Prepreg market status and prospect analysis at home and abroad
I. Introduction of prepreg
Advantages of composite materials
1, the composite material improves or overcomes the shortcomings of the material itself, gives full play to its advantages, and plays the effect of 1+1 greater than 2.
2, create a performance or function that a single material does not have
3, the design of materials, according to the requirements of the application, the use of different combinations of materials for design.
Other such as: lightweight, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, functional, etc.
What is prepreg
As the name suggests, the fiber surface is pre-coated with a layer of unreacted resin material, when used, according to the need to cut into a certain shape, in the mold, a certain pressure and temperature molding products.
Prepreg classification
? According to the physical state ----- unidirectional prepreg (UD), fabric prepreg (plain fabric, forged fabric, twill fabric) (mainly 3K);
? According to the reinforcement material ----- carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramong, PBO fiber, basalt fiber and other prepreg;
? Prepreg by fiber length ----- short fiber (under 4176mm), long fiber (1217mm and continuous fiber;
? According to the resin matrix ----, the prepregs are divided into thermoplastic resin prepregs (PP, PEEK, nylon, etc.) and thermosetting resin prepregs (epoxy, unsaturated resin, bismaleimide resin, etc.);
? Medium temperature curing (120 ℃), high temperature curing (180 ℃) and prepregs with curing temperature over 200 ℃ according to curing temperature -----.
Several important concepts of prepreg:
Gram weight (surface density), resin content, UD and others
Advantages of prepreg
① Good mechanical properties;
② Less product defects;
③ Precise control of fiber volume content;
④ Good consistency of performance and processing characteristics;
⑤ Best performance/weight ratio.
2. Application and market analysis of prepreg
A typical process for a typical product of prepreg
Aircraft parts: autoclave, molding
Fishing rod: coiled tube process
Bicycle, tennis racket: blow molding
Auto parts: Autoclave, molding, PCM
Medical equipment: Autoclave, molding
Market conditions for prepregs
In 2018, the global prepreg market was $6.7 billion, and the prepreg market is expected to reach $11.5 billion in 2024, of which thermosetting prepreg will account for more than 75% of the entire prepreg market.
Thermosetting prepregs are subdivided according to resin type, including epoxy prepregs, phenolic prepregs, BMI prepregs, cyanate prepregs and polyimide prepregs. Epoxy prepreg is expected to maintain its market dominance over the next 5 years, while BMI prepreg is likely to see the highest growth over the forecast period with the development of supersonic aircraft. BMI prepregs can be used at temperatures up to 350°C or higher.
Asia Pacific will see rapid growth, driven by China, India and Japan.
Development of carbon fiber prepreg
In 2021, the market size of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is about 4.594 billion yuan, and the output of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is about 97.06 million square meters, maintaining a rapid growth trend.
The regional market size distribution of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is as follows: East China accounted for 40.41%, Central China accounted for 13.71%, South China accounted for 14.89%, North China accounted for 10.76%, Northeast China accounted for 10.43%, Southwest accounted for 4.51%, Northwest accounted for 5.29%.
Carbon fiber prepreg is a typical dual-use product, China's carbon fiber prepreg military market and civilian market demand is equivalent!
Civilian concentrated sports and leisure products! Diversification of supply sources
There are mainly the following military companies:
Avic High-tech aviation prepreg business is mainly carried out by its subsidiary AVIC Composites, AVIC Composites is in a leading position in high-performance resin and prepreg technology, and undertakes the production and supply of prepreg for major military aircraft.
Third, the development prospect of prepreg
Development prospect of prepreg: thermosetting
? Small weight ultra-thin prepreg 20g or less
? Large gram weight (or NCF material) 600g or more
? Fast curing prepreg
? Pre-dip narrowband and pre-dip yarn
? Prepreg for non-low temperature storage
The cost advantage of small weight prepreg for large tow carbon fiber prepreg is extremely obvious
Existing problems: not easy to spread yarn, difficult to infiltrate
Development prospect of prepreg: thermoplastic
? Thermoplastic prepreg compared with thermoset prepreg, thermoplastic prepreg does not need cold storage and transportation, subsequent molding process is efficient and convenient, material toughness, good impact resistance, especially renewable utilization, in line with the trend of energy saving and emission reduction green environmental protection.
However, there are four main problems with thermoplastic prepreg:
? First, the high viscosity of thermoplastic resin makes it very difficult to infiltrate the fiber;
? Second, there is no suitable low-cost, high-efficiency and quality assurance of prepreg preparation methods and equipment;
? Third, the high performance thermoplastic resin molding temperature above 350 ℃, prepreg and its composite product molding process is very difficult;
? Fourth, the high performance thermoplastic resin is too expensive compared with the general thermosetting resin.