University of Tennessee Research Foundation

Technology Transfer & Licensing

Novel Method to Manufacture Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Utilizing Textile Grade Carbon Fiber

The Problem

Carbon fiber composites have proven themselves the material of choice in the aerospace industry, but their adoption in other sectors, such as the automotive industry, has been slow due to high cost. One cost-cutting measure consists of reducing the cost of the carbon fibers themselves by switching to low-cost carbon fiber precursors, such as textile grade. However, processing textile grade carbon fibers is challenging due to its large tow size, non-circular fiber profile, and brittle nature. Overcoming these issues would greatly improve its chances of adoption in the automotive industry and beyond.

The Solution

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have developed an innovative method of preparing low-cost, large tow textile grade carbon fiber for use in the production of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) semi-finished products, such as continuous tapes and discontinuous pellets.

This novel system works for carbon fiber tows containing 100K to 600K filaments, and it achieves full polymer impregnation by first spreading the fiber tow and then impregnating it in two stages with a sheet of molten polymer resin through contacting.

The system works with either thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer materials and can be used to produce CFRP semi-finished products that contain carbon fiber weight fractions between 30-70%.

Benefits

Benefit
Significantly reduces material cost for stiffness driven applications, e.g., in the automotive and wind energy industries.
Textile carbon fiber (TCP) tape is applicable to numerous processes including injection and extrusion compression molding, continuous 3D printing, and tape layup.

More Information

  • UTRF Reference ID: 20138
  • Patent Status:

Innovators

George Husman

Former CTO and Director of Zoltek Corporation

Mr. George Husman began his career with the U.S. Air Force and has held senior positions at BASF, Southern Research Institute, University of Alabama Birmingham, and Zoltek. Throughout his career, his research interests have included composite materials, and manufacturing technologies and applications.

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Dr. Uday Vaidya

UT/ORNL Governor's Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing Professor; Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering (MABE) Chief Technology Officer; Institute for Advanced Composites and Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI)

Dr. Vaidya received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Materials Engineering from Auburn University in 7993 and joined UT in 2075. Previously, he earned his B. S. in Mechanical Engineering at Karnataka University, India, and his M.S. in Mechanical Design Engineering at Shivaji University, India. His research focuses on advanced composites manufacturing, composite materials applications, nano-bio materials, and composites recycling/ sustainability.

Read more about Dr. Uday Vaidya