Automotive Composites - Lighter, More Flexible Solutions

Sandeepan Mondal, Frost & Sullivan's senior research analyst, predicts that thermoplastics have advantages over thermosets because they are easier to recycle than thermosets. This is all the more important because of the increasing influence of waste regulations and component recycling capabilities on material selection.

The huge market demand for these two materials has become the main driver of the two major acquisitions. The most recent one occurred in January 2013. The Dutch company TenCate stated that it will soon acquire Amber Composites. The Dutch company issued a statement saying: "A major component of the global composite market is thermosets, and TenCate's main operations in this market are focused on aerospace, aerospace and radar fairing applications."

TenCate added that the acquisition of Amber Composites will help us accelerate our business development in the European thermoset composite market. Therefore, after the acquisition of Amber, TenCate has gained market share in the thermoset and thermoplastic composites sector in Europe and its major downstream markets - industrial and automotive composites, mold materials and aerospace markets. “

The second acquisition was in 2012. Alexander Aucken, global automotive market manager for Cytec Industrial Materials, acquired Cytec Industrial Materials, Cytec Industrial Materials, said: “This acquisition will help us to achieve the goals set in the industrial materials (including automotive) market. With growth targets, this market has tremendous potential for growth and value creation."

Before the acquisition was completed, Cytec already had what he called "a full range of thermoset and thermoplastic composites." Umeco's production capabilities will help Cytec develop and expand its product line.

Aucken did not disclose the development strategy of Cytec in automotive thermoplastics and thermosets. But he said: “We have a very thorough and strategic plan for the strategic planning of the industrial automotive market. Our alliance with Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar Land Rover) is part of this strategic plan. The automotive market is constantly changing and we are in high-end cars and The long history of the supply of advanced composite materials for the racing market is continuing, and new composite materials are constantly being developed to meet the needs of the market.The development of materials suitable for mass production, production processes and automated processes, and centralized management of the supply chain are We will be the cornerstone of growth in this market with Jaguar Land Rover and other car companies that we are cooperating with.”

Aucken believes that as the automotive industry continues to gain experience in the design and production of composite materials, the use of composite materials and the need for structural integration will increase. Applying the right materials to the right application and then connecting them together means using matched molds, thermoset composites (prepreg molding and resin transfer molding/RTM) and thermoplastic composites. This approach has made multi-material automotive solutions an industry standard.

pros and cons

Having both thermoset and thermoplastic materials at the same time will certainly give Cytec and TenCat tremendous help because some designers prefer thermosets and some prefer thermoplastics. Klaus Ritter, marketing manager at Huntsman Advanced Materials, explains that the process of component design is often the process of evaluating the benefits and disadvantages of each composite.

"The thermoplastic composites have three major advantages," said itter. "First, the reinforced thermoplastic impact resistance is unmatched by thermoset composites. Thermoplastics can speed up the processing of pre-impregnated fiber materials, and most importantly, it has The ability to reshape the product at any time, but because thermoplastics are inherently solid, the soaking of the fibers is difficult, and special techniques and equipment are used for the wetting. This relatively increases the cost of pre-impregnation and the temperature required for processing. High, also increases daily production costs."

Ritter goes on to say: “Other thermoplastic weaknesses include its creep and higher internal tension due to differential thermal expansion between thermoplastics and reinforcing fibers when cooled down from high processing temperatures. The problem of one-way reinforcements is relatively small, and complex three-dimensional shapes have great problems and can lead to a decline in surface quality."

“The processing time of thermoset composite materials is usually long. Now it is possible to use the autoclave high pressure RTM (resin transfer molding) rapid prototyping method to realize a five-minute cycle (one-minute injection, two-minute curing) for less complex compression molding. In operation, each part takes only two minutes (curing only takes one minute), he said.

According to Ritter, in structural applications, the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of thermoset composites made of fiber-reinforced epoxy resins “are even higher than metal components and weigh less than metals. Thermoset composites are good fibers. Wetting performance and relatively low processing temperatures help reduce investment costs and maintain the best product quality and mechanical properties."

