The markets: Automotive (2020)
As the global auto industry hurtles toward its confrontation with US fuel economy and European Union (EU) emissions standards in 2017, the pressure built to find more radical solutions to lightweighting.
Staff
German racing series shifts to natural fiber application
German racing series DTM says the shift away from carbon fibers will be more cost-efficient, improve lightweighting and reduce the organization’s ecological footprint.
2019 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards winners announced
Among the winners and finalists, a wide range of technologies demonstrate composites’ benefits for ground transportation.
National Composites Week: Improving Lives
As we celebrate National Composites Week, here are just a few of the many ways the composites industry is working to improve our lives.
Highlights: Composites Convention 2019
Highlights from the Composites Convention 2019, June 12-13, in Stade, Germany, organized by CFK Valley e.V. and Carbon Composites e.V, and the German Aerospace Center’s 5th Colloquium on Production Technology, on May 15, in Augsburg.
LANXESS thermoplastic composites used in Audi A8 rear seat shell
LANXESS rear seat shell showcases the company’s continuous-fiber-reinforced composites role in large-scale production of structural components for automotive.
Teijin to acquire Benet Automotive
Benet offers advanced technologies for carbon fiber-reinforced and glass fiber-reinforced plastic molding, as well as the painting and assembly of vehicles.
Composites 2020: A Multitude of Markets
The manufacturing world likes to think of composites fabrication as a single, global entity that operates to serve its customers’ needs with a variety of highly engineered parts and structures.
DARPA presents TFF program for low-cost composites for defense
Results reviewed at SAMPE 2019 show new materials and side-by-side comparisons of thermoset, thermoplastic, HP-RTM and press-forming, including PtFS molding cell.
Multimaterial carbon fiber composite engine brace
The project’s aim was to produce a lighter, composite version of an aluminum Audi engine brace, with a more aesthetic molded shape.
JEC World 2019 preview: Engel
At JEC World 2019, Engel Austria is presenting its technologies for organomelt processing, in-situ polymerization, HP-RTM and flow molding with SMC.
Would you like carbon fiber with that car?
The challenge for composites use to grow in the automotive industry is making the advantages of autocomposites appealing not only to OEMs, but to car consumers.
Carbon fiber will enable air taxi eVTOLs
Aircraft and autos have indeed faced CFRP production woes, but new tech opens door for both.
Thermoplastic door a first for automotive composites
A team of automotive researchers are engaged in a four-year project with goals of building a lighter, 100% recyclable, carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic door.
SPE Automotive Division names Automotive Innovation Awards finalists
The winners will be announced on Nov. 6, 2019 during the 49th SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala.
Hannah Mason
Associate Editor, CompositesWorld
Bio-composites break into structural automotive applications
A company’s bio-based, polyamide composite comes with a unique property profile that may help it carve a niche in automotive applications.
Composites 2019: A multitude of markets
The composites industry, in general, continued to show health and growth, powered particularly by the aerospace, automotive and wind energy sectors.
Reflections on carbon fiber
Highlights from the December 2018 Carbon Fiber conference include industry leader predictions about commoditization of composites, next-generation aircraft and automotive.
Looking ahead at composites trends in 2019
Columnist Dale Brosius predicts 2019 will reveal growth opportunities in infrastructure, wind energy and personal air mobility for composites.
Audi, Airbus and Italdesign test flying taxi prototype
Audi, Airbus and Italdesign Pop.Up Next model flies and drives at Amsterdam Drone Week.
Hybrid thermoplastics give load floor impact strength
Project leads to development of new compression process for selective application of D-LFT on UD tape laminates.
LANXESS commissions two new production lines for Tepex thermoplastic composites
The 1,500-square-meter expansion to the Brilon, Germany facility increases production of the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites by 50%.
Hannah Mason
Associate Editor, CompositesWorld
AVK presents its 2018 Innovation Awards
The 2018 AVK Innovation Awards were presented at the International Composites Congress (ICC) on Nov 5, chosen from more than 50 submissions.
Pushing EVs forward
Multifunctional chassis design and novel composites processes enable lighter, longer-range, safer electric vehicles.
Automotive tipping point?
CW Editor Jeff Sloan predicts a tipping point for autocomposites after attending this year’s Society of Plastics Engineers’ Automotive Composites Conference and Exhibition (SPE ACCE).
Voith wins Lightweight Design Award
Voith’s VRA technology for CFRP production lines is said to reduce waste and thus material costs by depositing carbon fibers close to the final shape.
Connecting the Dots: Generative design, bionic structures and future composites
The trend shows cast and 3D printed metal, but fiber-reinforced composites offer the potential for multifunctional structures.
Teaming to define what automotive CFRP could be
Ford and Magna explore a high-volume chassis front subframe build from co-molded chopped fiber and noncrimp fabric SMC.