Nagase & Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hiroyuki Ueshima; hereinafter referred to as “NAGASE”), Chiyoda Holdings Co., Ltd., Fuji Design Co., Ltd., and UCHIDA Co., Ltd. are proud to announce the successful development of an innovative technology for removing resin from racing car parts made of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics)—widely used in aircraft and automobiles—while preserving the length and shape of the carbon fibers. The extracted fibers are then re-impregnated with resin to restore damaged or scratched parts into functional components.
CFRP are composite materials made by solidifying carbon fiber with thermosetting resin, known for being lightweight and highly durable material. While it offers excellent strength-toweight performance, since its structure makes it difficult to repair once damaged and its incineration requires large amounts of energy, most CFRP waste is landfilled. As CFRP is widely used in racing car body parts, it is recognized that challenge of sustainably disposing of damaged parts generated through race competition are growing. The four companies recently acquired damaged CFRP front wing parts from the U.S.-based motorsport team Andretti Formula E, made available through NAGASE's sponsorship of the team. Combining Fuji-Design’s patented carbonization technology, which removes the resin while preserving the carbon fiber shape , and UCHIDA’s resin re-impregnation technology developed for motorsports parts, they have succeeded for the first time in reforming the original shape of a CFRP part. (This result demonstrates technical feasibility only; the regenerated parts do not yet meet the strength requirements for racing use, and further research and development, including on the resin component, is needed for practical application. )
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