Energy-efficient structural materials for mass-production of lightweight vehicles

Abstract

Lightweight construction is an important topic in automotive design even as societies transition from combustion engines to electric drivetrains. Lighter cars emit less greenhouse gases during their lifetimes, but the automotive industry has been slow in adapting advanced lightweight materials due to their low production rates. This presentation introduces a novel preform concept which allows manufacturers of automotive body structures to employ lightweight fibre-reinforced plastics without having to compromise on output rate or production costs. These preforms are based on hybrid bicomponent fibres, which are reinforcement fibres individually clad in a thermoplastic polymer sheath. The talk outlines a proposed method for fabricating these fibres, presents experimental data on their performance in state of the art parts manufacturing, and concludes with an outlook on the ongoing research on this topic within SCCER Mobility.