Carbon fiber prepreg is an intermediate material for manufacturing composite materials, and its quality is directly related to the quality of composite materials. Carbon fiber prepreg refers to a composite material made of carbon fiber yarn and epoxy resin through coating, hot pressing, cooling, laminating, coiling and other processes.
Carbon fiber prepreg:
According to the physical shape of the reinforcement, it can be divided into unidirectional carbon fiber prepreg and fabric carbon fiber prepreg;
According to the width, there are wide carbon fiber and narrow carbon fiber (a few millimeters or tens of millimeters) prepreg;
The types of reinforcements are divided into carbon fiber reinforced prepregs, glass fiber reinforced prepregs and aramid fiber reinforced prepregs, etc.; according to the type of matrix, there are thermoplastic prepregs and thermosetting prepregs; according to the curing temperature, it can be divided into low temperature (80℃), medium temperature (120℃), high temperature (180℃) curing prepreg. Among them, thermoplastic prepreg and thermosetting prepreg are the most commonly used classification methods.
Global carbon fiber prepreg industry market scale
Carbon fiber prepreg has a wide range of applications, and aerospace is its main application area. In 2018, the global prepreg market was about 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, and it is expected to maintain a compound annual growth rate of 10.5% in the next few years, reaching 11.5 billion U.S. dollars by 2024 . At present, the aviation prepreg market has accounted for more than 70% of the prepreg market for all purposes, and the proportion will continue to rise.
Analysis on the status quo of China's carbon fiber prepreg import and export
At present, the application of China's prepreg products is concentrated in the relatively low-end sports and leisure industry, which accounts for a relatively small proportion in the aerospace and industrial fields. The high-end carbon fiber prepreg is more dependent on imports. However, in 2018, the single-aisle commercial aircraft produced by BJZC The first batch of deliveries was completed with domestic prepregs, achieving a zero breakthrough in domestic materials in this field;
In 2020, the high-end carbon fiber prepreg produced by JSZJ Carbon Fiber Technology Corporation was successfully applied to the C919, a large commercial aircraft produced in China.
In recent years, China's carbon fiber prepreg imports have shown a downward trend…The trend of replacing imports with China's production has accelerated…
From the perspective of the import distribution of China’s carbon fiber prepreg imports, China’s import of carbon fiber prepreg from Japan will cost $396.452 billion in 2020, the import of carbon fiber prepreg from the United States will cost $168.046 billion, and the cost of importing carbon fiber prepreg from Korea will cost US$168.046 billion. 59.733 billion US dollars.
Analysis of the competitive landscape of the prepreg industry
At present, the technology of foreign aviation composite materials is relatively mature, and it has been widely used in aircrafts and engines. The largest market for aerospace composites is in North America. Among them, Hexcel has about 40% of the carbon fiber prepreg market, which is equivalent to Solvay's market share. The two companies together occupy a leading position in the global prepreg market.
BJZH is the core enterprise of carbon fiber prepregs for aviation in China. The core wholly-owned subsidiary focuses on carbon fiber prepregs, honeycomb and core composite materials. Carbon fiber prepreg is the main product and the core intermediate product of carbon fiber composite materials. The products cover all aviation equipment models and have a market share of over 95%.
In addition to BJZH, China's aviation carbon fiber prepreg suppliers include JSHS, SDGW, JSZJ and other companies. According to statistics, the revenue of JSHS carbon fiber prepreg business in 2020 will be 360 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 125%; SDGW also produces some prepregs. Infusion, but mainly used in non-military aviation fields, the revenue of SDGW carbon fiber prepreg business in 2020 is 240 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%.
Carbon fiber prepreg molding process and application analysis
Carbon fiber prepreg, as an intermediate product in the transition of composite materials from raw materials to products, cannot be directly applied, but can be applied to finished products after further processing. As shown in Figure 4, the processing technology from prepreg to finished product mainly includes: vacuum bag-high-temperature curing process, autoclave process, prepreg molding process (PCM process), carbon fiber prepreg tape and tube process/pre-preg process There are five processes: dipping filament winding process and pressure bag process.
Carbon fiber prepreg is mainly used in the treatment process, the preparation process is relatively complicated, and the damage to the fiber is great. Therefore, improving the comprehensive performance of fiber-reinforced composite materials and making the products have a reasonable cost performance will become a research hotspot. The carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite materials used in China mainly rely on imports. The supply of high-performance prepregs is monopolized by TenCate, Cytec, Ticona and other companies. They have various series of glass fiber/carbon fiber reinforced PPS and PEEK thermoplastic prepregs. After being monopolized, the price of prepreg remains high.