In the automotive industry, composite materials are increasingly being used. Due to the European Union's strict guidelines (e.g. 2000/53/EG) methods for the recycling and recovery of CFRP materials have to be developed. As a method of high interest for the processing of recycled fiber material, the wet-laying process is investigated at the Institute for Carbon Composites (Munich, Germany). It is an efficient way to produce paper-like semi-finished products. Because of the very homogeneous structure of the fabric and the outstanding fiber separation, parts with almost isotropic mechanical properties can be manufactured. Using a mixture of carbon fibers and thermoplastic fiber filaments for the paper production, organic sheets can be manufactured economically within one process step. That makes the production of new parts highly cost-efficient. At the Institute for Carbon Composites (LCC) the dry fiber material and the composites made from this fabric have been characterized with respect to the mechanical properties and the processing behavior (i.e. permeability). Results of a comparison between wetlaids produced from virgin fibers and recycled fibers (cutoff and pyrolysed) are presented. It is further differentiated between materials having different fiber lengths and compositions (carbon fibre content). To produce composite parts for the automotive industry the drapability of the fabric is a key factor to be investigated. Therefore results of drapability tests are being presented. As an outlook, fields of application are shown in which material and process costs can be reduced.
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