JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016 - 34

phenolic

Fig. 3: The injection moulding machine for the composite cylinder housing

nitrogen. The tools must be made from
high-grade tool steels and represent a large
capital investment. The rapid heating and
cooling cycles, combined with high wear,
mean the tool's lifetime is around 100,000
mouldings (injection shots). An additional
tool - a cutting tool - is needed to remove
the "overflow" on the part and this also has
a lifetime of around 100,000 shots. With
the composite injection moulding process,
because of the lower process temperatures
and pressures involved, tool cost is lower
and tooling lifetime is 300,000-500,000
shots. Therefore, for an automotive part
with a production run of around 1 million
parts a year, the tooling investment is 3-5
times lower for glass fibre-reinforced phenolic than for aluminium.
Like die-cast aluminium, injection moulding
is a standard industrial process easily capable
of producing 1 million parts or more per
year, and the investment required is very
competitive with the die casting process. For
the manufacture of the composite cylinder
housing, an injection moulding machine,
moulds and the automation required would

cost an estimated €1.2-1.3 million. An
aluminium die casting machine is more
expensive, although the cycle time is lower.

Reduced environmental impact
The automotive industry is under pressure to reduce the environmental impact
of its products throughout their lifecycle,
and phenolic composites will help in this
respect. Life cycle assessments (LCAs)
demonstrate that the environmental
impact of phenolic composite components
over their entire lifetime, taking end-of-life
recycling into account, is lower than that of
aluminium alternatives.
Compared with other plastics, steel and
aluminium, phenolic moulding compounds
require a low energy input value during
manufacturing and transformation into
products (Figure 6). If energy consumption
is related to the properties obtained (e.g.
stiffness), then the superiority of phenolics
becomes even clearer.
Since a composite automotive part weighs
less than an aluminium alternative, it will
have better energy efficiency and lower

Fig. 4: Weight comparison figures for cylinder housings manufactured from
different materials (Source: SBHPP/Fraunhofer)

global warming potential over its entire
product life. The lower fuel consumption
during service life for a composite part will
have a significant environmental impact
for larger parts (such as the engine block)
and further tips the balance in favour of
phenolic composites.
SBHPP has also developed a patented
chemical recycling technology for phenolic
compounds. The two recycling methods
currently used for thermoset composites involve shredding the final part into
powder for use as a filler in other materials,
and combustion in cement kilns. Neither
of these routes is able to significantly
save fossil fuel resources and reduce CO2
emissions. SBHPP's supercritical fluid
technology makes it possible to recover raw
materials such as monomers, oligomers
and reinforcements in their initial state. A
pilot plant is in operation in Japan.

Building confidence in composites
Now that the performance and commercial benefits of composite cylinder
housings have been proven, the company

Fig. 5: Cost analysis for the composite cylinder housing compared with the
aluminium part (Source: SBHPP/Fraunhofer)

34 jec composites magazine / No102 January - February 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #102 - January/February 2016
