PRF Composite Materials is a leading manufacturer and supplier of high-performance materials for the advanced composites industry, including aerospace, motorsport, renewables, defence, sports & leisure, medical and marine industries.
We are known for our class-leading, innovative prepreg materials. Our product development is driven by helping our customers achieve superior results, and we are now looking at how our materials can also provide improved sustainability. Whilst we recognise the potential of biomaterials, we believe that we can make significant advances now by improving the circularity and reducing the impact of traditional composite materials; making them more sustainable whilst retaining their superior properties.
From this commitment, we have developed REEPREG, our carbon prepreg made with recycled chopped carbon mat. REEPREG is drapeable and easily handled by the constructor, without falling apart when used – which we believe sets it apart from other recycled mat products available. The mat is made using recycled carbon prepreg waste, reducing landfill from kitting and trimming.
We are also looking at lowering energy consumption per part, with Q.tool and our eXpress cure prepreg systems. UK Patent Pending, Q.tool is groundbreaking prepreg tooling technology which significantly reduces the time and costs of carbon tool manufacture, with its uniquely designed surface and 1020g/m2 bulk plies. This combination provides the same weight and thickness as the 1:8:1 system, and significantly reduces the number of debulks to as few as one. Q.tool offers the constructor: up to 50% reduction in labour time/cost, improved sustainability by reducing energy consumption and plastic consumables, and provides exceptional drapeability and surface finish.
Our class-leading eXpress cure prepreg systems also provide opportunities to improve sustainability. Our RP570 eXpress cure is a snap cure system that has a complete processing time of 4 minutes at 140C; our RP570 FR is our fire-retardant version which cures in 5 minutes at 160C. With both systems, there is no need to cycle the mould tool, or cool the tool before demoulding. For customers using autoclave, we have also seen significant energy savings with these systems; RP570 FR typically takes 50% less time to process in autoclave than similar materials.
Developed to minimise the time our prepreg tiles are at room temperature in our facilities, we have also introduced our new Fast to Freeze process. We can now manufacture, cut and freeze our prepreg typically within 1 hour – significantly preserving the out life for our customers. We are also saving over 50% of the plastic consumables that would have been used operationally and are eliminating single use plastics – up to 99% of consumable plastics used in our manufacturing are now recyclable. In packaging, we have a new crating system for deliveries; using reusable wooden crates to ship our prepreg and avoiding significant amounts of cardboard waste.
With our wider range of advanced materials, we provide solutions for manufacturers using hand layup and infusion processing, including reinforcements, epoxy resin systems, mould release and cutting tools.
Doing things differently, PRF is passionate about quality and innovation, and is committed to providing a professional and responsive service with technical support. Our focus going forward is to continue to help our customers improve quality, reduce manufacturing time, and achieve benefits in efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainability.
