Overview
FrançaisRead this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.
Read the articleAUTHORS
-
Nicola PICCIRELLI: Doctor of Science and Materials Engineering - Head of Decors and Materials Innovation - Bodywork Equipment Engineering Department - Renault
-
Alain GIOCOSA: Consultant - Former Head of the Polymer and Composite Materials and Processing Department - Materials Engineering Department - Renault
INTRODUCTION
In its early days, more than a hundred years ago, an automobile was made mainly of wood and steel. Today, however, it combines a number of materials belonging to the following main families:
ferrous materials: cast iron, steel, sheet metal (around 62% of its mass) ;
non-ferrous materials: aluminum (cast iron and sheet metal), copper, magnesium (approx. 9%);
mineral materials: glass, ceramics (approx. 4%) ;
-
organic materials: around 25%, distributed on average as follows :
4%: elastomers,
6%: paints, adhesives, textiles, fluids,
15%: plastic materials, thermoplastics (TP) or thermosets (TD).
Depending on the vehicle, this 15% can vary from 10 to 20% and can be distributed among the various functions that make up a vehicle as follows:
interior equipment: 50%,
outdoor applications: 30 to 35%,
under-bonnet parts: 15%,
structural parts: 0 to 5%.
It's worth noting that the percentage of plastic materials used has risen steadily since the mid-50s/60s, and was 6% in the 60s/70s.
Today, on average 15% for an average vehicle weighing 1,300 kg, this represents around 200 kg/vehicle of "plastic materials".
This evolution is due to the fact that the choice of a given material for a given application requires a confrontation of solutions in order to find the best material/process pairing for manufacturing a part, taking into account numerous criteria: technical and industrial criteria linked to the capacity and availability of industrial resources, economic criteria linked to the cost of materials and production costs, and finally social criteria guiding the choices of the end customer.
Composite materials first appeared in the automotive industry in the mid-1950s. At that time, there were few materials and processing methods available: mainly thermosetting polyester matrices reinforced with short glass fibers, processed by hand in open or closed molds using the SMC (Sheet Molding Compound) process.
Today, a wide range of materials and processing techniques are available to designers.
Matrices can be thermoplastic (polypropylene, polyamide, polyurethane,....) or thermoset (polyester, vinylester, epoxy, polydicyclopentadiene,....).
Reinforcing fibres can be made of glass, aramid, carbon, thermoplastic...
Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference
This article is included in
Vehicules and mobility
This offer includes:
Knowledge Base
Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees
Services
A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources
Practical Path
Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills
Doc & Quiz
Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading
Composites in the automotive industry
Bibliography
- (1) - LECOINTRE Eric - Étude économique sur la filière de traitement des véhicules hors d'usage - . Rapport final. http://www.ademe.fr
- (2) - SHEN Lie, HAUFE Juliane, PATEL Martin K. -...
Digital media
CAMPUS Version 5.2 – Database of suppliers of plastic materials.
Events
ANTEC (SPE Annual Technical Conference) http://www.4spe.org
JEC Composites show http://www.jeccomposites.com
SFIP Congress "Composites and High Modulus Polymers". Douai (June 9/10, 2010)
Standards and norms
ISO 14 062 – General information on eco-design
ISO 14 040 & 14 044 – Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Regulations
European Directive 2000/53/EC: heavy metals and recycling for vehicles
Directory
Esoro http://www.esoro.ch
Fiberforge http://www.fiberforge.com
Jacob Plastics http://www.jacobplastics.com
Statistical and economic data
BIOCOMP http://www.biocomp.eu.com
COMBINE (natural fiber composites) http://www.combineproject.org.uk
PEGASUS http://www.pegasus-eu.net
...Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!
You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!
Already subscribed? Log in!
The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference