specialized partners, 3A Composites, Aonix and JSP, through a global network that is open for expansion, according to a Solvay press release.

Tegralite’s materials will help simplify today’s complex supply chain, enable more part commonality, and ultimately roll out planes faster as more people travel in the aerospace sector. It meets the industry’s drive to lower costs and increase efficiency by replacing hand-made labour or facilitating on board repairs.

Augusto Di onfrancesco, president of Solvay’s Specialty Polymers GBU said, “Tegralite’s package of integrated solutions intends to address the order back log in commercial aviation, which has been growing by 70 per cent in the past four years. This new avenue of growth addresses the rising need to substitute metal or heavier plastic parts with multi-functional thermoplastic materials able to resist shock, impact, high temperature, fire, chemicals and noise.”

Solvay’s alliance with 3A Composites makes available for the first time and in large quantities, a new generation of aerospace foams. Its partnership with JSP opens up fast and easy access to 3D foam parts, a technology already widely used in the automotive sector. With Aonix, Solvay propels the development of innovative high- and ultra-performing prepreg systems as well as new sandwich materials and structures. Solvay complements the offering with its tailored multi-layer functional and decorative surfaces. (GK)