Business Domains
Scope of business (products)
with leading-edge carbon composites
Automobile
Carbon composites have continuously been upgraded in the world of motor sports where ultimate lightness, strength, and shock absorption are demanded, and have begun to be widely employed by many automobile manufacturers mainly in their high-performance vehicles. They largely contribute to reducing the weight of car bodies and to thereby reducing CO2 emissions in conformity with recent trends, and have been highly acclaimed for their design and development potentials. In 2020, the ultra-lightweight carbon roof that was developed by Challenge won the Nissan Global Supplier Award—Global Innovation Award from Nissan Motor Corporation.
Aerospace
Carbon composites have long played an active role in the aircraft and space development sectors. Their applications have expanded to new sectors including the rocket, eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, flying vehicle), and drone sectors, creating strong demand for product development, as well as for the realization of cost requirements and for the establishment of a stable production and supply framework. Challenge will respond to diverse customer needs not only with the latest production technologies but also by creating an advanced quality management system, from trial manufacture to production and shipment.
Medical
equipment
Carbon composites are increasingly being applied to the medical and nursing care sectors, where the high X-ray transmittance that is characteristic of carbon composites works to the advantage such as of “DR front panels” that enable high-resolution high-quality imaging, prosthetic legs that support comfortable walking, and wheelchairs that are required to be as lightweight as possible. Large expectation is pinned specifically on our carbon composite technologies to open the way to an even more comfortable and enriching future of medicine and nursing care based on advanced biomechanics and computational engineering.
Other
Carbon composites provide lightness and strength that cannot be achieved with metals, and are thus used in a wide range of applications. For example, they are used in the Shinkansen nose cover, which needs to be strong enough to withstand tremendous wind pressure but light enough to facilitate the connecting of cars. They are also used in prosthetic legs that support parasports athletes and industrial robots that realize smooth operations while keeping power consumption to the minimum. We are committed to supporting our customers with optimal proposals based on our capacity for materials development and technical capabilities that are bolstered by the cooperative strength of the Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation Group.
