#Composites

2025-01-30

Hexcel highlights latest innovations for aerospace applications at Aero India 2025

Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) a global leader in advanced composite technologies for aerospace applications, will exhibit at Aero India 2025, Bengaluru, India. As a trusted partner to the Indian aerospace industry for over 40 years, Hexcel will highlight its latest innovations in lightweight, high-performance materials designed to enhance efficiency and sustainability in aerospace applications.

Hexcel maintains a key position in the Indian aerospace composites value chain with mature composite materials, prepreg and honeycomb products being supplied to most Indian Civil, Military and Space programs for over 40 years. This includes Airbus C295 and H125 programs soon assembled in India. Hexcel continues to deploy a broad range of innovative composite solutions that are shaping the future of aviation, space, and defense. Recognizing the industry requirement to automate next generation aerospace structures, Hexcel technology can reduce cost and increase output with materials tailored for high-rate automated production.

HexTow® carbon fiber is preferred for the world’s most advanced aerospace composite applications. Hexcel is a key supplier for carbon fiber with a wide range of products including HexTow® HM63, a continuous, high strength, high performance, high modulus, PAN based carbon fiber available in 12K.

Hexcel recently launched HexTow® IM9 24K, providing a strong value proposition for manufacturers seeking to maximize efficiency in primary and secondary aerospace.

In response to customer demand for high-rate manufacturing, Hexcel also offers a portfolio of out-of-autoclave (OOA) technologies. HexPly® M51 is a rapid-curing prepreg developed for the high-rate production of structural composite parts using hot-in/hot-out press curing. HexPly® M56 (OOA) prepreg for aircraft secondary structures provides the same quality and performance from a simple oven cure under vacuum. This avoids capital investment in autoclave equipment and on-going processing costs. Both systems are fully compatible with automated tape laying (ATL), automated fiber placement (AFP) and pick-and-place processes. Hexcel also provides RTM and infusion resins along with optimized reinforcements for the latest in Liquid Compression Molding (LCM) processes.

Hexcel HiTape® is a high-performance carbon reinforcement developed for the OOA processing of aerospace primary structures. HiTape combines the benefits of automated processing, the cost-effectiveness of infusion technologies and delivers primary aircraft structure performance. Made from HexTow carbon fiber, it allows dry preforms to be manufactured in a fully automated lay-up process creating parts up to 30mm thick, with properties as high as those found in parts made with the latest generation primary structure prepregs.

“Hexcel’s vertical integration strategy allows it to develop tailored composite technologies that will meet the cost, maintenance, and sustainability targets of next-generation aerospace manufacturers working on higher rate production for helicopter, UAV and Air Mobility applications. At Aero India 2025, Hexcel will present a diverse range of material systems, processing methods, and technologies that will play a pivotal role in shaping the next chapter of aerospace innovation,” said Harvinder Gill, Hexcel Sales Director for Asia Pacific.

The Hexcel team will be available throughout the show at the GIFAS Pavillon, Hall B, Booth 2.3, with further sales and technical support also being available from the dedicated Composites India LLP office in Bengaluru.

JEC World 2026 reveals the list of finalists for the Innovation Awards

Each year, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards recognize collaborative, innovative, and ambitious projects that illustrate the potential of composite materials. Created in 1998, this benchmark program aims to identify, promote, and reward the most innovative composite solutions worldwide. In 28 years, the JEC Composites Innovation Awards have attracted more than 2,200 participating companies from around the world. A total of 269 companies and 811 associated partners have been recognized for the excellence of their innovations.

MEL Composites and Carrocerías Ayats collaborate on lightweight composite window frames

MEL Composites is proud to announce its ongoing collaboration with Spanish bus and coach manufacturer Carrocerías Ayats, showcasing the benefits of advanced composite technologies and scalable manufacturing processes originally developed for the sporting goods sector. The joint development of lightweight composite window frame covers demonstrates how MEL’s process innovation can be successfully transferred to the transportation industry to meet new regulatory and performance goals.

Launch of the first JEC Forum Middle East

JEC is proud to announce the signature of a strategic collaboration agreement with the OSP and IFC Promosalons, the representative of JEC in the region. The major agreement aims to organize a series of events dedicated to Composite Materials held in Saudi Arabia for the first time in the Middle East starting in June 2025. The events will facilitate the creation of opportunities for local and international companies and accelerate the adoption of sustainable materials across multiple industries in the region.

38th International Cotton Conference Bremen: Let´s Talk about Cotton!

The 38th International Cotton Conference Bremen, to be held on 25-27 March 2026 in Bremen’s parliament building on market square, once again sends a powerful signal for professional excellence and international dialogue. The focus is on the latest market trends and technical innovations throughout the entire value chain – from agriculture and quality assurance to processing and the circular economy. With its high-calibre speakers, the conference remains an indispensable forum for anyone involved in shaping the cotton industry scientifically, technically, or economically.

More safety and comfort for protective clothing thanks to auxetic fabrics

When everyday materials are pulled, they stretch or elongate in the direction of the pull and become narrower in cross-section. We can also observe this property in two-dimensional textiles. Auxetic structures behave differently here. They have the striking property of not changing under tensile stress or even increasing their width or thickness. These properties are advantageous, for example, in protective textiles or textile filter media. The DITF are researching auxetic fabrics for various applications.