JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016 - 27

prepreg

A proven solution for lightweight
motorsport and road car bodywork
North Thin Ply Technology's thin plies are now used in a wide
range of applications such as motorsports, marine/yachting, sports
& leisure, aerospace and luxury goods.

By
Arjen Meijer
MArcoM MAnAger
north thin Ply technology

woven fabrics by multi-axial preforms
in body panels.

NTPT preform and body panel

Surface quality
Unidirectional (UD) prepreg tapes
show a better surface appearance compared to woven fabrics, with no weave
print-through and no pinholes. The
lightweight prepreg plies also exhibit
much greater resistance to peeling than
conventional weight UD prepreg plies.

Lower manufacturing
time and cost
The UD prepreg tapes are processed by
NTPT's proprietary Automated Tape
Laying (ATL) machine to make multiaxial preforms deliverable as a roll of
material. Preforms can then be cut and
draped like conventional prepreg woven fabrics, with the added advantage
that body panel manufacturers have
only one layer to drape. The improved
surface quality reduces preparation
time, painting work and the weight
of paint. The TPT® preforms also offer the opportunity to switch from a
two-shot to a one-shot curing process.
These advantages significantly reduce
the overall manufacturing cost and
cycle time.

North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT) develops
and produces a range of weight-saving
prepreg materials and provides automation
solutions for the high-performance composite industry. Its prepreg materials include
UD tapes from 15 to 300 gsm, multi-axial
preforms, tubes and machinable carbon
fibre blocks.

Weight saving
TPT® prepreg preforms can be designed at the same weight as conventional woven fabrics and then show
a 40% higher strength. When weight
is an issue, the preforms can also be
specified in a lighter weight and still
keep the same strength. This second
option offers a unique and substantial
weight saving opportunity.
TPT® prepreg preforms are available
with 135°C or 185°C Tg resins to match
all kinds of requirements for body panel
service temperatures. The company
holds a stock of multi-axial preforms
ready for use by motorsports and road
car body panel manufacturers on a
short lead and delivery time basis. n

No102 January - February 2016 / jec

More information:
www.thinplytechnology.com

Feature Automotive

orth Thin Ply Technology
(NTPT) specialises in lightweight prepreg solutions.
The company's multi-axial prepreg
preforms are perfectly suitable for
the body panels of motorsport and
road car applications, as they increase
performance and reduce manufacturing time and costs. Several Formula 1
teams have already successfully used
these Thin Ply Technology® (TPT®)
techniques for the last four seasons.
There are three major advantages that
arise from replacing conventional

Focus

composites magazine 27

http://www.thinplytechnology.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016