Toray Composite Materials America (Toray CMA) has launched 3960-FC, a fast cure variant of its 3960 prepreg system, cutting cure time by up to 45% against the standard autoclave cycle while retaining the mechanical performance of the base material.

Built on the 3960 platform, 3960-FC delivers toughness, hot/wet performance, tensile strength, stiffness and damage tolerance, and is compatible with Automated Fibre Placement, Automated Tape Laying and traditional processing methods. The fast cure system also enables lower-temperature tooling, reducing tooling costs for prototype work, and widens vacuum-bag-only processing windows. It is capable of compression moulding consolidation, helping cut takt times and manufacturing costs, and unlike many accelerated epoxy systems, it carries a low exotherm risk for thick structures.

“Increased pressure is being placed on material suppliers to provide a structural material solution with production rates higher than what manufacturers have historically supported,” says Jeff Cross, principal director of defence programmes at Toray CMA. “3960-FC accelerates manufacturing cycles while maintaining the mechanical and structural performance customers expect from our premier product, the 3960 prepreg system, by demonstrating equivalence with the material data in the 3960 NCAMP database.”

Target applications include primary aircraft structures, mid- to large-size UAVs, launch vehicles and rockets, and rotorcraft structures. The launch comes as the aerospace sector ramps up production of next-generation single-aisle commercial aircraft, advanced air mobility platforms and mass-produced defence systems, pushing suppliers to combine mechanical performance with faster processing. Toray CMA said 3960-FC sits within a wider portfolio spanning traditional cure cycles to fast cure systems, giving customers a choice of solution to fit their production environment and programme needs.