Teijin to supply carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics for Boeing

Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) announced in January that its Tenax carbon fiber and carbon fiber thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape (Tenax TPUD) have been qualified by Boeing and registered in its qualified products list. Teijin will supply Tenax TPUD as an intermediate advanced composite material for primary structural parts for Boeing (Chicago, Ill., U.S.).

Since Teijin and Boeing signed a Qualification Agreement in June 2016, the two companies have been working on material qualification testing and application study of carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) for primary structure parts. Tenax TPUD is a carbon fiber thermoplastic unidirectional pre-impregnated tape made with thermoplastic resin. It is designed to provide high heat, impact and fatigue resistance, and help reduce production costs and improve component manufacturing efficiency because of its shortened molding process. Teijin plans to begin commercial shipments of Tenax TPUD to Boeing approved parts makers within the next two years.
 
Teijin says it is accelerating its development of mid- to downstream applications, such as cost-effective carbon fibers with higher-tenacity and higher-tensile modulus, intermediate materials including Tenax TPUD, carbon fiber thermoplastic consolidated laminate (Tenax TPCL), thermoset prepreg and non-crimp fabric.