Toray Advanced Composites (formerly TenCate Advanced Composites) is a multi-national producer and supplier of advanced composite materials. In the twentieth century, it developed a range of high-performance thermoplastic composites and thermoset pre-preg resins that are used today in a broad spectrum of applications.
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| Company type | Public Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | [Advanced composite materials (engineering)|Advanced composite materials] |
| Headquarters | International Morgan Hill, California European: Nijverdal, Netherlands |
| Brands | Toray Cetex thermoplastics, Toray AmberTool composite tooling materials, Toray MicroPly adhesives and syntactics, Toray CCS compression molded parts |
| Website | http://www.toraytac.com/ |
As of September 2016[update], the company was listed as one of the top advanced polymer composite manufacturers in the global market.[1] It operates six manufacturing facilities in four countries. The corporate office for Toray Advanced Composites USA is located in Morgan Hill, CA, and the European corporate office is located in Nijverdal, the Netherlands.[2] They distribute the following composite products worldwide:
- Thermoplastic and thermoset pre-pregs
- Composite laminates
- Tooling Materials
- Syntactic Foams
- Bulk Molding Compounds
- Film Adhesives
- Honeycomb Core
- Compression-molded Parts
- RTM Resins
As of March 2016[update] it was privately held.[3] On March 14, 2018, Toray announced an agreement with Royal Ten Cate B.V. to acquire TenCate Advanced Composites for 930 million euros. The completion of the transaction occurred on July 17, 2018.[4][5]
On March 12, 2019, TenCate Advanced Composites announced to change its name to Toray Advanced Composites at JEC World 2019.[6][7]
Applications
editToray Advanced Composites' cyanate ester pre-pregs (fibers impregnated with resin) have been used on Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4,[8] NASA's LADEE mission,[9] as well as the first 3D woven composites NASA used in the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle.[10] Their TenCate Cetex thermoplastics are found on commercial aircraft manufactured by Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Fokker, and Gulfstream,[11] and their compression-molded parts are used in Bell's 525 Relentless and V-22 Osprey helicopters.[12][13] Their materials have also been used to reduce vehicle weight to improve efficiency in London Underground's Central Line train,[14] Alfa Romeo's 4C,[15] and Brunel Racing's Formula Student car.[16]
Toray Advanced Composites is a Tier 1 member of the Thermoplastic Composites Research Center consortium.[17] Their thermoplastics are used in a variety research applications, including improvements in vehicular crash performance,[18] new circuit board materials for solar arrays,[19] and the development of a low-cost thermoplastic composite welding process.[20] Their materials are also used in a variety of recreational footwear, medical applications, and orthotic devices, including a prototype articulated brace designed to allow a paraplegic sky-diver greater control while flying.[21]
References
edit- ^ QY Market Research, Global Advanced Polymer Composite Industry 2016, 2016-09. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ TenCate Advanced Composites About Us, tencate.com. Accessed 2017-02-09.
- ^ "Delisting of TenCate shares on 17 March 2016". TenCate. 2016-02-18. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
- ^ "Toray to acquire TenCate Advanced Composites" (PDF). TenCate. 14 March 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on Jun 12, 2018.
- ^ "Carbon Fiber Composite Materials | Archive by Segments | Press Releases". TORAY. Archived from the original on 2018-08-28.
- ^ Richardson, Mike (2019-03-14). "TenCate changes its name to Toray Advanced Composites". Aerospace Manufacturing Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
- ^ "TenCate Advanced Composites changes its name to Toray Advanced Composites". Toray Advanced Composites. March 12, 2019. Archived from the original on Jan 26, 2024.
- ^ Jenkins, Ann; Weiss, Mike (2008-06-20). "Mission to Hubble". NASA. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ "Leaner Budgets Boost Innovation in Small Satellite Design", Aerospace Manufacturing and Design, 2013-03-07. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ Eric Vitug, "First 3D woven composite for NASA thermal protection systems", NASA, 2016-03-29. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ "Program supplier analysis | TenCate Advanced Composites | Airbus A350 XWB | Non-metal Materials". Airframer. Stansted News Limited. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ Airframer, "Bell 525 Relentless", Stansted News Limited. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ Textile World, "TenCate Advanced Composites Receives Silver Boeing Supplier Performance Award", 2014-03-03. Accessed 2017-02-09.
- ^ Adrian Wilson, "The Central Question", Composites in Manufacturing, 2016-09-04. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ Amanda, Jacob (2014-02-25). "TenCate to supply carbon fibre prepreg for Alfa Romeo 4C monocoque". Materials Today. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ "Brunel Racing is proud to announce Amber Composites and TenCate Advanced Composites as material suppliers". Brunel Racing. Tumblr. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ Sara Black, "Thermoplastic composites technology: A view from Europe", Composites World, 2015-06-01. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ Jeff Sloan, "Thermoplastic composite B-pillar?", Composites World, 2016-12-21. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "Deployable Antenna Circuit Board Material Design and Fabrication Process", 2016-03-01. Accessed 2017-1-31.
- ^ "Success for thermoplastic composite welding technique". Materials Today. AGC. 2016-09-12. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- ^ Davies, Ellis (2017-01-04). "Innovative Uses of Composites in Sport". Materials World Magazine. The Institute of Materials, and Mining. Archived from the original on Feb 18, 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-31.