CF
HexTow® IM6 12K
Hexcel ? Intermediate Modulus
Manufacturer page / TDSDescription
HexTow® IM6 carbon fiber is a continuous, high performance, intermediate modulus, PAN based fiber. Suggested for use in prepregging, filament winding, braiding, and pultrusion. It offers improved strain capability compared to earlier intermediate modulus grades and is widely used in aerospace applications, particularly for structures requiring high strength and toughness.
Comparative overview
Carbon fiber — Intermediate-modulus carbon
Strengths: Premium balance of high tensile strength, stiffness and usable strain; a common choice for weight-critical primary structures.
When to use: Select for primary aerospace structures, high-performance pressure vessels, launch/space hardware and demanding sporting structures.
Key tradeoffs: Higher cost than standard-modulus carbon; conductive, galvanically active against metals and less impact-tolerant than aramid/UHMWPE hybrids.
Qualitative ratings (1–10 scale)
| Relative cost | 8/10 — High — aerospace-grade PAN carbon with higher modulus and strength than standard grades. |
|---|---|
| EM transparency | 1/10 — Very poor — electrically conductive and therefore poor for RF-transparent structures. |
| Temperature / fire resistance | 6/10 — Good — non-melting but oxidation in air and matrix degradation limit practical fire resistance. |
| Impact / penetration resistance | 6/10 — Good — balanced strength and strain give moderate-high impact potential; laminate architecture remains decisive. Stored TDS elongation: 1.9%. |
| Electrical / thermal conductivity | 7/10 — High — electrically conductive with moderate axial thermal transport. |
| Specific tensile strength | 10/10 — 10/10 | 3329.5 kN·m/kg | Product TDS |
| Atmospheric durability | 9/10 — Excellent — carbon fiber is intrinsically resistant to UV, moisture and salt exposure; long-term laminate durability is usually governed by sizing, matrix, galvanic coupling and interfaces rather than the fiber. |
| Sustainability (CO₂e) | 5/10 — 19.85 kg CO₂e/kg fiber — High emissions — data quality: High |
Technical properties
| Tensile strength | 5860.0 MPa |
|---|---|
| Tensile modulus | 279.0 GPa |
| Density | 1.76 g/cm³ |
| Filament diameter | 5.2 µm |
Applications and processing
AerospaceBraidingFilament WindingPrepreggingPultrusion