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Increase in cost method investment ownership percentage.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Business Acquisition and Investments in Affiliates - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jan. 05, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2014
Luminati \| 8% convertible secured promissory note
Business Acquisition and Investments in Affiliates [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate		8.00%	8.00%
Face value		$ 10.0	$ 10.0
Debt instrument, maturity year			2023
Luminati \| 17.2% convertible secured promissory note
Business Acquisition and Investments in Affiliates [Line Items]
Debt instrument, interest rate		17.20%	17.20%
OPM
Business Acquisition and Investments in Affiliates [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interest acquired		10.30%	10.30%
Purchase price		$ 15.0
Milestone achievement description			In addition, if OPM achieves certain milestones within an 18 month period or at Hexcel’s discretion, the Company will invest an additional $10 million, increasing its investment in OPM to 16.1%.
Additional cost method investment		$ 10.0	$ 10.0
Cost method investment, increased ownership percentage		16.10%	16.10%
Formax
Business Acquisition and Investments in Affiliates [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interest acquired	50.00%			50.00%
Purchase price	$ 12.0		$ 22.0
Payments to acquire remaining interest	$ 8.6
Remaining installments payment period	4 years
Long-term debt assumed		$ 8.2	$ 8.2
Purchase price allocated to goodwill	$ 10.2