TAGS: Polymer Reinforcement Sustainability / Natural Solutions
Toray Industries announces that it has developed TORAYCA™ M46X carbon fiber.
The new offering is around 20% stronger than others in the TORAYCA™ MX series while maintaining a high tensile modulus. Utilizing TORAYCA™ M46X reduces the weight of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic materials, lowering its environmental impact.
Enhancing Compressive Strength While Retaining Strength
Typically, there is a trade-off between the tensile modulus and strength of carbon fiber.
Boosting the strength while maintaining the modulus of carbon fibers with a tensile modulus exceeding 350 GPa presents technological challenges. However, the sporting and leisure goods market demands both qualities to maintain performance while utilizing less carbon fiber to lower the weight of molded parts.
Toray developed
TORAYCA™ M46X by pushing the structural control technology envelope. Nano-level controls of the graphite crystallite structure inside fibers resulted in an ultrafine, ultrahigh orientation producing carbon fiber that is more than 20% stronger than conventional materials while maintaining its tensile modulus.
The company will also deploy TORAYCA™ M46X prepreg, with the resin matrix utilizing the proprietary NANOALLOY microstructure control technology. The new product will significantly enhance compressive strength to boost stiffness while retaining strength, reducing the weight of finished products and broadening design flexibility.
Using Graphitized Yarn for High-performance
Developing high-performance carbon fibers with a high tensile modulus exceeding 350 GPa began with TORAYCA™ M40 with graphitized yarn. Successors were TORAYCA™ M40J in 1984 and TORAYCA™ M46J in 1986 in response to robust demand for the high-modulus TORAYCA™ MJ carbon fiber series.
Toray continued to develop technologies to balance the tensile strength and modulus. The TORAYCA™ MX series was created by applying technologies to control graphite crystallite structures and orientations inside fibers. The first offering in this series was the TORAYCA™ M40X, launched in 2018. This product has since earned a solid reputation as a high-performance carbon fiber and prepreg (a resin-impregnated intermediate base material) matching market requirements.
In line with its corporate philosophy of contributing to society by creating new value, Toray will continue developing new products that help transform the economy through the enhanced performance and processability of TORAYCA™ carbon fiber and prepreg.
Discover Carbon Fibers Offered by Toray
Source: Toray