The "Selection of Automotive Lightweight Innovative Technologies" was successfully held last year and has won praise from the automotive industry.
LANXESS' Tepex continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite for lightweight automotive engineering
Tepex is composed of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite materials. This thermoplastic mixture contains polyamide, polypropylene, thermoplastic polyurethane, polycarbonate or polyphenylene sulfide. Continuous fiber filaments are made of glass fiber, aramid or carbon fiber. The advantages of Tepex and products made of Tepex are high rigidity, high strength and extremely light weight, which means that the product can be used in a variety of fields as a lightweight alternative to heavier materials such as metal plates.
Substituting Tepex materials for heavier metal parts helps to reduce the total weight of the vehicle, thereby achieving better fuel economy. Including lightweight seat shells, car front ends, brake pedals, infotainment equipment brackets, and engine compartment protective panels.
1. Tepex® is a customized plastic composite board composed of continuous fiber reinforced composite material and thermoplastic polymer matrix
2. Outstanding mechanical properties are due to its glass fiber, carbon fiber and aramid fiber reinforcement
3. Plastic and plastic composite technology combines Tepex® and Durethan® injection molding together
advantage:
1) Suitable for mass production
2) Improve resource utilization during processing
3) Easy to recycle
4) Suitable for lightweight design
Applications:
a) Based on the LANXESS TEPEX brand composite material to create the underbody panel for Bentley Bentayga
LANXESS has developed a set of innovative material solutions based on composite materials under the TEPEX brand to create durable underbody panels for automobiles. These new materials will give manufacturers the ability to create indestructible engine covers, fuel tank covers and central flue covers, which have been used in multiple standard models such as Bentley Bentayga.
It has a simple compression molding process: the shields and covers of standard and customized molds are made of polypropylene-based lightweight thermoplastic reinforcement material (LWRT) through a compression molding process.
Excellent noise absorption effect: Due to its unique structure, LWRT has a very good sound absorption effect. It is impossible to use other compression molding plastics to produce such an effect, which means that the comfort of the product is greatly reduced.
Wide range of applications: The application of Tepex is not limited to car bottom plates, and this innovative material can also be seen in various other applications of automotive lightweight construction. The composite material is shaped and reinjected to make seat backs, front wall components, brake pedals and bumper beams.
b) All plastic brake pedals with built-in inserts made of LANXESS Tepex dynalite are used in Porsche Panamera (parameters) NF and Bentley Continental GT
Tepex dynalite was jointly developed by LANXESS' High Performance Materials business unit and BOGEElastmetall GmbH, an international supplier headquartered in Damme, Germany. The brake pedal has the appearance of beautiful parts, and the advantages of high tensile, bending and torsion resistance.
It is a fully integrated semi-finished product whose thermoplastic matrix is reinforced by multiple layers of continuous glass fiber fabric. The brake pedal adopts a composite structure of a polyamide 6 matrix, which is reinforced by a fiber inlay in the same direction and a multi-layer positive and negative 45° woven inner layer. The wrapper provides high tensile and bending strength for the brake pedal, while the inner layer improves the torsional strength of the pedal. With this laminate, the brake pedal can fully tap the potential of the lightweight structure while meeting the extremely high technical requirements for the mechanical performance of safety components.
The all-plastic brake pedal won the first prize in the "Car Body Interior" category of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Automotive Awards.
c) Honda Motor Company developed the world's first hybrid injection molded rear bumper using materials such as LANXESS TEPEX
The latest hydrogen-electric hybrid fuel cell model "Clarity (parameter |) Fuel Cell" recently launched by Honda Motor Company adopts a lightweight solution developed by LANXESS. The advantages are as follows:
Lightweight design expertise supports component development: In the development process, the combination of continuous long glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite sheet Tepex dynalite and random long glass fiber reinforced composite sheet Tepex flowcore gives this material a unique multilayer structure. This combination allows the material to flow smoothly during the injection molding process and form complex part geometries, while having higher mechanical strength and excellent dynamic energy absorption performance, suitable for key applications such as rear bumpers.
HiAnt lightweight design customization service: Through the HiAnt lightweight design customization service, LANXESS can provide performance testing services for automobile manufacturers and component suppliers, and provide support for the entire development process up to mass production.
The world’s first hybrid injection-molded rear bumper: With the help of LANXESS subsidiary Bond-Laminates, the PA6 substrate thermoplastic composite material TEPEX made of continuous long fiber reinforcement, LANXESS’s high-performance plastic Durethan PA6, and With LANXESS’ one-time injection molding technology, Honda Motor Company successfully developed the world’s first hybrid injection molded rear bumper for this model.
Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has developed a set of innovative material solutions based on composite materials under the Tepex brand to create durable underbody panels for automobiles. These new materials will give manufacturers the ability to create indestructible engine covers, fuel tank covers and central flue covers, which have been used in multiple standard models such as Bentley Bentayga.
The weight of the brake pedal is only half of the similar steel structure. The product can be mass-produced in a cost-effective one-step process, and can meet higher load requirements with the multiaxial fiber layer structure of its Tepex insert.