HIGH VOLUME MANUFACTURING OF LIGHTWEIGHT EPOXY AUTOMOTIVE CRASH STRUCTURES

摘要

Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy materials offer great potential for the production of energy absorption systems for managing crash of automotive structures. Their superior properties and light-weighting capabilities have been demonstrated in motor sports for many years. However, to transfer this technology to mass production new material and process solutions are necessary.rnCETIM has designed a Conical Crashbox Concept able to meet these requirements in the current industrial organization of the automotive industry at a cost competitive price, using Momentive new fast cure thermolatent epoxy systems, capable of high volume manufacturing of structurally demanding automotive applications. This new class of materials and their energy absorption characteristics have now been characterized from prototypes made by CETIM using high strain rate / crush testing methods.rnThe results show improved energy absorption properties well suited for managing crash events at much lower weight compared to existing material solutions. The predictable crush behavior of these new low density epoxy material systems allows efficient optimization of crash structures. Possible manufacturing routes incl. technologies like HP-RTM and pultrusion capable of very short processing times and high production volumes are presented.