Luxury materials are no longer luxury carbon fiber leading the "world speed"

[Chinese Packaging Network News] Since ancient times, humans are pursuing a material that is both rock-solid and tough as hair, until the advent of carbon fiber, perfectly fits the human fantasy of this new material. However, along with the high performance of carbon fiber, it also has its high cost. With the development of science and technology, after repeated experiments and experiments, carbon fiber is constantly being improved and luxury materials will no longer be luxurious.

1 Sino-British Company Cooperatively Recovers Carbon Fiber for Automotive Applications

Based on ELG regenerated carbon fiber materials, researching the application of Chery New Energy Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. on Chery eQ1 electric vehicles, ELG Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. (Coseley, UK) and Idasso Advanced Materials Wuhu Co., Ltd. (Wuhu, China) signed an understanding Memorandum, co-development of lightweight composite materials for the automotive industry.

Among the ELG products are Carbiso M and Carbiso TM isotropic mats. These easy-to-process suspendable mats are compatible with most thermoset and thermoplastic polymers and have excellent mechanical properties. Among them, Carbiso M pads are made of 100% recycled carbon fiber and can be processed into structural and semi-structural parts by conventional compounding techniques. The CarbisoTM product is a hybrid mat made from recycled fibers and is used with a thermoplastic matrix for press forming applications.

The short-term goal of this cooperation is to further reduce the weight of the eQ1, which has been widely used in aluminum technology, through the selective use of carbon fiber composite materials. The long-term goal is to apply the technical success obtained from this project to Chery's other conventional vehicles.

It is reported that Chery’s team of Professor Fan Guanghong from the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (CAMTC) of the China Institute of Mechanical Science and Technology (CAMTC) has initially evaluated the ELG materials and proposed a preliminary application survey. If technical and commercial goals are achieved, ELG, Adesso, and Chery plan A clear agreement was reached to start the full production of these components in Wuhu. From this agreement, it is not difficult to see that ELG is equivalent to establishing a carbon fiber recovery group in China, and it can provide sufficient amount of recycled carbon fiber material when carbon fiber is needed.

ELG Managing Director Frazer Barnes said: “The eQ1 has made a huge step forward in the lightweighting of the Chinese automotive industry by using aluminum in large quantities. We are pleased to work with the innovative engineering teams of Adesso and Chery to help them move forward. And apply carbon fiber composites to their vehicles."

Adesso President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Bo Liang said: "In this project, through the cooperation with experienced partners, the use of recycled materials, rational design and production, we can solve the current obstacle to the large-scale application of carbon fiber composite materials in automobiles. Obstacles - high costs Our vision is to establish the Wuhu Automotive Composites Center through this cooperation, which is also a vision for the sustainable development of China's composite materials industry.

Chery New Energy Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. stated: “Lightweighting of automobiles has become an inevitable trend for the automotive industry to advance. It not only saves energy and reduces consumption, but also has more advantages in terms of performance. Therefore, reducing the weight of new energy and Chery's conventional vehicles, It is imperative that we believe that carbon fiber composites can play an important role in vehicle lightweighting, and we believe that by working with ELG and Adesso on the eQ1 project, we will have a significant learning curve advantage that can then be applied to us. Regular vehicles."

2 Advantages of Carbon Fiber Obviously Global Markets Continue to Increase Each Year

A new study by IHS Markit shows that the global market for carbon fiber continues to grow every year until 8% by 2020.

Market analysts said that this increase was due to increased demand for industrial applications such as aircraft, automobiles, high-pressure vessels, wind turbines and sporting goods. HIS Markit also expects that global carbon fiber consumption will increase from more than 60,000 metric tons (TMT) in 2015 to about 90 MTM in 2020.

In March of this year, a zero-fuel solar-powered “Sunshine Power 2” solar-powered aircraft manufactured by Switzerland was launched in March of this year. 80% of the overall structure uses honeycombed carbon fiber materials as “warm jackets” to make this large-scale, winged aircraft. The 72-meter-long large aircraft that is wider than the Boeing 747 passenger plane weighs only 2,300 kilograms, which is equivalent to a family car, thereby saving more power during the flight. At the same time, it is able to resist the severe cold of minus 30°C at a flight altitude of 8,500 meters.

The military's high-strength carbon fiber precursors and their production technology are the most important technologies for Western embargoes. Because it can be used by defense-industrial weapons manufacturers, carbon fiber above certain intensity needs approval before it can be exported to the same level of embargo as nuclear-weapon technology.

