Toray Advanced Composites, a global leader in advanced composite materials, today announces its Toray Cetex TC1225 low-melt PAEK has achieved further National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) qualifications.

Toray has successfully qualified its high-performance Toray Cetex LMPAEK TC1225/T300 fabric-based thermoplastic composite material, now available in the NCAMP database. The material is available in both semi-preg and large pre-consolidated reinforced thermoplastic composite laminate (RTL) formats, bringing versatility of design and processing options.

The fabric-based semi-preg offers customers design flexibility and expanded process window for manufacturing optimization, whilst the reinforced thermoplastic laminates can be supplied tailored to customer-specific thicknesses and orientation requirements. Laminates can also be configured to include integrated functionalities, such as lightning strike protection and galvanic corrosion protection, bringing further processing and functional benefits.

With FAA-accepted, statistically validated material property data now publicly available, customers can leverage NCAMP material, process specification, and design allowables to accelerate aircraft structural design and certification - reducing the time, cost, and risk traditionally associated with aircraft structure qualification. This milestone underscores the consistency and performance of Toray Cetex while enabling broader industry adoption and streamlined integration into certified aircraft structures.

“Adding our fabric-based Toray Cetex TC1225 material to the NCAMP database reflects Toray’s ongoing commitment to advancing thermoplastic composites and adoption of these materials across the aerospace supply chain,” notes Scott Unger, CEO of Toray Advanced Composites. “This milestone will be further strengthened by NCAMP qualifications on additional Cetex product types, which are expected to be finalized in the near future”.

Toray continues to expand its NCAMP-qualified portfolio, with resin-rich surface configurations of both TC1225/T700 and TC1225/T1100 unidirectional tapes material qualifications in process. These developments will deliver even greater processing flexibility for manufacturers to create structural components using a wide range of processing methods. Data for these two material types is expected to be available in the coming months.

Toray Cetex TC1225 is a semi-crystalline low-melt PAEK resin system known for its excellent mechanical properties and proven success for primary to secondary structures within the aerospace industry. The distinctive value of Toray Cetex TC1225 over other composites with a PAEK family matrix is its superior processability, excellent VBO (Vacuum Bag Only) performance, and suitability for a wide range of thermoplastic production methods. It is also the first approved thermoplastic material qualified by NIAR NCAMP in 2020.