JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #107 - August/September 2016 - 17

CCEV EXPERIENCE COMPOSITES 2016

Lightweight engineering for all

Since 2007 Carbon Composites e.V. (CCeV) has been bringing together fibre
composite companies and research institutes with the aim of introducing
carbon and ceramic composites into as many branches of the industry as
possible.

oday the association is the
biggest German-speaking
network for high performance fibre reinforced composites. From an original ten, the
number of CCeV members has
now grown to almost 300 companies and research institutes.
Carbon is a fascinating material:
as black as night but with physical properties far beyond those
of any other material and offering undreamed-of possibilities
in terms of shape and use. Carbon fibre composites have long
been known for their aviation
and space applications but the
recent hype about BMW's i-Project shows that the automotive
industry too has now realised the
potential of this tough and rigid
material.
CCeV has helped write much of
the second chapter of the carbon
fibre composite success story
thanks to the many specialists
who have been working in the
field for decades and have been
contributing their knowledge and
skills to the association. Their in-

volvement in working groups and
continuing education institutions
has created a new generation and
new sectors that are fascinated by
the unique properties of lightweight carbon engineering.

Helping hand
Big companies such as Premium
Aerotec, Boeing, MT Aerospace
and all German car manufacturers, from Audi to Volkswagen, are
members of CCeV - not least in
order to give the many SMEs in
the association a helping hand as
they start out in business. Within
the network procedures are few
and contact is fast and informal,
and carbon fans swap good ideas
not just during symposiums and
theme days but also on the phone
or by e-mail.
The MAI Carbon excellence
cluster gave CCeV additional
headwind. Since 2013 this project supported by the Association
has been working on the entire
carbon value creation chain, from
design to construction and completion of the materials cycle for
waste and recycling materials.
The main focus is however on
achieving the series production of

carbon building components - an
aim largely achieved one year before the end of excellence cluster
funding.

Lightweight engineering
CCeV also focuses on combining carbon with other materials
- since this is the only sensible
and affordable method for lightweight engineering For example,
the new BMW 7 series will include 14 key parts made of carbon in order to reduce its weight.
In the almost ten years since it
was set up, CCeV has achieved a
lot: industry has become curious
with the engineering, medical
technology, sports goods manufacturing and, last but not least,

building industries showing an
interest in carbon fibre composite
materials, for example in order
to replace more expensive materials such as titanium or corrosion-prone construction materials such as steel. The Association
can therefore be sure that when
it celebrates its first ten years next
spring, it will also be able to raise
a toast to more successful years to
come. Or as Dr. Hans-Wolfgang
Schröder, a former MD of CCeV,
put it, "In the future there will be no
sector of industry that does not use
carbon".
More information:
http://carbon-composites.eu
*
in collaboration with Carbon
Composites Magazin

CCeV-board member: Dr. Thomas.Wolff, BMW Group, Andreas Stöckle, Airbus
Helicopters Deutschland GmbH, Prof. Dr. Klaus Drechsler, TU München/LCC,
Franz Weißgerber, iii-Carbon, Günther Deinzer, Audi AG, Prof. Dr. Hubert Jäger,
BJS Ceramics GmbH, und Dr. Thilo Hauke, SGL Group.

No107 August - September 2016

/ jec composites magazine

http://www.carbon-composites.eu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #107 - August/September 2016