Arkema and Hexcel have announced that a joint research and development laboratory will be opened in April in Les Avenières (Isère), France.
The R & D facility is part of Arkema and Hexcel strategic alliance, formed in March 2018 to develop thermoplastic composite solutions for the aerospace industry, combining Hexcel’s expertise in carbon fiber with Arkema’s expertise in PEKK.
An initial industrial pilot line will be installed in the new lab in the coming weeks. The companies expect to start supplying carbon/thermoplastic UD tapes from this pilot line to customers for evaluation beginning in Q3 2019.
“The companies’ objective at this new lab is to develop carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic prepreg tapes to enable lightweight parts to be produced for future generations of aircraft. These solutions will provide lightweight and cost effective technologies including faster production cycles for customers in the aerospace and the space and defense sectors.” Hexcel said.