On September 4, Nissan announced that the company has made breakthroughs in carbon fiber production, paving the way for this material to eventually be used in mass market cars.
Compared with affordable traditional materials, carbon fiber is lighter and stronger. It is a perfect material that helps to enhance the safety of the car and reduce the weight of the car body, which ultimately helps improve fuel efficiency. In addition, weight reduction will also improve car performance. The problem is that the price of carbon fiber is usually relatively high, and cost factors limit this new material from becoming the mainstream of the mass market automotive industry.
Now, Nissan has discovered a new method of producing carbon fiber, namely the compression resin transfer thickening method. The specific operations are as follows:
First, the carbon fiber is shaped to make the required shape, then the shaped carbon fiber is placed in the mold, and a small gap is reserved between the upper mold and the carbon fiber, and finally the resin is injected into the mold to cool and harden.
Nissan also said that the company has developed a technology that can simulate the penetration of resin in carbon fiber, and can also use in-mold temperature sensors and transparent molds to observe the flow of resin in the mold, which will help shorten the development time of carbon fiber parts.
Nissan did not disclose how the company intends to use carbon fiber in the near future, but considering the company's current financial problems, industry analysts believe that it will take some time for this new material to become the standard configuration of Nissan's affordable models, but This material is likely to be the first to be used in Nissan's high-end models, such as the upcoming 400Z.