What will the car look like in the future? Flying in the air
The future is infinite. However, the industry acknowledges that lightweight is an important feature in the development of automobiles. And SZHT Carbon Fiber Tech Co., Ltd. is taking this road.
Carbon fiber is a new type of fiber material with high strength and high modulus fiber with a carbon content of more than 95%. It has the characteristics of being stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum. According to data, its weight is 30% lighter than aluminum and 50% lighter than steel, and its strength is 7-9 times that of steel. It is known as "the king of lightweight materials" and has excellent designability.
Based on the broad application prospects of carbon fiber composites, SZHT Carbon Fibers, which already has a mass supply of carbon fiber composite automotive parts, is committed to becoming the world's leading supplier of carbon fiber components.
Incomparably broad application prospects-carbon fiber composites
"Carbon fiber is carbonized into carbon filament, and carbon fiber composite material is carbon fiber immersed in resin, which is similar to applying hairspray to hair." Dr. Xiong Fei, general manager of SZHT Carbon Fiber, introduced a vivid metaphor. In addition to the characteristics of being stronger than steel and lighter in weight, its advantage lies in designability. "For example, hair and hair spray can be used to make various hairstyles. The form will be very difficult. "
At present, the new carbon fiber special products combining carbon fiber and surface special materials developed by SZHT Carbon Fiber have been marketed. It is the first in China to combine various materials with carbon fiber prepregs, which can be customized for lightweight and beautiful carbon fiber composite parts. ; The continuous application of traditional metal parts enhancement applications is continuously developed, and the effect can be increased several times or even ten times by combining different processes; at the same time, SZHT Carbon Fiber continues to carry out innovative and cutting-edge research on carbon fiber product spray-free technology. The two currently developed technology can make The product is beautiful, the production process is environmentally friendly and the cost is low. Based on its designability, the carbon fiber composite material has both beauty and lighter and stronger characteristics, and the application prospect is extremely broad.
Dr. Xiong Fei, Expert Member of China Lightweight Alliance, Executive Director of International Green Lightweight Alliance, Executive Vice Chairman of Carbon Fiber Composites Committee of International Green Lightweight Alliance, Expert of National Ministry of Science and Technology, Expert of National Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. University Adjunct Professor and Ph.D Supervisor. With many years of work experience at home and abroad, he is currently fully responsible for the R & D and design of SZHT Carbon Fiber.
Wang Kejian, president of SZHT, who leads the development of carbon fiber business, also said, "Carbon fiber can be modified in many directions. From the initial use of pure carbon fiber to combining with resin to form a composite material, we are currently studying the application of combining with other materials such as metal. The road will become wider and wider; in addition, the application scenarios of carbon fiber are very extensive. As the application technology of carbon fiber composite materials gradually matures, the characteristics of weight reduction and energy saving will extend its application scenarios to the entire energy industry, thereby saving more energy for the country and the world. "
According to Dr. Xiong Fei, the current of carbon fiber business in SZHT's carbon fiber business is relatively heavy, and external business orders are mainly concentrated in the automotive field. The business that has been signed and is being negotiated has involved 3 to 4 major domestic automotive OEMs. The goal of the stage is to reduce the proportion of the future automotive business to less than 40%. The company's future strategic layout will not only be limited to automotive applications, but also the entire rail transportation field.
Continuous exploration of technology and cost
On August 8, 2018, the first model of the future car, the electric supercar Qiantu K50, was officially launched, and it was once "amazed by four seats". Except for the front and rear bumpers and glass, its body is made of carbon fiber materials. The entire vehicle uses 29 carbon fiber composite materials. The total weight is only 46 kg, which is 60% lighter than steel and 20% lighter than aluminum alloy.
Prior to this, BMW also applied carbon fiber composite materials in batches in automobile manufacturing, but not all of them were used for the outer cover of the entire body. This means that there is currently only one company in the world that really uses carbon fiber to mass-produce the overall outer cover of the car body-SZHT carbon fiber.
From inexperienced to being able to supply carbon fiber composite automotive parts in batches today, it is not easy for SZHT Carbon Fiber to go all the way. Behind it is a large number of experiments and accumulated valuable experience, which has made the company repeatedly breakthrough in various technologies such as rapid curing and surface treatment. Up to now, SZHT Carbon Fiber has applied for 37 patents, including 11 invention patents.
At the beginning of November 2019, SZHT Carbon Fiber successfully passed the IATF16949 quality system certification and became the leading company in the domestic carbon fiber auto parts industry with its outstanding design, manufacturing and quality system capabilities, marking that the company is fully capable of entering the vehicle supply chain system. (IATF16949 is an authoritative general technical specification for the international automotive industry, focusing on defect prevention and reducing quality fluctuations and waste that are prone to occur in the automotive parts supply chain.)
In addition to technical difficulties, high costs are undoubtedly a major pain point in the carbon fiber industry. According to Dr. Xiong Fei, the price of carbon fiber raw materials has fallen dramatically from the earliest to the present, but for the carbon fiber molding industry, the cost of raw materials accounts for only 25% of the total cost, and the cost of the molding process accounts for up to 75%.
SZHT Carbon Fiber has also been exploring ways to reduce costs, and has made significant achievements in low-cost process technology development and raw material cost reduction technology development: adopting different process technologies according to different needs, while ensuring product quality and minimizing production costs; The products are made of heavy gram carbon fiber material, carbon felt material and foam core to reduce weight and cost while maintaining high performance. At the same time, Huate Carbon Fiber and Adasol Advanced Materials Wuhu Co., Ltd. reached a strategic cooperation agreement to recycle carbon fiber composite materials through cooperation between the two parties. While protecting the environment, it can reduce the cost of materials by 50%.