Asahi Kasei develops UD-Tape carbon fiber reinforced polyamide resin to replace metal parts

Asahi Kasei is developing a range of composite thermoplastic resin materials to replace metal parts.

Asahi Kasei’s unidirectional tape (UD-Tape) is a tape-like material consisting of unidirectionally woven carbon fiber-reinforced polyamide resin. UD-Tape has excellent strength and stiffness per weight and other excellent mechanical properties, making it ideal for replacing metal parts with resin substitutes in a variety of products, including automotive components, electrical and electronic components, aircraft components, sports and leisure products, and Construction materials – to reduce product weight and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions during transportation and product use.

UD-Tape can also be welded to other thermoplastic resin materials and, when combined with the excellent shape flexibility offered by injection molding, can produce multi-material component structures with sufficient strength and stiffness, especially where conventional injection molding cannot produce In the case of components of sufficient strength and rigidity.

Application Case Study1: Winding UD-Tapeinto Pipe

Winding manufacturing technology, in which heated UD-Tape is continuously wound on a mandrel, can produce high-strength pipes and hoop reinforcements.

Application Case Study2: Strengthening Injection Molded Parts with Insert Molding

Insert molding is a process in which a strength-reinforcing insert—a molded body made from UD-Tape by press molding or automatic tape laying—is placed inside a mold prior to injection molding, thereby Form injection molded parts with built-in integral strength reinforcements.

Asahi Kasei tested the insert molding performance of UD rings formed by the winding method described above. Tensile strength measurements at 90°C and 50% relative humidity showed that the tensile strength of the UD-Tape reinforcement was almost doubled with a thickness of only 0.4 mm.

Application Case Study3: Utilizing UD-TapeHeat-pressing Slices to Form Complex Shaped Parts strong>