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Spread Tow

“Spread tow” refers to the practice of spreading a fibre into a thinner, flatter reinforcement, for example a 5-mm wide 12K high-strength (HS) carbon fibre tow is commonly spread to a 25-mm width tape. This unidirectional tape can then be used in automated tape laying (ATL) and automated fiber placement (AFP) processes. It can also be used to produce thin woven fabrics or multilayered noncrimp fabrics that can be used for infusion or even hand lay-up applications.

Spread Tow reinforcements are extremely thin (can weigh as little as 15 g/m2 with a thickness of only 0.02 mm), ultra-lightweight, have near zero crimp and fewer interlacing points. Due to its lightweight nature, visual appearance and improved performance, compared to traditional textiles, our Spread Tow fabrics are ideally suited to high-performance applications such as sports and leisure equipment, automotive and aerospace. 

Main Features

  • Attractive aesthetic finish: ideal for the production of both parts and tooling. No print-through issues on gelcoats.
  • Improved mechanical performance as a reduced thickness compared to standard 2D fabrics using 1K fibres.
  • High resistance to crack propagation for improved damage tolerance.
  • Spread tow also has proven useful in the design of laminates that withstand significantly greater stress before first-ply failure and last-ply failure.
  • Much less crimp, so they can absorb more energy when suffering an impact. More crimp lowers the load-carrying maximum of the fabrics.
  • Increased fibre volume fraction compared to 2D weaving. Weight savings.
  • Improved coverage – reducing effects of multi-ply stacking.
  • No added stabilisation during the production process.

The flatness of spread tow means filaments are straighter than those bundled in normal fibres. This results in more efficient load-carrying capability, by weight, and improved surface finish, as well as an aesthetic appeal. Spread tow is the starting point for an iconic “woven look” seen increasingly in sporting goods, small airplanes and motorsports applications.

A greater number of thinner plies makes a stronger and tougher part than fewer, thicker plies. Because the layers are so thin, this achieves a kind of homogeneity, with very good resin-to-fiber distribution, which improves filament-to-filament load transfer for higher performance.

Large aircraft OEMs are combining thin plies with traditional thick plies. “For example, five thin plies with 10 standard thick plies gives an interesting crack propagation behavior that allows them to tailor the damage tolerance performance in the aircraft structures.”

160 g/m2 Twill 2x2 3K Spread Carbon Fabric, 125 cm wide (SPOT)

FC0160SPT
Carbon fabric suitable for infusion, injection (RTM & RTM light) and vacuum bagging hand lay-up processes. Generally used with epoxy, vinyl ester and urethane-acrylate resins (Crestapol). Width: 125 cm
Product available with different options
£33.46 £40.49 Tax incl. £33.46 Tax excl.

160 g/m2 Spread Tow Plain Gold Carbon Fabric, 100 cm wide

TC21065
Spread Tow fabrics are based on the patented technology of production spread tow and tape weaving fabric. For production can be used carbon fibers of different types and manufacturers. Carbon tape's width of 15 mm.
Out-of-Stock
£47.19 £57.10 Tax incl. £47.19 Tax excl.

93 g/m2 TC93 ST Spread Tow Plain Carbon Fabric Stabilised with PA fixation, 100 cm wide

TC93ST
TC93 ST is a plain weave fabric made of carbon fibres oriented at 0°/90° with a total weight of 93 g of carbon per square meter. It is commonly used in composite laminates, for manufacturing light and strong composite parts. Other widths, rather than 1 m, are available under request. The information given herein is only for guidance of our customers and...
Last items in stock
£54.06 £65.41 Tax incl. £54.06 Tax excl.

160 g/m2 Spread Tow Alu2 Plain Carbon Fabric (aluminium effect), 100 cm wide

TC20699
Spread Tow fabrics are based on the patented technology of production spread tow and tape weaving fabric. For production can be used carbon fibers of different types and manufacturers. Carbon tape's width of 15 mm. Aluminium effect.
£55.77 £67.48 Tax incl. £55.77 Tax excl.

80 g/m2 Textreme Spread Tow Carbon Fabric, 100 cm wide

20092
Spread-tow carbon fibre fabric is a dry carbon fibre reinforcement manufactured using a special spreading technology to make the individual tows of carbon fibre wider and flatter. This special type of fabric increases the performance as well as reducing the laminate weight up to 20%. In this fabric the carbon fiber tows are spread out into thin tapes that...
£65.21 £78.90 Tax incl. £65.21 Tax excl.

55 gsm 1K Carbon Fabric Spread Tow Style E458-1

TC055-458-1
Spread Tow carbon reinforcements are using spread tows to produce optimized reinforcements for ultra light composites. Spreading tows (yarns) into very thin tapes enables reinforcements in woven structure as well as unidirectional tapes with mechanical performance and possibility for weight savings that are unique compared to conventional reinforcements....
Last items in stock
£67.78 £82.02 Tax incl. £67.78 Tax excl.

64 g/m2 Spread Tow Carbon Fabric Textreme HS, 100 cm wide

20391
Spread-tow carbon fibre fabric is a dry carbon fibre reinforcement manufactured using a special spreading technology to make the individual tows of carbon fibre wider and flatter. This special type of fabric increases the performance as well as reducing the laminate weight up to 20%. In this fabric the carbon fiber tows are spread out into thin tapes that...
£81.51 £98.63 Tax incl. £81.51 Tax excl.

160 g/m2 Plain 3K Spread Carbon Fabric, 125 cm wide (SPOT)

FC0160SPP
C-WEAVE™ 160P SP3K HS is a 160 gsm carbon fabric. It has 4.0 warp threads/cm and 4.0 weft threads/cm. It is made using a plain weave. The thread is a 3K carbon thread (3000 filaments). It is particularly dedicated to prepreg and sports equipment markets. Carbon fabric suitable for infusion, injection (RTM & RTM light) and vacuum bagging hand lay-up...
Out-of-Stock
£180.19 £218.02 Tax incl. £180.19 Tax excl.
200 g/m2 Plain Carbon C-WEAVE™ SP 200P 12K HS, 140 cm wide (SPOT)
  • New

200 g/m2 Plain Carbon C-WEAVE™ SP 200P 12K HS, 140 cm wide (SPOT)

TCSP200P12140
C-WEAVE™ SP 200P 12K HS is a 200 gsm carbon fabric. It has 1.2 warp threads/cm and 1.2 weft threads/cm. It is made using a plain weave. The thread is a 12K carbon thread (12,000 filaments). It is particularly dedicated to prepreg and sports equipment markets. Carbon fabric suitable for infusion, injection (RTM & RTM light) and vacuum bagging hand...
Out-of-Stock
£733.61 £887.67 Tax incl. £733.61 Tax excl.
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