Specialty Materials’ Hy-Bor technology pairs Hexcel’s high modulus carbon fibre with boron fibre, enhancing compression strength, and offering a new class of materials for airframe manufacturers and other defence applications.
“This new material offers substantial weight savings and design flexibility, opening up a range of applications for commercial aviation, as well as for space and defence applications, including aircraft, satellites, and missile systems,” said Imad Atallah, vice president - product management, fibres, reinforcement & matrix, Hexcel. “The technology mitigates the traditional drop in compression strength associated with high modulus fibres, providing enhanced capabilities that our Department of Defence customers are demanding for next generation platforms.”
“The new product offering ensures that American sources of high-performance composite products are maintained, broadening the applications for high modulus carbon fibre, and maintaining performance superiority in various DOD systems,” said Monica Rommel, CEO, Specialty Materials. “The selection of this new product highlights the importance of maintaining a secure source of materials for next-generation technology, and ensuring the United States keeps a technical edge above competitors and near-peer threats.”
Under a Small Business Innovation Research program contract from the Defence Logistics Agency, Specialty Materials developed the innovative Hy-Bor hybridised unidirectional prepreg material by infusing boron fibre with HexTow HM63 carbon fibre produced by Hexcel. According to DLA, the new high modulus, high compression material resulted in a >2X improvement in 0⁰ compression strength, open-hole compression strength, and flexural strength when compared to a baseline carbon fibre-only composite of similar fibre volume.
DLA has now awarded Specialty Materials a Phase II SBIR contract to advance High Modulus Hy-Bor composite technology. The new funding will drive optimisation of this prepreg material, focusing on delivering maximum performance at minimum cost. Key developments will enhance its compatibility with both manual layup and automated fibre placement manufacturing processes.
