Recent Technology Breakthroughs

At Hexcel a culture of innovation permeates our organization and is a strategic priority.  Targeting a breakthrough, aiming for what seems an unrealistic goal, or challenging some long-held paradigm are springboards to discovery and thinking "outside the box".  We embrace the curiosity to explore ideas, the passion to challenge the impossible andthe conviction to success beyond expectations.

Explore some of our recent breakthroughs by using the scroll bar below.

HEXWEB® ACOUSTI-cAP®

HEXWEB® aCOUSTI-cAP®

Hexcel’s broadband sound reducing honeycomb, enabling engine designers to achieve superior acoustical performance without a structural weight penalty.  Acousti-Cap® consists of a permeable cap material embedded into a non-metallic honeycomb to create an acoustic septum.  Customers specify the flow resistance characteristics, overall core thickness, number of caps in a cell and insertion depth to meet their acoustic requirements.
New aluminum Acousti-Cap® provides comparable broadband noise reducing performance with added cost-saving benefits.  It withstands temperatures of up to 175°C/350°F during fabrication of the nacelle core blanket and is processable using industry-standard techniques for forming, joining, cutting and machining.
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HEXPLY® M77 PREPREG

HEXPLY® M77 PREPREG

Curing in only 2 minutes at 150°C/300°F, REACH-compliant HexPly® M77 brings significant advantages to automotive and sports equipment manufacturers, especially as this reactive system also offers a long shelf life of 6 weeks at 23°C.
A Tg of 120°C/250°F and good adhesive properties (eg when bonding to aluminum) make HexPly® M77 highly suitable for large volume production. Hexcel has launched a range of HexPly® M77 prepregs based on glass or carbon reinforcements, in multiaxial form as well as woven fabrics and UD tapes.
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HEXPLY® M91 PREPREG

HEXPLY® M91 PREPREG

This new generation epoxy prepreg for airframe primary structures and engines expands the performance boundaries for epoxy prepreg, meeting the ever growing needs of aerospace OEMs to manufacture lighter, faster and more efficient aircraft.
HexPly® M91 demonstrates excellent toughness, including very high residual compression after impact (CAI).  Also improved tensile performance in combination with Intermediate Modulus (IM) and High Strength (AS) HexTow® fibers; achieving outstanding performance in combination with Hexcel’s new HexTow® IM10 fiber.  Good hot-wet properties up to 120°C (250°F) are also obtained.  HexPly® M91 is supplied as UD tape and has been designed specifically for automated processing and is particularly suited for both automated tape laying (ATL) and advanced fiber placement (AFP).  Good tack life and out-life provide flexibility during processing on the shop floor and low exotherm behavior allows simple cure cycles of thick monolithic structures up to 70mm (2.76”).
HEXTOW® IM10 CARBON FIBER

hextow® im10 carbon fiber

This Intermediate Modulus carbon fiber achieves the industry challenge of over 1,000 ksi tensile strength performance, without compromising outstanding tensile modulus of 44.0 Msi.  HexTow® IM10 is therefore a true breakthrough in IM carbon fiber development building on Hexcel’s 28 years of supplying IM fiber products to the aerospace industry.  HexTow® IM10 provides the highest commercially available tensile strength and meets the demands for next generation aerospace programs and applications.
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HEXFORCE® BIAS WEAVE FABRIC

hexforce® bias weave fabric

Hexcel has developed a patented process to manufacture continuous rolls of carbon fiber fabric in which the warp and weft yarns are oriented on the bias at +/- 45 degrees.  These HexForce® bias weave fabrics provide many cost and weight-saving advantages to customers, notably by reducing prepreg waste and labor operations.
Prepreg waste is greatly reduced as the fabric is woven to the desired width and any kitting waste from cutting standard weave fabrics in the +/-45° direction is eliminated.  Previously the process of cutting standard weave fabric into bias kits - for example when producing engine nacelles - could result in up to 60% of the fabric being wasted.
With HexForce® bias weave fabrics the production of parts can be automated, saving valuable man-hours.  Slit fabric can be fed directly into a laminator and pattern cutting and lay-up is also greatly simplified.
There are also design benefits with bias weave fabrics and increased design allowable as the warp and weft properties are equal, with equal crimp and therefore provide equal properties in the laminate.  The continuous weave provides a constant thickness along the length of the part and splices are eliminated, which allows for simplified tooling as splice build-ups do not have to be taken into account.  The risk of porosity is minimized as there is constant thickness throughout the laminate.
HexForce® bias weave fabrics are ideal for high aspect ratio parts that need bias reinforcement such as aircraft ribs, stringers, spars and helicopter blades.  They are also used in engine nacelles, aircraft barrel sections and secondary structures.  The fabrics are suitable for prepreg and RTM processing and available with HS and IM carbon fibers.
60+ years of Innovation
Hexcel was the first company to develop an adhesive for bonding metal to metal, reducing aircraft weight and revolutionizing the industry.

Hexcel was the first company to manufacture honeycomb on a commercial scale.

Hexcel was instrumental in developing the first prepregs for use in wind turbine blades.
Hexcel materials were the first to land on the moon in the energy absorbing footpads of Apollo 11 that were built from Hexcel's aluminum honeycomb.
In 2008 Hexcel was awarded the biggest contract in its history to supply the primary structures prepreg for the Airbus A350 XWB.  Hexcel had developed a superior product combining carbon fiber and resin formulation technologies.