Hexcel at Paris Air Show 2017: Le Bourget, June 19-25

Stand F80, Hall 2B; Chalet B111

DAGNEUX, France, June 13, 2017 -- At this year's Paris Airshow Hexcel is promoting a range of carbon fibers and composite materials that are used to manufacture high performance weight-saving structures in civil aircraft, engines, helicopters, and space applications.

Hexcel is a recognized innovator in carbon fiber development, providing a full range of High Strength and Intermediate Modulus fibers for the aerospace industry. In an ongoing drive to develop materials that offer a wide range of design and cost/value propositions for the composite structures for the future Hexcel has launched two new products that will be promoted at the show.

HexTow® IM5 is a new carbon fiber from Hexcel that offers a unique strength/modulus combination for primary structure optimization, positioned between High Strength (standard modulus) carbon fiber and high performance Intermediate Modulus fiber.

HexTow® HM63 is another breakthrough carbon fiber from Hexcel that has the highest tensile strength of any high modulus fiber and provides outstanding translation of fiber properties in a composite, including superior interlaminar shear and compression shear strength. Visitors to Hexcel’s stand will see a high temperature fan-compressor shaft assembly made by Lentus Composites from Hexcel’s HexTow® HM63 carbon fiber and HexPly® M65 BMI prepreg. This toughened BMI product provides excellent performance at elevated temperatures in civil aircraft, helicopters, military jets and aircraft engines.

Later in 2017 Hexcel will begin producing engineered core products at its new plant in Casablanca, Morocco, an investment that will complement existing engineered core facilities in the U.S. and Belgium. Engineered core is flat HexWeb® honeycomb that Hexcel forms, shapes, machines and/or bonds to create high quality core details and assemblies to precise customer specifications. At the Paris show Hexcel will display a main landing gear door (MLG) by Daher for Gulfstream that demonstrates Hexcel’s expertise in splicing, forming and numerically controlled machining of honeycomb.

Hexcel has more than 25 years of experience in developing out-of-autoclave (OOA) technologies for aerospace. Among them, vacuum infusion is now recognized as a key technology for future aerospace programs, helping to meet the cost targets and production rate challenges for large structures. To meet the required performance for aerospace primary structures, Hexcel developed HiTape® carbon fiber reinforcements for the automated lay-up of dry preforms for resin infusion.

At Paris Air Show Hexcel will display a C295 outer wing box demonstrator panel manufactured with HiTape® reinforcement by Airbus Defence and Space as part of the APOLO-Cleansky2 project. The HiTape® preforms for the skin, stringer and spars were laid-up by robot in an automated process and then co-infused with Hexcel HexFlow® epoxy resin RTM6 in a cost-efficient out-of-autoclave process. This part demonstrates that HiTape® technology is an efficient composite solution for primary aircraft structures and a viable option to meet production rates and cost requirements for new aerospace programs.

Hexcel’s HexMC® molding composite is a high performance carbon fiber/epoxy material designed for the manufacture of high performance parts by compression molding. At Paris Air Show Hexcel will display a single aisle wing access panel demonstrator manufactured from HexMC® in a one-step process. HexMC® technology enables the rapid manufacture of production parts with a fast cure cycle and net shape molding. The material accommodates thickness changes and allows stiffeners to be integrated into the molding process, avoiding a secondary operation.

Hexcel will also showcase a demonstrator part resulting from a partnership with Tecalemit Aerospace Group. The demonstrator is a hybrid composite structure and was made by applying “Forged Carbon Technology” to HexForce® AS4/8552 carbon fiber fabric and HexMC® AS4/8552 high performance sheet molding material. The part was co-molded with metal inserts in a one-step process using a net shape preform. It was made in industrialized processing conditions, demonstrating the technology readiness for high volume production of complex carbon shapes.

HEXCEL INVESTMENTS IN FRANCE 

Later this year Hexcel will start up production at its new carbon fiber plant in Roussillon, France. This $250 million investment in polymerization and carbonization lines occupies a 37-acre site at the Osiris Chemicals Industry Platform and is part of Hexcel’s ongoing investment to create a diversified and robust supply chain to support aerospace customers' growing demand for carbon fiber composites worldwide. The plant is expected to be fully operational in early 2018 and will employ around 120 people.

On June 1 2017 Hexcel announced that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Structil SA, a French producer of high-performance composites for aerospace, defense and industrial markets. The proposed transaction is subject to review by the relevant employee representative bodies and approval from the applicable French authorities and is expected to close in 2017.

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Hexcel Corporation is a leading advanced composites company. It develops, manufactures and markets lightweight, high-performance structural materials including carbon fibers, specialty reinforcements, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, honeycomb, adhesives, engineered core and composite structures for use in commercial aerospace, space and defense and industrial applications.

Hexcel Media Contacts:
UK
Rachel Owen
Director, Marketing Communications
+44 (0)1223 838370
rachel.owen@hexcel.com

France:
Sophie Meyniel
Marketing Communications Manager Aerospace, EMEA/AP
+33 (4) 7225 2633
sophie.meyniel@hexcel.com