DuPont Teijin Advanced Papers Ltd, a subsidiary of the Teijin Group of Japan, has developed a composite board composed of carbon fiber reinforced meta-aramid paper and thermoplastic resin.
Because this new type of composite board can absorb more than twice the impact energy using only carbon fiber, DuPont Teijin Advanced Papers is developing various applications, including the automotive field. The company is here proposing to use this new composite panel in crash boxes and other automotive parts that can take advantage of its potential impact absorption capabilities.
In order to make newly developed paper, DuPont Teijin Advanced Papers Ltd's proprietary meta-aramid paper is covered with a layer of polyamide 6 (PA6) and carbon fiber composite material. This provides a mechanism for absorbing impact energy by destroying the paper layer. This product was jointly developed with the University of Tokyo.
In order to seek the optimal design, a total of 36 interlayer aramid paper sheets and composite material sheets were laminated together. This led developers to find that the sandwich structure using eight-layer carbon fiber board on each side of the eight-layer aramid paper showed the best performance, absorbing more than twice the impact energy of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) veneer. Since only thermoplastic resins are used for resin components, new products can be formed into desired shapes by hot pressing.
In the product development stage, the carbon fiber board is processed using the same papermaking method as aramid paper, and carbon fiber and PA6 fiber are mixed to make carbon paper. However, depending on the application, carbon plates produced by other manufacturing methods can also be used.