XC110 210g 2x2 Twill 3k Prepreg Carbon Fibre (1250mm)

It is quite common for domestic ovens to only have a lowest settable temperature of around 70C so you're not alone, however, the temperature of the initial 'dwell' is particularly important for OOA (out of autoclave) prepregs and can have quite an effect on the quality of the surface finish on the component so you might need to accept some compromise if you can't accurately keep the initial dwell down to 70C.

Given that the lowest temperature you can set is 76C (when the target would be 70C) I would just suggest using the standard cure cycle (or in your case the standard 'switched' cure cycle, because you can't set a ramp rate) and then leave the rest the same. Technically, you could shorten the initial dwell because you're running a slightly higher temperature, but because the accuracy and stability of a thermostatically switched domestic oven isn't great, you're better off curing a little longer than you need to, to be on the safe side.

Unfortunately we do not stock any pre-pregs with a flexible resin. The only flexible resin we supply is our EF80 Flexible Epoxy Resin which is suitable for wet lay and vacuum bagged processes.

From a Structural perspective, both sides of the XC110 are identical and will perform the same. In cosmetic terms, the side against the backing paper, fractionally has more resin on it and is slightly more tacky. This means applying that side to the mould may help to slightly improve the cosmetic finish of the part.

Our XC110 OOA and XC130 Autoclave Component PrePreg and XA120 material don't necessarily need to be shipped in insulated/dry ice packed boxes but is shipped direct from our freezers meaning that for at least the first 12-24hours of the delivery, it remains frozen. We even have several long-term Asia and Australian/NZ based customers who regularly purchase PrePreg from us in large quantities without issues.

The out-life of the material (the cumulative time that the PrePreg can spend out of the freezer) is at least 28 days at 20°C - as such, you should still have a minimum of 20+days of useable life left on arrival. As soon as the material arrives with you, if you put it straight into the freezer, it will preserve the remaining outlife. In most cases the 28 days is conservative too and in practice, you will get more than this.

To improve adhesion of the pre-preg material, very gently waft a heat gun over it for a few seconds, or hold it in between two gloved hands. The slight warmth will help improve the tackiness of the material and help it stay in place on the mould.

XPREG has a god level of tack so will stick to a polished mould surface. There is no need to have the surface dull - in fact this is undesirable as the finished part will be dull in finish too. In cooler environments, you can increase the tack of the pre-preg by warming it slightly with a heat gun.

Although we have not specifically tested for it, we would not expect any problems to be caused by storing XC110 prepreg at -70°C. You will however appreciate that this is an unusual condition and that without actual test data or experience we are to some extent making an assumption.

The standard cure cycle indicated on the technical datasheet (which finishes at 120°C) will fully cure the XC110 prepreg and achieve its maximum Tg of 115°C and no further cure or post cure is required.

If you choose to use one of the lower temperature cure cycles (included in the processing guide document) which finish on a lower maximum temperature then although the prepreg will be properly cured and usable you would need to post-cure it at the full 120°C if you wanted to achieve the maximum Tg (i.e. maximum service temperature) of 115°C. When post-curing a component off the mould you should use a very slow ramp rate from ambient up to 120°C (maximum 0.5°C per minute) to minimise the risk of distortion.

The weight referred to is the weight of the raw carbon cloth used in the Pre-preg manufacture, which in this case is 210gsm. During the toll-pregnation process, 42% resin is added to give an overall weight of 362gsm.

This fabric is approximately 0.25mm thick after processing. This will vary slightly depending on laminate consolidation.

You should not need to change the cure cycle for a typical aluminium tool being used with the XPREG XC110 system. The ramp rates and cycle as a whole has been designed to take into account the energy needed to heat both the pre-preg itself and the mould at a suitable rate.