By using an innovative production technology, the designers of Elemental Motor have expanded the use of carbon fiber composites in their track-focused roadster RP1.
Customized fiber placement creates a high-strength, tough, low-cost solution that enables carbon fibers to be used where they were previously unavailable due to their high cost and fragility.
Now, the latest technology developed by the German manufacturer of customized fiber placement ("TFP") machine manufacturer ZSK has improved the TFP production process, which means that carbon fiber composite materials can be applied in many fields.
"This TFP technology has completely changed our perception of how carbon fiber composites can help reduce weight and cost," said Peter Kent, composites manager at Elemental Motor. "We found that it quickly created Molded parts, which are low cost and very durable, make the rear body structure used on Elemental RP1 cars tough enough to withstand impacts such as various stone impacts, while also having complex three-dimensional curved shapes. "
Currently, the Shape Group has used ZSK's technology to develop its own TFP equipment, and many of the innovations developed by ZSK allow mass production.
Based on technology used in the textile industry, the TFP equipment of the Shape Group can lay carbon fiber yarns or rovings on a substrate to make a "net shape" two-dimensional preform.
Compared to traditional methods that rely on manual operations to gradually build a carbon fiber felt layer, the device reduces waste, steps and complexity.
Another advantage of TFP equipment is that, when making preforms, ingenious fiber placement and stitching allows complex three-dimensional shapes to appear in the mold.
The Shape Group specializes in the processing of carbon fiber composites and has a division that specializes in the design and manufacture of TFP components. Peter McCool, managing director of the company, said that in his era as the chief designer of Formula 1, the company has the motivation to use TFP.
"Traditional methods can be very limited, not only in terms of design and cost, but also in material properties-it's brittle and can't withstand shock and wear. I'm sure there must be a better way." McCool found, ZSK's TFP solution is a completely suitable approach: "This is a scalable, flexible, and low-cost technology that opens up many new application opportunities for carbon fiber composites. ZSK strives to make the process efficient and productive Reproducible and achieve inherent quality control. "
Traditional carbon fiber composite production methods involve complex cutting and manual lay-up processes, which makes carbon fibers waste 1/3 before they are used. Because carbon fibers are the strongest in the fiber direction, accurate positioning is critical to getting strong components.
"Manual layup is labor-intensive and error-prone, so when considering the strength of the part, the result is suboptimal, which leads to over-design using ultra-multilayers," explains McCool. "However, TFP allows We align the fibers accurately to optimize strength so that we can withstand the loads on the components while accelerating the development and manufacturing process. "
Peter Kent agrees: "With the Shape Group, we have been able to use TFP to design a body part that can be a structural part, a carrying body and a rear luggage compartment, and that provides very good aerodynamic performance."
The TFP technology includes the use of a thermoplastic resin that helps overcome the brittleness traditionally associated with carbon fibers.
When it comes to recycling after the end of the life cycle, the resin also offers significant advantages because carbon fibers can be melted at about 300 ° C to be separated from the heated parts and recycled, rather than entering a landfill. .
As Peter Kent has proven, this technology can create materials that are tougher than thermoset materials. "We took a component from a developed car for inspection and there were no marks on it." He concluded, "At Elemental, we were very impressed that with TFP, many carbon fiber components can be manufactured. This is really exciting. "