At present, the process of low-altitude economy and industry is accelerating in an all-round way, promoting the coordinated and rapid development of raw materials and parts enterprises in the upstream of the industrial chain.
Reducing structural weight is important for low-altitude aircraft such as drones and flying cars (eVTOLs).
At present, in the manufacture of aircraft, the material process is developing in the direction of lightweight. Carbon fiber composite materials have outstanding performance, high strength, light weight, corrosion resistance, high and low temperature resistance, etc., and have a wide range of application prospects in aerospace and transportation fields.
The demand for carbon fiber in the field of flying cars is clear, and more than 90% of the composites in eVTOL will be carbon fiber, and the remaining 10% of the composites will be reinforced with glass fiber in the form of protective films.
According to Roland Berger's report, Urban Air Mobility – The Rise of a New Mode of Transport, the number of flying cars worldwide will reach 3,000 by 2025 and 98,000 by 2050. It is estimated that the demand for small tow carbon fiber will be 294,000 tons by 2050, and the market space will expand to 2.81 billion yuan.
Pay attention to [Leqing Industry Observation] and gain insight into the industrial pattern!
Overview of the carbon fiber materials industry
Carbon fiber composites, which are mainly made from carbon fibers mixed with a substrate such as resin, metal, ceramic or rubber, are characterized by high specific strength (light weight and robustness) and high specific modulus (excellent elastic modulus per unit density).
At present, the application and scale of carbon fiber composite materials are one of the ways to reduce the cost of aircraft.
Source: Open information
Carbon fiber can be divided into small tow and large tow, the number of tows is less than 24K (1K is a bundle with 1000 wires) of carbon fiber is called small tow, mainly used in high-end technical fields such as national defense and military industry, aerospace, etc., and is also known as "aerospace grade material".
24K and above are large tows, which are mainly used in the civilian field, and their low cost but difficult production control are called "industrial-grade materials".
The production process of carbon fiber is quite complex, and it has been dominated by overseas manufacturers for a long time.
Japan took the lead in realizing the continuous preparation of PAN-based carbon fiber and gradually industrialized it, and the United States followed Japan to become one of the few developed countries in the world that has mastered carbon fiber production technology, and it is also the world's largest consumer of PAN-based carbon fiber.
The global production technology of large tow carbon fiber has long been mastered by only a few countries such as Japan and the United States, and foreign representative manufacturers include Zoltek in the United States and SGL in Germany.
Domestic manufacturers with large tow layout mainly include Shanghai Petrochemical, Jilin Chemical Fiber, Baowu Carbon, Lanzhou Bluestar, Xinchuang Carbon Valley, etc.
The global carbon fiber small tow production capacity is mainly concentrated in Japanese companies, such as Toray, Toho and Mitsubishi, which together occupy about 50% of the market share.
The mainland's small tow carbon fiber industry already has a certain foundation. Representative manufacturers include Guangwei Composites, Zhongfu Shenying, etc., and their product performance is gradually approaching or even reaching the level of international leading companies such as Toray of Japan.
The carbon fiber products of Zhongfu Shenying, Guangwei Composite Materials and Hengshen Co., Ltd. cover a full range of products from T300 to T1000 and M40.
In the past, Guangwei Composite Materials and Hengshen Co., Ltd. used to focus on wet carbon fiber, but in recent years, they have successfully broken through the dry jet wet spinning process technology, and have successively launched and sold T700, T800 and T1000 dry jet wet spun carbon fiber products in batches.
Comparison of the performance of carbon fiber from domestic manufacturers and Toray small tow in Japan:
Source: Zhongfu Divine Eagle
At present, Continental's T800-level carbon fiber material system has been perfected and has begun to supply in small quantities.
At present, the main models of the mainland army are mainly second- and third-generation aircraft, and the amount of aviation composite materials is relatively low. With the major breakthrough of domestic carbon fiber technology, the amount will be greatly increased.
Since 2018, the = mainland carbon fiber industry has entered a stage of rapid development, and part of the imported carbon fiber market is expected to be replaced by domestic substitute products at an accelerated pace.
EHang, a leading manufacturer of eVTOL hosts, uses epoxy-based carbon fiber composites and aviation aluminum alloys in the fuselage structure, 90% of Fengfei Aviation's eVTOL products are made of carbon fiber, and Antai Composites, a shareholding company of Antai Technology, provides manufacturing and assembly services for eVTOL composite fuselage structures for related enterprises. #低空经济##碳纤维##飞行器##飞行汽车##科技##财经##航空#
Carbon fiber and lightweight part of the representative manufacturers combing:
Source: Guolian Securities
Pay attention to [Leqing Industry Observation] and gain insight into the industrial pattern!