TAILORED LONG FIBER THERMOPLASTICS (TAILORED LFT) DEVELOPED FOR SERIES PRODUCTION

摘要

The combination of long fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (LFT) with local continuous fiber structures or fabrics, referred to as Tailored LFT, represents a further development of fiberreinforced thermoplastic materials for use in load-oriented parts in the automotive industry. Using these materials or part structures in high-volume series production requires made-tomeasure production processes. Automating production processes specifically for the part are a prerequisite for achieving reproducible quality with these complex parts. rnThe presented R&D project was aimed at developing materials for long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials and their processing in what is referred to as the direct process. The application potential of the developed LFT materials was verified using a demonstration part, namely a front-end structure, used in the BMW Group. rnIn prototype production of the demonstration part, LFT strands produced using the LFT-D process were positioned in the mold together with heated, pre-consolidated fabric inlays and formed into a part using the compression molding process. rnThe paper shows that the requirements placed on the front-end structural part are met by a loadoriented part geometry and the use of local fabric reinforcements. Furthermore, this paper presents the technology for high-volume series production of the part with the decisive machine parts such as the further development of the LFT strand die, the automated handling of the LFT strands and fabric sheets as well as their positioning in the mold.