Mitsubishi Fiber Corporation (MRC), a chemical manufacturer, whose products include: plastic products, textile fibers and consumer products (including carbon fibers, methyl methacrylate monomers and polymers). Recently, the company has joined forces with the Japanese government, NEDO and the University of Tokyo, and purchased RelayStation technology and R&D license from the US Fiberforge Corporation to develop automotive thermoplastic composites.
Relay Station uses prepreg tapes to produce custom prepregs through an automated placement process and then thermoform the final parts. This technology is part of the NEDO Supercomposite Technology Sustainability Initiative, which aims to reduce the weight of cars by using lightweight, recyclable advanced thermoplastic composites.
This technology enriches the selection of reinforcing agents for unidirectional prepreg tapes from glass fiber, carbon, aramid fibers, to different resin bases such as polypropylene, nylon, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and therefore from thickness and Fiber orientation maximizes product structure performance. The key to this technology is to use advanced composite parts production technology to increase production automation, reduce labor intensity, and gradually replace heavy-weight materials such as automotive steel materials. Fiberforge believes that the automated paste process can expand the commercialization of advanced thermoplastic composites in high-capacity markets and product areas.