Automobile Textiles

28th Jan 2021

The European Alliance for SMC BMC has come out with a series of design guides that explain how these materials can be used, and manufactured in larger production series. SMC and BMC are composite materials ideal for making large, light, and intricate parts that combine structural performance with smooth surface finish. These are now increasingly being...

27th Jan 2021

EconCore's thermoplastic, honeycomb technology is to be used by two large automotive manufacturers. Fynotej has won two contracts to supply annually 120,000m2 of trunk load floors using Fynocore - Fynotej’s continuous honeycomb panel technology, licensed from EconCore in Belgium. One contract is for a new project and the other is for an ongoing...

5th Jan 2021

Continental Structural Plastics (CSP) has improved its carbon fibre RTM (CF-RTM) process to the point of perfection. Due to this, a premium automaker has decided to use the technology for closures on future vehicle platforms. These doors will have both inner and outer panels as well as structural reinforcements molded using CSP’s advanced CF-RTM...

14th Dec 2020

A project that will lighten the weight of Ford Transit vans involving the NCC has been awarded the Innovation in Design award at the Composites UK Industry Awards 2020. Ford, along with partners Gestamp, the NCC and the University of Nottingham, came together to reduce the weight of three components in a Ford Transit, the best-selling van of all time.

11th Dec 2020

Covestro aims to increasingly use carbon from biomass to replace fossil resources like crude oil. In such a breakthrough, Covestro and its partners have come out with an award-winning production process to derive aniline completely from biomass. All of the carbon content in this basic chemical is taken from plants, such as feed corn, instead of crude...

10th Dec 2020

Miko, an Italian subsidiary of US-based Sage Automotive Interiors (member of the Asahi Kasei Group), aims to become climate positive by 2030 by investing in the Bosco Sacile, one of the last ancient forests of the Friuli plain in the Province of Udine and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The company will restore and preserve this...

9th Dec 2020

ESI Group, global player in Virtual Prototyping software and services for industry, is working with Nissan Motor Co to speed up the use of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) to make car parts. Light yet extremely strong, CFRP can make cars safer and more fuel-efficient. Commonly used in sectors such as aerospace, CFRP’s use in cars has been...

7th Dec 2020

Hutchinson is helping in reduction of weight of vehicles by use of composites and through control of the product’s design. Attention paid to design enables parts already made in composite material to be optimised even further, the company says. Vehicle weight reduction is essential to comply with new environmental standards which demand low emissions.

27th Nov 2020

EconCore is working with AZL, Audi and others to explore the use of composites in battery housings. The eight-month collaborative project will assess the technical challenges, opportunities, and benefits of developing battery casings for electric vehicles using a variety of materials, including thermoplastics. The project has been established by AZL.