The Prepreg Market Looks Attractive With Opportunities From Various Sectors

When a thermoset or a thermoplastic resin matrix pre-impregnates a reinforcement fibre in a certain ratio, composite materials such as Prepregs are formed. Prepregs are produced by curing under high pressures and temperatures. Therefore, they offer unique properties. For the prevention of complete polymerization, the resin matrix is stored at a cool temperature. It is also cured for the sake of easy handling. The matrix is used during manufacturing to bond the fibre and the other components.

Prepreg materials are becoming very popular among the end user industries because of their light weight and high strength benefits. The demand for prepregs has been increasing significantly since aircraft and automobile manufacturers focus on reducing weight and enhance fuel efficiency.

The global prepreg market experiences a small share of demand from the sports equipment sector. Also, the sector associated with high-performance products from sports enthusiasts shows a promising rate of growth in the coming years. Sports activities as a form of recreation are on the rise in North American and Western European economies. However, the use of high-performance products in China and India is relatively low, but as the disposable income of individuals increases in the recent years, the numbers are expected to grow as the recreational activities are on the rise. For instance, Hexcel is a vendor dealing with prepreg. The product offered by Hexcel is Hexply, which is used in snowboards, fishing rods, tennis racquets, surfboards, skis and other sports equipment using prepregs.

Carbon fibers are made from prepregs. The thermoset resins required for the fabrication of carbon fibre prepregs are phenols and epoxy and other thermoplastic resins such as PEEK. Carbon fibre prepregs are usually used in wind energy, automotive, sports, defense and aerospace. With the developments in production technology, a variety of prepregs are developed in the market. Carbon fiber prepreg is significantly used in aerospace applications.

In recent years, the main focus of research and development has been PEEK and PEKK. Consequently, their contribution to the growth of the carbon fibre prepreg market is quite significant. High-performance products with high stiffness and lower weight are revolutionizing the market, so vendors are more attracted to these products in the carbon fibre market.

The manufacturing processes and machinery are still at a nascent stage, therefore, in most industrial and commercial sectors, the use of prepregs is limited to high-end and niche applications. However, the trends have changed significantly with the development of new processes like out-of-autoclave for aerospace component manufacturing and the introduction of easier-to-use machinery for prepregs such as CDI’s CD6015 COMBI Resin Filmer and Prepreg Machine.

For aerospace and defense industries, production of large Prepreg components is required. Therefore, manufacturers are investing more in the research and development of new processes to achieve the goals of mass production. One such successful technique is the ‘vacuum bag only technique’ which limits void content to as much as 1% in the end product.

The wind energy market is growing at a very fast pace. Prepregs provide the wind energy market with superior stiffness and strength and also require fewer materials for the same level of stiffness in the blades of turbines as their metallic counterparts. The resulted reduced weight of the turbines are not only cost-efficient but also increase the overall efficiency of the system.

North America and Western Europe have invested highly in wind power installations across the globe. Wind energy is being considered as a renewable source for energy generation at a low and reasonable cost. Turbine blades are the fastest growing product in the carbon fibre composites segment and show promising potential for application of the same.

Al in all, the augmented utilization of prepreg in defense and increasing demand from the automotive industry, wind energy and sports and aerospace operations is creating potential growth opportunities for prepreg market from various sectors.