Japanese chemicals company Teijin has launched what it says is a lightweight, strong and cost-effective spread-tow carbon-fiber woven fabric.
The new woven fabric is made with 3K (3,000) carbon-fiber filament yarn for applications requiring low weight and design flexibility, such as motorsport, automotive interior materials and sporting goods. Using its in-house tow-spreading technology, Teijin says it has succeeded in thinning the 3K fabric from a molding thickness of 0.2mm to approximately 0.15mm, the same as that of 1K woven fabric when molded.
Thanks to the flat undulations of the fabric’s intersecting yarns, the company says that CFRP made using the fabric offers superior smoothness, resulting in more stable strength compared with CFRP made with 1K carbon-fiber woven fabric (according to the company’s in-house research). Furthermore, the high efficiency of Teijin’s special tow-spreading technology reduces the fabric cost below that of conventional 1K carbon-fiber woven fabric. Furthermore, despite using 3K yarn (200g/m2 ), Teijin says it reduced the weight by 35%, similar to fabric made with 1K yarn (125g/m2 ).
