Chomarat Group (Taicang, China) has developed a sewn unidirectional (UD) glass fiber reinforced material suitable for mass production of automotive leaf springs. According to reports, it is 60% lighter than steel parts and was produced by KramarsMaffei (Munich, Germany) by Chomarat and other partners.
The leaf springs produced by the Chomarat G-PLY glass fiber reinforced material developed for this project are produced using a high-pressure resin transfer molding (HP-RTM) process. It is said that the design of this fabric has higher permeability, which can make the resin flow through multiple layers of preforms. Chomarat said that the ability of parts to resist corrosion and improve the strength of materials is an additional advantage.
"We made the fabric, Engenuity developed the components, Huntsman provided the matrix system made of epoxy resin, Johns Manville provided the glass fiber, Schmidt & Heinzmann made the preform, Alpex designed the [resin transfer molding] RTM mold, Hufschmied Responsible for post-mold machining of parts by milling. KraussMaffei took over project management and coordinated the project with partners. "
"This new reinforcement material includes adhesives to stabilize the preforms and automate the cutting and stacking process. Chomarat strengthens its development in the automotive industry by using a new generation of reinforcement materials with short cycles." De Oliveira added Say.