Production-ready fiber composite solutions

At JEC World, KraussMaffei is highlighting its leading system expertise in developing and implementing series production-ready processes for fiber-reinforced lightweight construction. The focus of the trade show appearance is on new processes and applications that are based on both thermoset and thermoplastic matrix materials. The FiberForm process, pultrusion and unidirectional (UD) tapes are front and center.

 

For the first time at JEC, a continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic series-produced lightweight component with a unit quantity of over 1 million per year is being exhibited. It is manufactured by forming and back-injecting stable fiber-reinforced composites, known as organo sheets. The organo sheet, which is only 0.5 mm thick, ensures the required stiffness with a low dead weight and makes a major contribution to weight savings (up to 4 kg/vehicle).

 

The combination of multicomponent technology and FiberForm opens up countless opportunities for functional lightweight construction in visible automotive parts. An additional sample component from a research project with the Dresden University of Technology demonstrates the use of recycled materials such as recycled carbon fibers and remanufactured compounds. In another groundbreaking innovation, the injection molding production technology called foam molding was implemented on a complex geometry. This technology makes it possible to produce thermoplastic sandwich structures with fiber-reinforced cover layers in a one-shot process.

 

 

The third application, a successful combination of FiberForm and swivel plate technology for multi-component injection molding, is a center armrest for the automotive interior. It will be on display in the Planet Area Automotive at JEC. This combination can be used to create completely new visual and haptic component features for thermoplastic composites in a single process. The TPE component gives the functional and visible parts of the center armrest an outstandingly soft and visually appealing surface.

 

"We give our customers advice independent of the process and accompany them along the entire journey, from idea to series production-ready fiber composite solutions. This expertise is what sets us apart, along with our experience and the worldwide references from serial producers," according to Nicolas Beyl, President of the Reaction Process Machinery Segment at KraussMaffei Group. 

 

KraussMaffei at JEC World Paris (March 12-14, 2019) is located at Hall 6, Booth R28