During the Cold War era, carbon fiber production technology was technology-intensive and politically sensitive. The United States-led Paris Coordinating Commission imposed an embargo on the then-socialist camp. After the end of the war, due to the high-tech content and high profitability of carbon fiber, Western countries still imposed embargoes on developing countries, especially in the import of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursors, even if some countries have joined the world. Trade organizations have not changed much.

Malveda said: “Aircraft and automotive manufacturers, which are facing environmental and regulatory pressures — demand reduction in weight, increase energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions, have boosted the demand for carbon fiber. According to IHS Markit’s research, the current automotive and industrial The demand for carbon fiber in the sector exceeds 60% of the global demand, and the average annual growth rate of demand for carbon fiber in the automotive industry will reach nearly 9% between 2015 and 2020. The global demand for aircraft and aerospace will be between 2011 and 2012. It has surpassed sporting goods/entertainment to become the second largest carbon fiber market."

However, despite the strong growth in the use of carbon fiber, there are still limitations. For example, vehicles used for mass production will need to overcome higher production costs and processing techniques. In addition, the quality and continuity of carbon fiber supply are also important. Malveda said: "Car manufacturers are working with carbon fiber producers to solve the problem of production costs and quality standards. Lower costs will help manufacturers increase the use of these materials in more models, except for sports and specialty vehicle markets. ."

IHS Markit said that there is currently a trend that is fully integrating carbon fibers from precursor raw materials into finished products. For example, Western European producers invest in backward integration, such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor facilities, or build composite manufacturing plants downstream.

Similarly, Toray Japan, the world's largest carbon fiber producer, has a world-class vertical production channel from precursors, carbon fiber to carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). At the end of 2015, Toray and Boeing signed a long-term agreement to supply carbon fiber Torayca(tm) prepregs for the new Boeing 777X aircraft.

Malveda said: "In recent years, some large automakers and carbon fiber producers have formed partnerships that may lead to the material being used more in the mainstream industry in the future. For example, in 2015, Ford and Dow Aksa reached a joint development agreement. , Further research on the mass production of carbon fiber for vehicles. In 2009, BMW Group and SGL Carbon Group established a joint venture SGL Carbon Group Automotive Carbon Fiber Company, which is used by BMW Group for BMW i series electric/hybrid. An exclusive supplier of carbon fiber materials for power automobiles.In recent years, SGL Group has expanded its carbon fiber production capacity to meet the growing demand for automobiles.

3AKRO-PLASTIC develop new carbon fiber products to see how he lose weight?

AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH, Lower Nijson, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, has developed carbon fiber reinforced products based on PA6, PA6.6, PPA and semi-aromatic PA6.6 (AKROLOY®). This series of reinforced composite materials in the carbon fiber content of 10% to 40%. Such as AKROMID® B3ICF40, PA6-based carbon fiber reinforced, tensile modulus up to 30000MPa, bending strength of 320 MPa, elongation at break of 1.8%. The PA6.6-based carbon fiber reinforced AKROMID® A3 ICF 40 has a tensile modulus of up to 33,000 MPa and a flexural strength of 370 MPa.

Such carbon fiber-reinforced products are designed to significantly reduce the weight of high-strength components, making the combined cost for the first time reduced to the level of glass fiber reinforced composites. If there is no negative business factor that hinders substitution, such products will surely advance successfully.

At the International Plastics Trade Fair in Birmingham, AKRO-PLASTIC, together with its partner PME Fluidtec and injection molding machinery manufacturer Engel, demonstrated clutch pedal production. This clutch pedal is made of AKROMID® B3 ICF 15 and is produced in a water-assisted forming process. Through the geometric cross-sectional view of the clutch pedal, it can be seen that the wall thickness distribution is very uniform. Compared to injection molding using 30% glass fiber reinforced PA6, the weight of the carbon fiber reinforced formed part is reduced by about 10% while the rigidity is increased by 25%. This significant advantage is fully in line with the latest needs of the automotive industry, and is also an important factor in ensuring compliance with the 2020 regulations on fuel consumption of automobiles.

The clutch pedal formed by the sensitive water-assisted process is the proof of the superior quality of this innovative product.

Composite manufacturers are optimistic about the huge demand for this series of products. Thilo Stier, Head of Sales and Innovation at AKRO-PLASTIC, explained: “In addition to the pedals and pedal supports, we can quickly and easily reduce the large components that are currently formed from glass fiber reinforced polyamide (PA). Its weight, and pay attention to control costs.” Center console, activated carbon filter and control module bracket and other components, but also benefit from the additional advantages of carbon fiber, such as electromagnetic shielding, excellent thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient.