Hexcel builds on wind power

industry Hexcel builds on wind power THE BOOMING wind energy market is providing Hexcel Composites with good business. The firm has just commissioned a new US$9 million plant at its site in Neumarkt, Austria, to make heavyweight, large volume HexPly~ prepregs, mainly for the wind energy industry. It also plans to set up dedicated manufacturing facilities in North America. Most prepregs Hexcel has supplied to the industry to date have been reinforced with glass fibre but the compan y believes the development of larger turbines for offshore wind farms will bring changes. The rotors for these larger turbines approach the limits for glass/epoxy composites and manufacturers are considering moving partly to carbon/ epoxy for their 2002-2003 designs. Hexcel claims it was the first to supply prepregs for wind turbine manufacture, helping to introduce prepreg technology to leading Danish wind turbine maker Vestas. Initially Hexcel supplied HexPly M9 and M10 prepregs to the industry. These are ideal for vacuum bag manufacture of large components. It has since developed products with faster cure cycles and different tack levels, including the M9.1 and M9.6 systems which cure in 30 minutes at 120°C, and it is launching a prepreg which cures at a lower temperature later this year. It is also developing new matrix technologies, as well as applications for its new HexFITrM film infusion technology.

Hexcel Composites; Europe: Georges Soccal; tel: +32-87-307465; USA: Mike Sandlin; tel: +1480-539-1500; website: www. hexcelcomposites.com.

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September 2001

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