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The battery system is one of the heaviest components in the powertrain of an electric vehicle. The use of lightweight materials and high-volume production processes according to requirements and functionality offers significant potential to reduce weight without compromising on safety or performance. A new technology concept shows the particular advantages of using a modified direct process with a tailored material selection.

Lightweight battery module with lithium-ion battery cells in pouch cell format and SMC module end plates.

16:9

Lightweight Traction Battery System for Electromobility

Composite-Halbzeuge

Elektromobilität

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

Leichtbau

Harzsysteme für Composite-Herstellung

Polyurethan

Faserverbundwerkstoffe

Energiespeichersysteme

Lightweight Construction  for Heavyweights

Until now, only metal has been used for the tailgates of VW cars. In its top of the line electric model, the ID.3, Volkswagen is now using a plastic-metal composite for the first time. One of the materials used for its production is a long glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene from Celanese. The material was required to not only satisfy the mechanical demands, but also enable an attractive appearance.

The ID.3 is Volkswagen’s first car with a tailgate made partly of plastic.

Tailgate of the Volkswagen ID.3: Fiber-Reinforced PP Enables the Use of Plastics

Kfz-Elektronik

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Standardkunststoffe

Polypropylen

Pultrusion

Long Fibers, Smart Look

Particularly two industries have shown considerable interest in FPP technology: aerospace industry in automating the lay-up processes of multi-material lightweight components with sandwich cores, as well as manufacturers of CFRP pressure vessels for hydrogen-powered vehicles (FCEVs), who can thus achieve savings in the double-digit percentage range. In both areas, FPP is the first technology to automate critical fiber lay-up processes in order to industrialize the production.

Laminate reinforcement of filament-wound pressure tanks. The shape of the patches and the gripper is adapted to the size and complexity  of the component.

New Applications for the Automated Production of Fiber Composite Components

Greifer

Kohlenstofffasern / -matten

Inspektionssysteme

Industrieroboter

Automatisierungstechnik

Reinforcement on Approach

During the shredding of fiber-reinforced plastics, fiber fragments are released that settle on the skin and clothing, which can lead to itching and may possibly also be inhaled. In a project on the subject of fiber dusts, a study is being carried out on how toxic such fiber fragments are, and which shredding technology is most suitable for preventing – or at least reducing – the release of inhalable fibers.

Mechanical Recycling of Fiber-Reinforced Plastics

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Fiber Dust Formation during the Recycling of FRP

Lanxess has expanded its composite range called Tepex flowcore. The product family is specially developed for various compression molding processes.

No additional injection-molded material was used to produce the ribbing on the demonstrator model. It is made entirely from compression-molded Tepex flowcore.

Ductile Composites for Compression Molding

Lightweight design with fiber-reinforced plastics saves energy resources in the use phase of automobiles and aircraft. However, the savings are often offset by higher consumption in production. Therefore, the focus is increasingly shifting to sustainability in manufacturing. The Research Institute Neue Materialien Bayreuth has conducted a corresponding sustainability analysis for the processing of thermoplastic UD tapes into functionally integrated components.

Fig. 4. The demonstrator component “2D-MultiMat” was manufactured with laminates of woven fabric organosheets and UD tapes (CF or GF/CF hybrid) based on PP and injection-molded functional integration (PP-GF) with the FORCE process chain.

Evaluate the Environmental Impact of the Production of FRP Components

Fasern

Faserverarbeitung

UD-Tapes

Nachhaltigkeit

Kunststofffasern

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Schnüre, Bänder, Tapes

How Sustainable Is  Lightweight Design Really?

Short glass fiber-reinforced plastics are widely used in structural and housing components that are  permanently exposed to vibrations with frequencies up to around 103 Hz. In order to enable  appropriate dimensioning against high-frequency vibration loads, the influence of frequency on material  fatigue is investigated in this work.

Whether in kitchen appliances or in the automotive sector: thermoplastics are often exposed to heat and vibrations during their lifetime. 

Fatigue of Short Glass Fiber-Reinforced Technical Thermoplastics

Messtechnik

Alterungsprüfanlagen, Ermüdungsprüfanlagen

High Frequency Fatigue

Tapes must be stacked both with high accuracy and efficiency. In the ongoing development of its tape-stacking cell, Engel places a third focus on simplifying operation. CAD-based tape stacking, which Engel has implemented in a customer’s system for the first time, will play a role here. Further new features are the pyrolysis function for cleaning the welding elements, as well as the modular end-of-arm tooling for handling the semi-finished products.

The new modular end-of-arm tooling of the tape stacking cell increases both the cost effectiveness and the flexibility. The functional elements can be individually positioned thanks to a perforated grid.

CAD-Based Tape -Stacking

Anlagen zur Composite-Herstellung

Bildverarbeitungssysteme

Greifer für die Kunststofftechnik

Precise but Highly Efficient

Internal pressure loads are typical for fiber-reinforced plastic components. To increase the burst strength of components, the fiber orientation can be modified in a targeted way during injection molding by means of a rotating mold core. A newly developed simulation method allows this modified fiber orientation to be taken into account at the design stage.