According to Ritter, thermoset composites have the lowest creep deformation. They “combine shape and function to create very light structural components. Whether the auto parts are carbon fiber or painted, they can achieve very good surface quality. However, toxicity problems are often seen as a disadvantage of several thermoset material systems."

According to Francis Defoor, director of global transportation marketing at Momentive Specialty Chemicals, which is better for thermosetting or thermoplastic materials, the question itself is wrong. He said: "This is a more complex issue than simply choosing a resin and a reinforcing material. It depends on the specific application and environment to choose the right material. The choice of material depends on you need a good decorative part It is also a structural component; it is to adapt to a specific geometry or to meet a specific cost target."

Defoor agrees that traditional thermosetting resins require long-term curing, but now it is possible to achieve a two-minute processing cycle without sacrificing other properties. In a paper titled "Advanced Thermosetting Resin Matrix Technology for Next Generation High Volume Manufacture of Automotive Composite Structures," Dr. Roman W. Hilliermeier and Tarecl Hasson Dr. Lars Friedrich? And Cedric Ball believes that epoxy composites can compete with traditional materials such as steel and aluminum.

In the abstract of this article, the authors stated: "...The new technologies are unique because they have long enough injection processing windows to infiltrate reinforcing fibers well, and at the same time can achieve extremely short curing cycles. The results of the study show that the use of current innovative resin materials and processing techniques enables structural composite parts to be mass-produced at a lower cost.” Momentive says the newly introduced curing agent EcokoteTM Binder 05475/ Epikure 05500 curing agent , Can use RTM or liquid compression molding process to help car manufacturers achieve higher productivity.

Ticona, Celanese's engineering plastics business, believes that thermoplastic tapes are the key to reducing weight.

At the 2012 JEC American Composites Exhibition, Michael Ruby, Technical launch manager at Ticona, published a technical article on glass-reinforced thermoplastic composite unidirectional tapes entitled "Using Singles." "Improving impact performance in D-LFT composites with UD-Tape based fabrics & laminates", which summarizes Ticona's automotive underbody guards (and improves the impact properties of D-LFT composites). Researches on underbody shields (UBS) have described ways to improve the hardness/strength and impact resistance of composites by using continuous strands, glass-reinforced thermoplastic composites, unidirectional tapes to produce fabrics and custom laminates.

Ticona believes that thermoplastic polymers combined with continuous fiber composites can produce lightweight and durable components. Ticona said that these components can reduce weight, reduce costs, and can be used in extreme environments.

The company developed an automotive underbody housing made from long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite in-line compounding technology (D-LFT). The composite materials used were reinforced with continuous fiber semifinished fabrics and laminates to increase hardness and impact resistance.

carbon fiber

Increased competition between companies and faster curing cycles are likely to prompt more car designers to use reinforced polymers. The integration of components has been going on for many years. Just as Axon Automotive is confirming, there is much more to do in this area.

British company Axon developed a city car. The size of this B-class car is very similar to that of Citroën Cl, but it is said that the entire body frame weighs only 50 kg.

Light vehicles can minimize fuel consumption and emissions, and the market’s demand for light vehicles has led the company to develop “black body” carbon fiber composite systems. It is said that the "black body" system of a city car only weighs 50 kilograms; a medium car weighs only 80 kilograms. The Axon also said that it is possible to quickly establish an economical car platform and that it can increase as the demand changes. The best initial output has great potential for development.

"The higher the degree of structural integration, the fewer parts that need to be manufactured." explained Steve Cousins, general manager of Axon.

Cousins ​​said there are 350 parts in a classic white body, and Axon's black body has fewer parts and is manufactured much faster. According to Cousins, a 3-meter-high beam requires only 10 minutes of infusion molding time.

Axon uses Axontex technology to make composite structural beams that are very light but have very high strength and stiffness. The company says that this system not only satisfies all hardness and crash standards, but also can use any material you need in exterior body panels, from steel to thermoplastics and anything in between. Crestapol 1250 LV, a carbon fiber composite resin system developed by the company in collaboration with Scott Bader, has been used in the body frame of its urban automobile to achieve lower costs and higher strength.

