What Are High-Performance Fibers and Composites?

During the 12th Five-Year Plan, China's new materials industry will focus on developing high-performance fibers and composite materials. What are high-performance fibers and composite materials?

Ⅰ. Resin-based composite materials. Aiming for low cost, high specific strength, high specific modulus, and high stability, address common key issues in raw material preparation, industrial production, and supporting equipment for resin-based composite materials. Accelerate the development of high-performance reinforcing fibers such as carbon fiber, improve resin performance, develop integrated manufacturing processes for new, ultra-large-scale, and specialized structural materials, and develop specialized materials for wind turbine blades, construction projects, high-pressure vessels, composite conductors, and poles and towers. Accelerate their application in aerospace, new energy, high-speed trains, marine engineering, energy-saving and new energy vehicles, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

Development priorities of high-performance fibers and composite materials:

1. Carbon fiber

Strengthen the research and development of high-strength, high-strength medium-modulus, high-modulus and high-strength high-modulus series products, achieve stable operation of thousand-ton equipment, improve the level of industrialization, and expand the scope of product application.

2. Aramid

Expand the production scale of meta-aramid (1313), break through the industrialization bottleneck of para-aramid (1414), and expand its application in honeycomb structures, insulation paper and other fields.

3. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber

Actively develop high-performance polyethylene fiber (UHMWPE) dry spinning technology and products, break through the production technology of spinning-grade special resins, and reduce production costs.

4. New inorganic non-metallic fibers

Actively develop high-performance glass fibers and products with high strength, low dielectric, high silica, and alkali resistance, and vigorously develop new inorganic non-metallic fiber varieties such as continuous basalt, boron nitride, and rock wool.

5. Other high-performance fiber materials

Actively develop new varieties such as polyphenylene sulfide, poly [2, 5-dihydroxy-1, 4-phenylene pyridine and diimidazole], aromatic sulfone, polyimide, and para-phenylenediazole fiber.

Ⅱ. Carbon/carbon composite materials. Focusing on high-temperature resistance, ablation resistance, wear resistance, and structural-functional integration, strengthen research on material preforming, impregnation carburizing, and rapid preparation processes. Actively develop materials such as insulation tubes, heating elements, and crucibles required for various high-temperature treatment furnaces and atmosphere furnaces. Promote the use of carbon/carbon composite brake pads and high-temperature fasteners in transportation and high-temperature equipment.

Ⅲ. Ceramic-based composites: Further improve the preparation technology for specialty ceramic matrices and reinforcing fibers such as silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and aluminum oxide, as well as new particle and whisker reinforcements and ceramic precursors, and accelerate their application in cutting tools, wear-resistant components, and aerospace.

Ⅳ. Metal-based composites. Develop fiber-reinforced aluminum-based, titanium-based, and magnesium-based composites and metal layered composites to further achieve lightweight, intelligent, high-performance, and multifunctional materials, and accelerate applied research.

What are the core technologies for high-performance fibers and composites? Key breakthroughs will be made in key technologies for the industrialization of high-performance polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers, including polymerization, spinning, pre-oxidation, and carbonization, aramid fiber polymerization, spinning, and solvent recovery technologies. Developing preparation and processing technologies for ceramic-based composites, including sintering and infiltration, liquid-phase impregnation, carburizing, and rapid preparation processes for carbon/carbon composites, and developing technologies for winding, placement, hot-melt prepreg, and vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) for fiber-reinforced resin-based composites.

What are the key equipment for high-performance fibers and composite materials? The key breakthroughs include large-capacity polymerization kettles, saturated steam drawing, wide-caliber high-temperature carbonization, and constant tension winding devices for carbon fibers, high-precision twin-screw polymerization devices resistant to strong corrosion for aramid, multi-axis winding machines, hot-melt prepreg machines, fiber placement machines, and ultra-high-temperature hot pressing equipment for composite materials.