Tailor-made prepreg stacks by Gurit and Voith

Carbon4Stack for an easier, faster, flexible processing of prepregs

Design freedom for high performance structural parts
Broad range of surface solutions
Various resin systems and fibers fit to purpose
Ready to mould solution
Significant time savings in autoclave operations
Tailored prepreg blanks

A solution making composites production easier and broadens its range of applications.

Our tailored stacks are made of pre-impregnated 50mm-wide UD tapes. Each tape is automatically placed using VRA technology, creating the desired layup. The final stacks are multi-ply laminates with variable thicknesses and local reinforcements, manufactured in near net shape to provide the ideal solution for the customer.

Tailored stacks

Reduced manual processes: automated fiber placement with reproducibility of the laminate quality
Maximum freedom in fiber orientation: from 0° to 90°, based on customer requirements
Cost savings: no labor-intensive operations, reduction of waste with near net shape fiber placement
Weight savings: local reinforcement layers allow load-specific material usage. Material is only applied where necessary
Best fiber performance: non-crimped and non-stitched fiber placement
Online process control and quality assessment

Customized material setup

Resin system: formulated according to customer requirements. Glass transition temperatures up to 208 °C are available
Fiber: different grades of carbon fiber and glass fiber can be used in the production of the stack to adjust the characteristics of the components
Variable tack (low and high)
Pre-cut to final shape
Hybrid material configuration: customized material combinations of glass and carbon fiber in one single tailored stack possible

Manufacturing processes

Tailored stacks can be impregnated with different solvent free hot-melt resin systems suitable for:

Prepreg compression moulding
Autoclave processing
Out of autoclave
Automated as well as manual handling

Sizes and availability

Max. size of the stack 1 600 mm x 1 800 mm
Variable thickness
Flexible production of high and low quantities from prototype phase to serial production

Storage

Tailored stacks are delivered with a smooth film on the lower side and a diamond embossed film on the top side
Storage in sealed vacuum bag at -18 °C
Out life at 21 °C: 7 – 50 days, depending on required processing properties of the tailored stack

Technical product support

On site support for manufacturing process
Layup and draping simulation
ayup and draping simulatio
Cost and feasibility studies

Certifications

Compliant to UL 94v0, EN 45545, EN 13501 and SOLAS IMO FTP code
Qualified to Lloyd‘s Register and DNV-GL
Several aerospace certifications
ISO 9001, ISO 9100
ISO 14001
REACH compliant

Typical stack solutions

Various fields of applications in Automotive, Aerospace, Marine and many other industrial applications:

Application	Processing method	Tg1 (DSC) [°C]	Cure cycles	Shelf-life RT [days]	Shelf-life -18 °C [months]	Fibre type

High volume Class A	PCM	180	5 min at 170 °C	28	18	E-Glass Carbon
Class A	PCM Autoclave	140	10 min at 135 °C	56	12	E-Glass Carbon
Visual carbon	PCM Autoclave	130	30 min at 130°C	21	12	E-Glass Carbon
Visual carbon high TG	PCM Autoclave	170	30 min at 180°C	21	18	E-Glass Carbon
FST	PCM Autoclave OoA	130	60 min at 120°C	30	18	E-Glass Carbon
Structural	PCM Autoclave OoA	125	35 min at 120°C	30	18	E-Glass Carbon
Tooling	Autoclave	208	6 h at 60 °C + postcuring cycle	3 (tack-life)	6	E-Glass Carbon

PCM Prepreg compression moulding
OoA Out of autoclave
FST Fire smoke toxicity
HRR Heat release rate

“I’m very happy that we could win Gurit as a partner. Their broad product range and their expertise as well as their flexibility and high motivation to move this project forward have given us a real boost.”

Andreas Silvan

Program Manager Prepreg Stacks, Voith Composites

“The Voith Roving Applicator NextGen can move composites to the next level. It’s a great way to process our material – flexible, automated and leading to an impressively high quality. Our pilot customers are delighted and so are we.”

Piet Heydorn

Sales Manager, Gurit