JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016 - 50

awards

official partner

Automotive: Exterior parts

Composite one shot for visible parts
The process consists in preparing
thermoplastic woven organo-sheet
blanks cut into the final shape to minimize waste and avoid machining after
thermoforming followed by overmoulding. Then, the blanks are heated to
an optimized temperature and stacked
accordingly.
The next step involves transferring and
laying the blanks quickly in the mould
using a specific gripper. Afterwards, the
mould is closed and the molten organosheet is overmoulded with PPGF40
(polypropylene + 40% glass fibre) using
an ingenious injection process validated
through simulation. The final part is a
net-shape part.

Developed 100% by Faurecia, this
programme was entirely conducted
in-house from early engineering to final
part validation, involving all the teams:
design, CAE, materials, manufacturing engineering and laboratories. The
programme was launched in April 2014
and is now almost finished. Most of the
validation steps were performed for
both the products and processes.
With this project, Faurecia mainly
targets the automotive industry. The
first parts concerned are liftgates and
tailgates, but front end carriers, seats
and any visible or non-visible structural
parts will also benefit from this innovation. Weight is saved by combining

Winner: Faurecia Automotive Exteriors
(France)

in one part functions that are usually
spread out into three parts, but also due
to the improved interface between the
reinforcement and the overmoulding
material.

Cost-competitive, lightweight decklid concept
The lightweight decklid (or trunk lid)
concept was developed as part of a
study to compare the weight of decklids made from steel or aluminium
versus a multi-material approach - in
this case, a composite and carbon fibre
RTM. Reducing the cycle time associated with the use of carbon fibre was
also a key requirement. The material
combination used in the Lincoln MKS
decklid concept, which combines
Continental Structural Plastics' (CSP)
TCA Ultra Lite and carbon fibre RTM,
results in a decklid that is 13% lighter
than its aluminium counterpart, and
cost competitive. This concept also
incorporates nylon (polyamide or PA)
multi-directional glass fibre tape decklid
brackets that are 50% lighter than steel
counterparts.
The value of using composite materials
is presented in terms of weight saved,
which ultimately results in improved
fuel economy and reduced vehicle emis-

sions. In this instance, the TCA Ultra
Lite outer component weighs 3kg, and
the carbon fibre RTM inner component
weighs just 2.1kg, for a combined total
decklid weight of 5.5kg, a 0.80kg improvement compared to an aluminium decklid. The carbon fibre RTM structural
inner component represents a number
of breakthroughs in the use of recycled
carbon fibre materials for cost-effective
serial production applications.
This decklid is the result of CSP's
ongoing effort to work with OEM and
supplier partners to achieve even greater
weight savings with cost-competitive
materials. This comes on the heels
of CSP's successful launch of TCA
Ultra Lite, currently used for 21 body
panel assemblies on the Chevrolet C7
Corvette. The collaborative team then
turned to the use of carbon fibre for
additional cost-effective weight savings.
With its partners, CSP has developed a
series of carbon and hybrid fibre-based
RTM materials that provide the pro-

50 jec composites magazine / No103 March 2016

Winner: Continental Structural Plastics
(USA)
Partners: Owens Corning (USA),
Compose Tooling Expert (France), Altair
Engineering (France), PPE/Composite
Integrity by Institut de Soudure Groupe
(France), Hexion (USA), Brandolph
(Italy)

perties - as demonstrated through CAE
analysis conducted in partnership with
Altair Engineering - for rendering body
panels consistently lighter and more
cost-effective than similarly designed
aluminium components. This concept
was demonstrated for a decklid design
on a Lincoln MKS.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #103 - March 2016