CompositesWorld
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61 CompositesWorld.com Hybrid Composite Struts vehicles to rigidify the body shell and optimize the driving char- acteristics in terms of comfort and sporty handling," notes Jörg Miska, head of body development, Mercedes-AMG. "CFRP's direction-related elasticity and its anisotropic behavior precisely meets these requirements." Design and production decisions e first challenge the team faced was how best to produce the strut bars to help ensure a very stiff and strong part that also would be cost-effective. To meet mechanical requirements, a Illustration / Karl Reque Mercedes-AMG Hybrid Composite Strut for Chassis Stiffening › Hybrid (steel-cored, carbon and glass fiber- reinforced epoxy) composite strut bars meet demanding mechanical and thermal requirements at lower weight and acceptable economics, which get better as production volumes climb. › Pultrusion process was selected to produce strut body owing to low energy, low waste, low tooling costs and ability to scale to higher production volumes cost-effectively. › Attachment hardware bonded to each end of strut bar to efficiently transfer forces between strut and body-in-white structure. high fiber-volume fraction of aligned, continuous carbon fibers would be crucial. Given the temperature specs in this area of the undercarriage (near the exhaust system), a high-performance polymer with excellent ability to bond to carbon fiber was neces- sary. Epoxies were deemed the best choice for Daimler's material- release process as well as for meeting processing, temperature and cost targets. Because there was a good chance that — assuming the tech- nology was successful — it would be expanded to other Mercedes- AMG or Mercedes-Benz vehicles, the team needed a process with Aluminum connector/adaptor Connects pairs of strut bars to chassis Aluminum Attachment Hardware Symmetrical pairs of composite strut bars One or two pairs/ vehicle depending on model Steel bushings & core Facilitate attachment of strut to BIW Hybrid composite strut bar Pultruded carbon fiber/epoxy with glass top layer over thin steel core