Home / News / SGL Carbon to showcase smart solutions at JEC World

SGL Carbon to showcase smart solutions at JEC World

11 Mar '19

5 min read

Pic: SGL Carbon

SGL Carbon will showcase smart solutions for the automotive industry at the JEC World, the largest trade fair for composites to be held during March 12-14, 2019, in Paris. The company will display a wide range of tailored components and high-performance materials along the entire value chain under the motto "The Weight and Performance Optimisers."

The automotive examples also represent possible innovative applications in other industries. “As a reliable and innovative partner to our customers, we offer tailored solutions across industries, from fibres to finished parts, all from a single source. We help not only to produce lighter components, but also boost performance thanks to greater durability of individual components or improved overall architectures,” explains Andreas Wüllner, president of the Divisional Board of Composites – Fibres and Materials at SGL Carbon.

Highlights include a carbon fibre-reinforced rear wall for a high-performance car from a major German automobile manufacturer, which was implemented in serial production in cooperation with SGL Carbon. As a light body-reinforcing element, the design not only helps to keep the overall weight low – it is also crucial for configuring the entire vehicle’s performance. The rear wall structure was laid out to meet load path requirements in cross-departmental collaboration between specialists from material engineering, product design and process design. Joining of metal materials to composite materials also came into play over the course of the project, with SGL Carbon offering just the right material and process expertise.

The innovative natural fibre concept for a sportscar manufacturer also celebrated its trade fair premiere. In developing the motorsport model, the focus was placed on both, extreme performance and sustainability. This is why the carmaker opted for a hybrid biology-based composite for the doors and rear spoilers. In concrete terms, the components consist of a combination of biology-based natural fibres and fossil-based carbon fibres as well as conventional plastics. SGL Carbon developed a specifically pre-impregnated natural fibre fabric based on a fast-curing resin. Concepts for accelerated pressing processes and tools engineering were also developed in collaboration with the Lightweight and Application Centre of SGL Carbon.

Besides complex structure and fitting requirements, component production also demands extensive surface properties for visible carbon components to ensure a perfect look. SGL Carbon also has many years of experience and expertise in this still important area, demonstrated at JEC World, on the one hand with a strut bar based on braided carbon fibres, ensuring both stability and a visual highlight in the engine compartment of the BMW models M2, M3 and M4 and on the other hand, SGL Carbon will also showcase a mount carrier made of carbon-fibre non-woven materials for a sportscar manufacturer, used in the rear end of the sports car as a platform for installing the spoiler.

The glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) leaf spring is just one component that offers major potential for high-volume serial production. It is already used as a cross leaf spring in the rear axles of around 40 Volvo models, produced at the SGL plant in Austria in a completely automated manufacturing process at a volume of several hundreds of thousands per year – unparalleled in the industry. The major advantages of the springs include a weight reduction up to 65 per cent compared to standard steel springs, greater driving comfort and more interior space. The leaf spring can also be realised in a longitudinal form and is currently being implemented in new joint projects with renowned automotive manufacturers from Europe and North America.

Growing electromobility also means battery boxes made of glass-fibre and carbon-fibre composite materials are also gaining in importance. SGL Carbon’s high-voltage battery housing concept represents a reduction in weight of up to 50 per cent compared with the corresponding steel component. It meets the highest of standards in terms of fire resistance, rigidity, acoustics and both thermal and electromagnetic shielding. With fibre composites, sensors can also be integrated to detect damage in the underbody of the electric vehicle. Damage is recognised early on, so the vehicle electronics can take safety precautions right away. Using carbon-fibre non-woven materials and fibre-reinforced thermosetting polymers helps to map complex geometries with a process streamlined for serial production.

At the JEC World, SGL Carbon will also present trend-setting processing and application variants as well as advanced material classes. One example is the combination of formable thermoplastic profiles and subsequent extrusion coating with thermoplastic short-fibre granules into a complex skeletal structure. This concept was developed several years ago for a BMW cowl component as part of the “MAI Skelett” project sponsored by the German government. The advantages of this approach include integration into existing, highly automated production processes combined with extremely fast cycle times of under 75 seconds per part. SGL Carbon now offers high-quality thermoplastic profiles pultruded in-house with high fibre volumes that can be processed immediately, without blending. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India