Hexcel, Arkema and their partners announced that their joint cooperation project "HAICoPAS" has been approved by Bpifrance and supported by the French Investissements d 'Avenir program (allocation of 6 million euros).
The HAICoPAS project is a 13.5-million-euro collaboration project led by Hexcel and Arkema and their industrial partners (Ingecal, Coriolis Composites, Pinette Emidecau Industries (PEI) and Institute de Soudure), and the academic community (PIMM) led by CNRS ( CNRS-ArtsetMétiersParisTech-le Cnam), LTEN (CNRS-Université de Nantes). This project is the development of a high-performance PEKK / carbon fiber UD tape aerospace structure for primary composite parts following the announcement of a strategic partnership between Hexcel and Arkema last year. The HAICoPAS (Highly Automated Integrated Composite Material for Executing Adaptive Structures) project aims to optimize UD tape design and its manufacturing process for high-productivity, cost-competitive composite part production. The HAICoPAS project also aims to develop efficient UD tape placement technology and a new system that can assemble the final part through welding and in-line quality control.
The main market goal is to achieve lightweighting at a competitive cost in applications such as major aerospace structures, high-volume automotive structural parts, and oil and gas pipelines. The recyclability and environmental benefits of the thermoplastic materials and technologies developed in the project will be fully demonstrated and quantified.
The HAiCoPAS project brings together the complements provided by Hexcel (carbon fiber), Arkema (high-performance polymer), and some high-skilled SMEs (Institut de Soudure, Ingecal, Coriolis Composites, PEI). -Recognized for its expertise in composite production equipment and processes. The project also benefits from scientific support from two laboratories: PIMM (CNRS-Artset Métiers ParisTech-le Cnam) and LTEN (CNRS-Université de Nantes), which will have a basic understanding of material optimization, processing and long-term development.
The HAICoPAS project aims to establish a complete supply chain that can:
Supply of carbon / thermoplastic UD tape produced by Hexcel or Arkema.
Provide related composite parts manufacturing and assembly lines (SME partners).
As a result, this new "materials and processes" supply chain will provide complete lightweight solutions for the downstream aerospace, automotive and oil and gas industries.