CAMX 2022 exhibit preview: Sekisui Chemical

Sekisui Chemical (Tokyo, Japan) is a high-performance plastics company with 190 locations in 20 countries. Sekisui is showcasing several of its company divisions at CAMX, including Sekisui Aerospace, Sekisui R&D, Sekisui Chemical (Performance Materials Division) and Sekisui Polymatech, and the various technologies and services offered by each.

Sekisui Chemical R&D develops next-gen materials which contribute to the environment, focusing in particular on the impregnation technology of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer thermoplastics (CFRTP) based on the company’s original spreading method. This technology reportedly enables impregnation of large areal weight fibers and fabricated thermoplastic parts with a high-viscosity resin. This division exhibits functional prepregs and filament materials (high-heat-resistant nylon, etc.) for additive manufacturing (AM) based on key technologies. 

Sekisui Chemical (Performance Materials Division) creates high-performance plastics, urban infrastructure and environmental products, residential housing modules and chemical solutions for industrial fields, transport equipment, electronics and healthcare. This R&D division introduces HFL Sheet, a thermoplastic resin fiber composite that has Cover Material x Flame Shielding x Heat Insulation that can reportedly withstand the fire blast of a lithium-ion battery ignition.

Sekisui Polymatech products span thermal management and EMI solutions, waterproof and complex molding, shock vibration and acoustic damping, elastomeric connectors, input device solutions and wearables.

For more than 33 years, Sekisui Aerospace has reportedly pioneered aircraft component design and manufacturing. Product focus encompasses interiors, engines, structures, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), environment control system (ECS) ducting, thermoset and thermoplastics primary and secondary structures — including certified, ultra-lightweight structural components — and high-volume, complex systems for commercial, defense and general aviation markets.

A product and technology breakdown of this list is as follows:

Products

• Primary Structures: UAV structures, fuselage assembly, empennage, nose assembly, avionics enclosure, splice straps, wings, wing-to-body fairings, wing components, stabilizer tip cap.
• Secondary Structures: Stow bin brackets, shim stock and drill coupons, composite panel assemblies, escape slide packboards, floor panels.
• Interior Structures: Seating furniture, galleys, flight deck doors, life raft stowage, lavatories, overhead bins, crew rest modules, video control cabinets, sidewalls, cargo liners, closets and dividers, crushed core seat shells.
• Environmental Control Systems: Custom, oven-cured composite products made from carbon, fiberglass and Kevlar prepreg.
• Passenger service units.
• Auxiliary power unit inlets and exhaust systems.
• Engines and nacelles: Chines and strakes, gear boxes and blocker doors, brackets, clips and fittings, fan blade spacers, outer guide vanes, acoustic panels and high-temperature bleed air ducting, forward support structure and thrust reverser track fairings.

Technologies

• QForge, a proprietary thermoplastics net-compression molding process using chopped carbon and other fibers for custom manufacturing. Parts are structurally optimized, meet and/or exceed metallic parts, resulting in 40+% weight reduction at the same or lower cost.
• Continuous compression molding (CCM) produces thermoplastic pre-consolidated laminates from 0.02-0.40" thick and 24" wide with custom ply orientations, automated ply cutting, alignment and welding. Laminate quality is verified by nondestructive inspection (NDI).
• Automated press cell (APC), a high-rate, automated stamp-forming cell, converting blanks producing continuous fiber structures of varying complexity.
• Robot and cobot automation, including more than 50 moving lines to achieve flow and tact time.