Hexcel to display carbon fiber reinforcements at air show

Display parts and promotions on the stand will demonstrate how the latest Hexcel innovations are enhancing new generation commercial aircraft, helicopters, engines and space applications.

Commercial Aircraft

Hexcel is proud to be the supplier of carbon fiber prepreg for the composite primary structures of the A350 XWB.  The A350 XWB is the first Airbus with a structure that is more than 50% composites.  

A350 XWB structures made with HexPly M21E prepreg systems and HexTow IM carbon fiber from Hexcel include entire fuselage panels, keel beam, the entire wing covers, wing spars, center wing box and empennage.  Hexcel is grateful to Airbus for the loan of an A350 XWB Stringer Run Out Demonstrator Panel to display at the air show – a part with skins and stringers both built in HexPly M21E/IMA slit tape and UD tape.

Also at the air show Hexcel is promoting its newly launched breakthrough HiTape advanced dry carbon fiber reinforcements.  Developed with next generation aircraft primary structures and engine/nacelle components in mind, HiTape combines the benefits of automated processing with the cost-effectiveness of Out of Autoclave infusion technologies. 

Parts produced with HiTape and Hexcel’s HexFlow infusion resins can be up to 30mm thick with a 58 to 60% Fiber Volume Content. The mechanical properties are therefore as high as those found in parts made with the latest generation primary structure prepregs.

HiTape dry UD tape, made from Hexcel’s HexTow carbon fiber, allows preforms to be manufactured in a fully automated lay-up process, targeting deposition rates above 50Kg/h.  HiTape eliminates the time-consuming processes of material splicing and polythene film removal.   Customer evaluations have demonstrated that significant cost-savings are achievable with HiTape and the associated vacuum infusion process.

Composites for Aircraft Engines

Hexcel’s composites are widely used to save weight and enhance performance in Aircraft engines to the extent that prepregs now typically account for half the volume of an entire nacelle structure.

Hexcel innovations for aircraft engines include HexMC for which Hexcel was recently presented with a special award by Safran.  The HexMC bracket, developed for Snecma’s LEAP engine, represents a 75% weight reduction compared to its metal equivalent and pioneers a new way of using composite materials in aerospace.

The brackets attach the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) to the engine’s fan casing are critical as they are subjected to considerable vibration and thermal loads in service.

HexMC consists of carbon fiber prepreg tape that is cut into 50 mm long x 8 mm wide strips and arranged randomly to give parts quasi-isotropy, with the same high mechanical strength in all directions.