Prepreg market status and prospect analysis at home and abroad

I. Introduction of prepreg
Advantages of composite materials
    1, the composite material improves or overcomes the shortcomings of the material itself, gives full play to its advantages, and plays the effect of 1+1 greater than 2.
    2, create a performance or function that a single material does not have
    3, the design of materials, according to the requirements of the application, the use of different combinations of materials for design.

Others such as: lightweight, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, functional and so on

The lightweight effect of composite material is obvious
        Comparison of material properties

What is prepreg
        As the name suggests, the fiber surface is pre-coated with a layer of unreacted resin material, when used, according to the need to cut into a certain shape, in the mold, a certain pressure and temperature molding products.

Preparation of prepreg: wet method, dry method
One-step process

Two-step method

Prepreg classification
    According to the physical state ----- unidirectional prepreg (UD), fabric prepreg (plain fabric, forged fabric, twill fabric) (mainly 3K);
    According to the reinforcement material ----- carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramong, PBO fiber, basalt fiber and other prepreg;
    According to the fiber length ----- short fiber (less than 4176mm), long fiber (1217mm and continuous fiber prepreg;
    According to the resin matrix ----, the prepregs are divided into thermoplastic resin prepregs (PP, PEEK, nylon, etc.) and thermosetting resin prepregs (epoxy, unsaturated resin, bismaleimide resin, etc.).
    According to the curing temperature ----- medium temperature curing (120 ℃), high temperature curing (180 ℃) and curing temperature of more than 200 ℃ prepreg.

 Several important concepts of prepreg
Gram weight (surface density), resin content, UD and others

Advantages of prepreg
① Good mechanical properties;
② Less product defects;
③ Precise control of fiber volume content;
④ Good consistency of performance and processing characteristics;
⑤ Best performance/weight ratio.

Ⅱ. Application and market analysis of prepreg
Application of prepreg: Product

A typical process for a typical product of prepreg
Aircraft parts: autoclave, molding
Fishing rod: coiled tube process
Bicycle, tennis racket: blow molding
Auto parts: Autoclave, molding, PCM
Medical equipment: Autoclave, molding

Application of prepreg: Process

Coil process, blowing molding, curing furnace...

Prepreg tape, prepreg yarn, thermosetting, thermoplastic

Typical forming process of prepreg: autoclave

Typical forming process of prepreg: molding

Market conditions for prepregs
    In 2018, the global prepreg market was $6.7 billion, and the prepreg market is expected to reach $11.5 billion in 2024, of which thermosetting prepreg will account for more than 75% of the entire prepreg market.
    Thermosetting prepregs are subdivided according to resin type, including epoxy prepregs, phenolic prepregs, BMI prepregs, cyanate prepregs and polyimide prepregs. Epoxy prepreg is expected to maintain its market dominance over the next 5 years, while BMI prepreg is likely to see the highest growth over the forecast period with the development of supersonic aircraft. BMI prepregs can be used at temperatures up to 350°C or higher.
    Asia Pacific will see rapid growth, driven by China, India and Japan.

Development of carbon fiber prepreg

    In 2021, the market size of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is about 4.594 billion yuan, and the output of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is about 97.06 million square meters, maintaining a rapid growth trend.

    The regional market size distribution of China's carbon fiber prepreg industry is as follows: East China accounted for 40.41%, Central China accounted for 13.71%, South China accounted for 14.89%, North China accounted for 10.76%, Northeast China accounted for 10.43%, Southwest accounted for 4.51%, Northwest accounted for 5.29%.

    Carbon fiber prepreg is a typical dual-use product, China's carbon fiber prepreg military market and civilian market demand is equivalent!
    Civilian concentrated sports and leisure products! Diversification of supply sources

Ⅲ, the development prospect of prepreg
Development prospect of prepreg: thermosetting
Small weight ultra-thin prepreg 20g and below
Large gram weight (or NCF material) 600 grams or more
Fast curing prepreg
Prepreg narrowband and prepreg yarn
Prepreg for non-low temperature storage

The cost advantage of small weight prepreg for large tow carbon fiber prepreg is extremely obvious
Existing problems: not easy to spread yarn, difficult to infiltrate

Development prospect of prepreg: thermoplastic
• Thermoplastic prepreg compared with thermoset prepreg, thermoplastic prepreg does not need cold storage and transportation, subsequent molding process is efficient and convenient, material toughness, good impact resistance, especially renewable utilization, in line with the trend of energy saving and emission reduction green environmental protection.
However, there are four main problems with thermoplastic prepreg:
• First, the high viscosity of thermoplastic resin makes it very difficult to infiltrate the fiber;
• Second, there is no suitable low-cost, high-efficiency and quality assurance of prepreg preparation methods and equipment;
• Third, the high performance thermoplastic resin molding temperature above 350 ℃, prepreg and its composite product molding process is very difficult;
• Fourth, the high performance thermoplastic resin is too expensive compared with the general thermosetting resin