CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/620463
33 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W Fries cites Adrian Wilson's September 2015 report, "Automotive Composites: Te make-or-break decade for carbon and natural fbre," published by Textile Media Services Ltd. (Reepham, Norfolk, UK). Wilson points out that China became the world's largest car market in 2009 when sales climbed by 45% and production reached 13.6 million units. In 2014, China produced 23.7 million cars and commercial vehicles. "So then, what solutions do we ofer to China?" asks Fries. "In Germany, the solutions will always be highly automated because our labor rate is so high," he observes. "But if you look at China and India, can the market there handle fully automated production or do they need a combination, a way to step into it?" Fries concedes that high production volumes demand more highly automated systems, but contends that, in this context, that really means movement toward injection molding. Thermoset vs. thermoplastic Egger at Engel agrees that thermoplastic composites ofer the most efciency for automotive and other high-volume markets, "because you can use injection molding and integrate functionalities via inserts and overmolding." Fries adds, "If you go toward injection molding — which is coming for composites — you will go fully automated because you have no time to do manual operations with cycle times below 1-2 minutes." Turnkey Composites Manufacturing Thermoplastics aim at automotive part-per- minute target The potential of thermoplastic composites processing can be seen in these demonstration automotive brake pedal (left) and air bag housing components (top right). Source (lower left) | Engel / (top) | KraussMafei Pinette Emidecau Industries' (PEI, Chalon-sur-Saône, France) was the frst equipment provider in Europe for Airbus' (Toulouse, France) thermoplastic composites eforts. "There is a huge Pinette press at Fokker [Papendrecht, The Netherlands], which was put into place to fabricate J-nose structures for the A330/ A340," notes North America business development manager Andrew Rypkema. He says Pinette is now transitioning this expertise into auto composites, developing the Quilted Stratum Process (QSP) toward viability for rapid cycle times (i.e., one part per minute) with a consortium that includes Cetim (technical center for the mechanical industry, Senlis, France), Loiretech (Mauves-sur-Loire, France) and mold specialist Compose (Bellignat, France). QSP and a subsequent stamp-forming press are the frst two pieces of the French national high-speed, high- volume production line for composite structures. QSP automates production of preforms with multiple layers, thicknesses and material orientations while imparting functional integration and reducing scrap. The prototype line at Cetim has used mostly nylon 6 and carbon fber reinforcement, but Rypkema says it can use a range of thermoplastics and produce Part-per-minute thermoplastic composites SIDE STORY Thermoplastic parts QSP parts now under trial include suspension arms (lower left), overmolded brackets, and body panels made mostly of Nylon 6 reinforced with carbon or natural fbers (lower right), although the process also can accommodate many other thermoplastic matrices and reinforcements. Source | Pinette Emidecau Industries multi-material preforms with localized, tailored reinforcement. Combined with PEI's presses, which Rypkema says are precise enough to do in-mold coating, "the goal is Class A surfaces." QSP parts currently undergoing trials include suspension arms, overmolded brackets and automotive body panels. The fully integrated production line achieves cycle times of 40-90 seconds for preforms up to eight layers, with four tapes per layer. High-speed enablers include high-speed infrared (IR) ovens and automated tool change technologies that achieve single-minute exchange of die (SMED), a well-known lean manufacturing standard. In addition to automotive, QSP reportedly is targeting aircraft clips, frames, seats and engine parts as well as lifting and agricultural equipment components and connecting rods.