Practical implementation of a mold system with rotating core.

Mold System with Rotating Core Improves Mechanical Properties

Spritzgießen

Werkstoffprüfung, mechanisch

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Spritzgießsimulation

Design Methodology for Parts Subject to Internal Pressure

Short fiber-reinforced plastics are used for many technically demanding applications. For efficient development processes and high product quality, their anisotropic material properties must be factored into the design cycle. A simple approach often taken is to reduce the material stiffness. However, a more accurate approach is to consider the effective fiber orientation. This article discusses the pros and cons of both approaches.

Water pump bFlow C as an example of a part manufactured with short glass fiber-reinforced plastic.

Universal-Prüfmaschinen für Zug, Druck und Biegung

Analysetools, FEM

Modellierung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Anisotropic Simulation of  Short Fiber-Reinforced Plastics

Lehvoss will be coming to Fakuma with compounds for lightweight construction applications, including those intended to serve as metal substitutes.

Lehvoss will be coming to Fakuma with compounds for lightweight construction applications

Compound

Messe Fakuma

Polyamide

Technische Kunststoffe

Replacing Metals with PPA Compounds

As a result of the Corona crisis, press manufacturer Wickert sees only a temporary slowdown in the growth forecasts for composite technologies. The company currently sees four trends in system engineering.

Composite press for research: for scientists at the Chemnitz University of Technology, Wickert developed a highly flexible four-column upper piston press which offers a high level of freedom and diversity in application

The Demand for Composites Will Keep Growing in the Future

Pressen

Duroplaste

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Naturmaterialien

Thermoplaste

Trends in Composite Manufacturing

Continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites have also become established with thin-walled housings for consumer electronics and information technology. Not only do they offer high stiffness and help to reduce weight, but also enable the integration of classy appearance and functions. What is more, if the housings are produced using the hybrid molding process, costs, processing steps, and cycle times can be reduced.

The Carbon 1 Mark II smartphone from Carbon Mobile was developed in Germany. The matt-black carbon fibers lend the smartphone a classy high-tech look

Composites Reduce Weight and Simplify Production of Electronics Housings

Glasfasern / -matten

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Kunststoff

Lightweight to Fit in a Pocket

CFRP components are often in continuous use under harsh environmental conditions, for example in aircraft and motor vehicles. If any damage occurs, the CFRP structures are simply replaced by new components in most cases. This is mainly due to the high cost of established repair methods. With a newly developed process, defective CFRP structures can now be repaired locally much more easily.

Fig. 1. Overview of the simulation-based repair method for CFRP components: the method enables targeted repair of the damaged area

Process for Repairing CFRP Components without Machining

Repairing instead of Replacing

Currently, small wind turbines can hardly be operated profitably in landlocked regions. This drawback has now been overcome by the partners EAB Gebäudetechnik Luckau GmbH and the Chair of Polymer-based Lightweight Design at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg: passive smartblades made from 3D-printed molds adapt independently to wind conditions. This is achieved by an intelligent layer structure and its bending-torsion-coupling.

This newly developed rotor blade is especially suited for weak-wind regions and adapts independently to the wind load

Additive Manufacture of FRP Injection Molds for FRP Components of Small Wind Turbines

Simulation Produkt- / Formteildesign

Finite Methoden

Harze, Epoxid

Windkraft

Additive Fertigung

Highly Efficient Adaptive  Fiber-Composite Rotor Blades

Teknor Apex presents three halogen-free FR glass-reinforced polyamide compounds with UL94 ratings of V0.

Application example: engine cover in the automotive industry

Elektronik

Automotive

Glass-Reinforced and Halogen-Free Flame-Retardant

For lightweight applications e. g. in automotive engineering BASF developed carbon fiber-reinforced polyphthalamide (PPA) grades with fillings of 20, 30 und 40 %.

The carbon fiber-reinforced PPA e. g. can replace aluminum and magnesium 

PPA Now with Carbon Fiber-Reinforcement

Lightweight Metal Replacement

Any place where plastic parts slide against one another, primarily in injectors, in the operating room and in patient care, the low-friction and wear-resistant plastics help facilitate the handling of devices.

Patients expect self-medication auto-injectors to work reliably every time they use them. Covestro offers new Makrolon brand polycarbonate plastics for the manufacture of such devices: improved, low-friction grades as well as glass-filled products with very high strength

Covestro Offers New Families of Makrolon

Medizintechnik

Polycarbonat

Materials for Drug Delivery Devices and Surgical Instruments

In the iComposite 4.0 research project, it has been possible to cut the costs for a prototype component by more than 50 percent and throughput time by 40 percent.

View of the production system built for the iComposite 4.0 project at the RWTH Aachen AZL

Economic Production of Fiber-Reinforced Plastics in High Volumes

Self-Regulating Production Plant