3M and TenCate Further Agreement in Composite Tooling

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Oct. 18, 2012 – 3M Advanced Composites and TenCate Advanced Composites USA, Inc. are announcing a strengthening of their relationship in the composite tooling industry.  Building on their prior relationship, 3M and TenCate will jointly develop, market and sell a comprehensive portfolio of tooling resins and prepregs.

“As we further develop our relationship with TenCate, we’re essentially joining forces to deliver a superior performing portfolio of tooling materials to our customers,” said Vic Genco, General Manager and Director, 3M Advanced Composites.  

An initial product, 3M™ Fortified Tooling Prepreg 140, will be launched at SAMPE Tech next week. Subsequent products will include a high temperature bismaleimide (BMI) tooling prepreg developed by 3M and a high temperature BMI Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) resin developed by TenCate. The products will all feature 3M™ Matrix Resin, a proprietary resin technology, which enables the production of stronger and more durable tooling composites.

“There are a limited range of composite tooling material options in the market right now, but with 3M’s innovative resin technology combined with TenCate’s market reach and world class manufacturing capabilities we have an opportunity to accelerate the product pipeline and deliver more value and benefit to customers,” said Joe Morris, President, TenCate Advanced Composites USA, Inc. 

“3M’s new tooling prepreg is a very versatile product. The weave is easy to manipulate into place, it’s nice and tacky, and it drapes really well,” said Quan Pham, Research & Development Manager,

Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation.  “Our initial evaluation after 200 cycles, with many excursions to 400°F, indicated to us it’s a very stable material for high temperature applications.”