The global most powerful information hub of high performance & advanced materials, innovative technologies

to market your brand and access to the global demand and supply markets

NCC and Nexam Chemical AB successfully manufacture high temperature resin composite parts

The UK Composites Centre (NCC, Bristol,), in collaboration with Nexam Chemical AB (Sweden), has successfully produced a composite material using high temperature resins, providing a solution to the challenges of using advanced materials in components need to withstand temperature.

NCC's interdisciplinary expertise in high-volume manufacturing, tooling, design, materials science and flow simulation is said to help address manufacturing challenges that exist at high temperatures and demonstrate that it is possible to use resins to make composite parts. The NCC says this development paves the way for industry to exploit the qualities that composites offer, in very hot elements, such as parts of engines and the casings of batteries, which were not possible before.

Throughout the research, the team of experts used Neximid, a new resin system from Nexam Chemical. Produced in the UK, Neximid can operate at temperatures up to 400°C, higher than almost every other resin system reported by the NCC. While resin transfer molding (RTM) is typically performed at around 120°C, by developing high temperature specialist equipment – including unique mold designs and high temperature sealing – NCC is able to maintain resin above 250°C throughout the injection process, Combining the high temperature capability of the resin with the high processing temperature of the final product allows it to handle much higher temperatures than previous composites.

Throughout the process, NCC, as a member of the High Value Manufacturing Launch Innovation Center (High Value Manufacturing Catapult), has also shown that the resin system is safe and does not emit as much toxic fumes as other polyimide resins.

"Being able to manufacture carbon fibre composites using a high temperature resin system produced in the UK is a huge step forward, enabling industry to adopt advanced materials in components that were previously unavailable,"

Dr David King, Senior Research Engineer at NCC, said: "The material's outstanding thermal properties push the boundaries of composites into more demanding applications. Based on new details on this extended capability, we are already working with industry customers to develop new possibilities for composite parts. new applications and are excited to further develop our high temperature RTM capabilities by working closely with Nexam and other partners."

According to Boyd Cushing of Nexam Chemical UK & Ireland Business Development, the company looks forward to welcoming industrial partners who may be interested in its Scottish-sourced Neximid non-ITAR restricted resins seeking high performance in aerospace and defence applications Material composite parts.

Following this successful collaboration, Nexam Chemical joined the NCC as an SME Affiliate Member, paving the way for further projects that will help industry take advantage of high temperature RTM.

Please check the message before sending