Ford Motor Company is also using carbon fiber materials, and the company is working with Dow Automotive Systems to study the use of advanced carbon fiber composites in production vehicles. One of Ford’s key objectives for improving fuel efficiency is to reduce the weight of new cars and trucks by 750 pounds (approximately 340 kg) by 2020.

Paul M ascarenas, Ford’s chief technology officer and vice president, explained that there are two ways to reduce the fuel consumption of cars: research and innovation. They are "researching how to improve the efficiency of fuel-to-power conversion and reduce the power train needs to do."

"Ford mainly solves the problem of conversion by reducing the size of engines and electrical equipment. The reduction in the quality of the trim and the improvement in dynamics are the key to reducing energy consumption." He said, "Ford is working on a series of new materials, Improvements in the design process and new manufacturing technologies are being investigated. They enable cars to meet increasingly stringent safety and quality standards while reducing weight.”

“We have made some progress by using lightweight and high-strength polymers and structural connection technology, so the cooperation with Ford Company is logical.” said Florian Schattenmann, Director of Dow Automotive Systems R&D.

Dow Motors and Ford Motor Co. have signed a cooperative development agreement, and the two parties will cooperate in several areas to develop R&D. The R&D team will work hard to establish an economical carbon fiber resource for vehicles and develop a manufacturing method for component parts suitable for production vehicles. This cooperation will combine the most prominent advantages of the two parties, including Ford's capabilities and experience in design, craftsmanship, and production vehicle production, as well as Dow Automotive's strengths in R&D, materials science, and quantitative polymer processing.

The joint development will also use Dow Chemical's research work in cooperation with Turkish carbon fiber producer AKSA and the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

If this cooperation can be successful, carbon fiber parts may appear in Ford's new car later this century. The goal of the product development team is to meet new fuel efficiency standards above 50 mpg (miles per gallon) and to extend the mileage of electric vehicles.

Recycling

Designers are now very picky about the choice of polymers and reinforcing materials. However, Nigel Keen, a business support engineer at the National Composites Centre in Bristol, England, said that processing speed is currently the most favorable factor for thermoplastics compared to recyclable properties. Because now both thermoplastics and thermosets have recycling solutions that comply with EU standards. However, recycling is still a problem, although automotive manufacturers have already considered this issue when designing components.

It is said that 100% recovery can be achieved with thermosetting materials. Bruce Ogilvy, marketing manager of the Eco-Wolf company, said that the company's recycling system will become more and more popular because the automotive industry is facing a pressure that is how to prove the thermosetting property. There are viable recycling methods for parts made of materials.

“As raw material costs continue to increase, regulations related to landfills continue to evolve, and the ability to re-use waste becomes increasingly attractive,” Ogilvy said. “At first, however, a certain percentage of pure material was replaced with recycled materials. The cost savings are not ideal because, when the cost of landfills is reduced, other related costs are increased, so the reduced cost becomes a major consideration.We are currently working with some companies to establish fiber Recycling plants that recycle both fiberglass and carbon fiber composites."

Eco-Wolf's recycling system consists of two main parts. One is the Eco-Grinder. This machine is a solid structure. Its special design can keep the integrity of fiberglass or other natural fibers while maintaining the abrasiveness of the material. Sex. This allows the fiber to be added back into the new product.

The second part is an Eco-Dispensing Macerator. This is a pneumatic device that can meter the material from the Eco Pulverizer and transfer it to the existing disperser and from there according to the operator's Injection into the resin stream is required oEco-Wolf offers an adapter that can reuse waste without changing the resin system.

Ogilvy said that Eco-Wolf has “developed a unique carbon fiber processing method because it does not require heating during carbon fiber recycling and therefore does not significantly reduce the tensile strength of carbon fiber.” Ultimately, designers may be forced to make compromises. This is because the choice of polymer and carbon fiber materials may, to some extent, depend on how easy it is to automate the process. In addition, although the cure time has been shortened in some processes, the introduction of a new composite material production process in an automobile factory is not simply to find all the variables such as design, material, size, and cost. The impact of the secondary process must also be thoroughly understood, such as the spray process. It is interesting to watch how automakers achieve their future weight loss goals.