Victrex’s thermoplastic composites drive Aerospace build rates

The CEO of materials company, Victrex, has stated that the speed of aircraft manufacture “is a vital factor” that will increase adoption of thermoplastic composite technologies.

Jakob Sigurdsson, Victrex CEO, made the comments at the JEC show in Paris recently, where he outlined the benefits of thermoplastic composites in enabling the development of the aircraft industry, which has forecasted that over 35,000 new aircraft will be required within the next 20 years.

Compared to thermoset counterparts, which today are in frequent use, thermoplastic composites offer shorter production times by 20-30 per cent and low overall costs.

Unlike thermosets, PAEK thermoplastic composites have an unlimited shelf life, enabling the industry to buy material to process parts today and hold onto for several months.

PAEK thermoplastics also deliver low flame, smoke, toxicity (FST) ratings for reliability in use, good fatigue performance for long service life and excellent durability.

Victrex is partnering with Aerospace OEMs and research centres, around its VICTREX AE 250 composites products and related technology.

Last year, Victrex announced it was investing in a joint venture, TxV Aero Composites, with long-standing development partner TriMack Manufacturing, to build the necessary supply chain.

The Victrex/TriMack joint venture TxV Aero Composites will offer a range of composites from custom laminates to pre-formed composite inserts for hybrid moulding processes.

Sigurdsson added: "Today, our composite solutions are also gaining ground in the oil-and-gas industry, and also have early commercialisation within the medical device space."

Tim Herr, Director Aerospace at Victrex, added: “These innovative products can deliver weight savings of up to 60 per cent over conventional metallic solutions, contributing to cuts in fuel consumption and thus emissions, delivering both cost and environmental benefits, while offering continuous manufacturing processes and cycle times measured in minutes versus hours for thermoset alternatives.”