Introducing a Novel Manufacturing Process for Automotive Structural/Semi Structural Composite Components

Potential uses of composite materials are currently being investigated by the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight and CO2 emissions. Existing composite production processes are however, low volume and high cost. The aim of the present study was to develop a novel end-to-end production process to produce a light weight, cost effective polymer composite with reduced TAKT time and potential for structural applications. Components were produced from discontinuous random fibres mixed with an epoxy resin system. Static and dynamic mechanical testing as well as durability tests are in progress to evaluate the performance of these materials. Initial results were compared to Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC) as the benchmark composite material.