2 May 2022
Solvay Expands Solvalite® Portfolio with Prepregs for Automotive Body Panels and Invests in Xencor™ LFT Production Facilities
New fast curing composites for high-volume automotive applications with outstanding structural part performance
Alpharetta, Ga., May 2, 2022 - Solvay, a leading global supplier of specialty materials, has announced an important addition to complement its broad portfolio of composite materials for the automotive industry: SolvaLite® 714 Prepregs, a new-generation of unidirectional carbon-fiber and woven-fabric products pre-impregnated with SolvaLite® 714 epoxy resin. These innovative prepregs offer fast-cure cycles, long outlife, and have been optimized for manufacturing automotive components, such as body panels at short compression molding cycle times in serial production runs.
“Our new SolvaLite® 714 Prepregs have been specially developed to ensure strong product robustness in large-scale industrial compression molding processes and deliver high structural part performance,” said Greg Kelly, Product Manager Prepregs, Solvay Composites. “They are available in a wide range of unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced and woven-fabric formats.”
SolvaLite® 714 Prepregs are currently manufactured in Europe, and will be commercially available worldwide beginning in the second quarter of 2022. Solvay will officially launch and introduce the new product family to the automotive market during the JEC WORLD International Composites Show in Paris from May 3-5, 2022, at Hall 5 Booth M41.
In addition, Solvay recently invested in its production capability enhancements for Xencor™ LFT (long fiber technology). The investment includes new manufacturing assets and additional capabilities in Solvay’s Oudenaarde facility (Belgium) as well as an expansion of research and development resources at one of Solvay’s technical centers in Alpharetta, Georgia. Xencor™ LFT is one of the key pillars in Solvay's light-weighting portfolio, which also includes short-fiber compounds and continuous carbon-fiber composites.
Xencor™ LFT opens up new light-weighting potential for aluminum die-cast replacement in next-generation electric vehicles. This includes several areas of metal replacement, such as those in braking and steering, electric-drive units, inverters, and battery module protection, among others.
SolvaLite® and Xencor™ are registered trademarks of Solvay.
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About Solvay
Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 21,000 employees in 63 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet roadmap crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering a better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of €10.1 billion in 2021. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels and Paris (SOLB). Learn more at www.solvay.com.
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Solvay Expands Solvalite® Portfolio with Prepregs for Automotive Body Panels and Invests in Xencor™ LFT Production Facilities.
(Photo: Solvay, PR021)
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