Spanish technology center to develop thermoplastic composites to reduce vehicle weight

According to foreign media reports, the Spanish technology center AIMPLAS has received funding from the local government of Valencia to carry out the VETERIA21 project to develop new and more efficient conversion processes for thermoplastic composites, so as to replace the metal components of electric vehicle batteries
.

These materials ensure a significant reduction in vehicle weight, thereby extending battery life
.
Not only that, these materials are also recyclable, thus aligning with a circular economy
.
Current lithium-ion battery modules are made of stainless steel and aluminum and are large and heavy, accounting for 20 to 30 percent of a vehicle's weight
.

Begoña Galindo, head of the Sustainability and Future Mobility Group at AIMPLAS, said: “In general, metal components make up 73% of a car’s weight
.
So thermoset composites are a lightweight alternative to battery casings
.
But their recyclability and productivity are not high, Thermoplastic composites have high recyclability and productivity and can be used as an alternative to thermoset composites
.
”

Thermoplastic composites have gradually become the main material for vehicle weight reduction
.
In addition, the material also has advantages in mechanical resistance, adaptability to different manufacturing processes, short manufacturing cycles, the ability to combine with other materials, weldability, easy recyclability, and adaptability to the circular economy
.

The rise of thermoplastic composites

Thermoplastic resins and thermoplastic composites have been around for some time, especially for short fiber applications
.
However, thermoplastic composites have attracted new attention due to the increasing need to increase light weight without losing structural stability, especially in the automotive industry
.

A specific example is the potential to use thermoplastic composites to reduce weight in interior door components
.
In fact, a major Japanese automaker recently started redesigning its interior door components to use thermoplastic composites
.
It is believed that this material could reduce the weight of the door by nearly half
.

The success of thermoplastic composites in the composites industry will depend on companies developing products and efficient processes
.

Adopting more thermoplastic resins will not only benefit automobiles, especially since new commercial aircraft typically contain more than 50 percent composite parts
.

There are many reasons why thermoplastic composites can easily become a stronghold in the transportation market
.
Components made from this material can be welded, reducing the need for adhesives compared to other materials, and can be overmolded to produce advanced geometries with superior mechanical properties
.

The general advantage of thermoplastic resins is that they can be endlessly softened and reformed without significantly degrading physical properties
.
Once thermoplastic products reach the end of their life cycle, they can be melted and reformed for new uses, reducing material waste
.
Additional advantages can be found in the physical properties of the material itself, as well as potential new applications for which thermosets are not suitable
.

There is still a lot of research that needs to be done before thermoplastic pultrusion becomes mainstream, especially since most production methods are suitable for thermoset resins and therefore have to be adapted
.

Thermoplastic resins show great potential to produce strong, lightweight composites that can be easily recycled
.
While it's not a smart move to abandon tried-and-true thermoset composites, it's important to keep an eye on thermoplastic composites, especially if sustainability is a top priority
.

Thermoplastic composites used in automotive lightweight parts

Application of composite materials in automobiles Composite materials can be mainly used in automobile hoods, fenders, roofs, trunks, door panels, chassis and other structural parts
.
Carbon fiber was originally mainly used in racing cars.
With the continuous maturity and development of composite material technology for vehicles, it is now widely used in super sports cars and high-value civilian cars
.
In the application of commercial vehicles, it has gradually extended from heavy trucks to buses and light trucks
.

1.
In order to ensure sufficient safety performance for the main load-bearing body structure, automobile manufacturers usually choose materials with high strength, rigidity and impact resistance for the main load-bearing structure to make the main load-bearing structure.
Oxygen resin carbon fiber reinforced composites have become an ideal material choice
.
Epoxy carbon fiber reinforced composite materials are designable, light in weight and high in strength.
Compared with aluminum alloy components of the same volume, the weight can be reduced by 50%.
They are impact resistant, corrosion resistant, fatigue resistant, and have a long material life.
The main bearing body structure not only greatly improves the safety of the car, but also reduces the weight of the vehicle, reduces the fuel consumption, improves the economy, and also improves the aesthetics
.

2.
Secondary load-bearing structural parts The secondary load-bearing structural parts mainly include: doors, hoods, luggage compartment doors, front and rear bumpers, fenders, spoilers and other components, most of which are laminated solid structures and composite sandwich sandwiches structure
.
Sandwich structure features: the skin is made of high-strength and high-modulus materials, which can withstand large bending loads; the core material is selected from low-density materials with certain stiffness and strength, which has outstanding shear resistance and can withstand large impact loads; cementation The layers connect the skin to the core and are subjected to shear stress; the weight is further reduced due to the choice of a low-density core
.

Huge market for domestic thermoplastic composites

With the continuous exploration of materials, the market demand for thermoplastic composites has grown rapidly.
ACMA, the American Composites Manufacturers Association, has established a composite materials growth group for this purpose.
The purpose is to vigorously promote and promote thermoplastic materials to end users and thermoset composite manufacturers.
composite materials, so that thermoplastic composite materials have more market
.
When the trend of thermoplastic composite materials is set off abroad, the application of high-performance thermoplastic composite materials in the domestic market is still in a state of "smoothness", and neither manufacturers nor customers seem to have officially entered the state
.

However, as the competition from thermoset carbon fiber composites tends to incandescent, some manufacturers realize the huge market for thermoplastic composites, especially their recyclable properties are in line with today's "environmental protection, green development concept"
.
They have begun to try to manufacture with thermoplastic composite materials, and want to break the development bottleneck through thermoplastic composite materials
.
On the basis of the development of thermosetting carbon fiber, Noen composite material took the lead in the development of high-performance thermoplastic carbon fiber, and high-performance thermoplastic carbon fiber composite material also attracted the attention of the industry
.

The resin matrix used in high-performance carbon fiber reinforced composites shows the incomparable performance advantages of ordinary thermosetting resins in terms of heat resistance and mechanical strength
.
For example, for thermoplastic carbon fiber composite materials used in aerospace and aviation fields, the Tg value of the resin matrix must be greater than 177.
In terms of mechanical strength, the tensile strength is usually greater than 70MPa, and the tensile modulus is greater than 2GPa.
In individual cases, it is required to reach 100.
MPa and 3GPa, in addition, the good toughness of the material results in better damage tolerance and lighter structures, which is especially important for thin structures such as aircraft control surfaces and airframes
.
In this case, only high-performance thermoplastic carbon fiber composites can accomplish such a mission
.

Not only does it have greater advantages in the performance of the material itself, but the thermoplastic carbon fiber composite material is remodeled by melting, which also makes it different from the thermosetting carbon fiber composite material: first, the thermosetting carbon fiber composite material needs fasteners or glue.
The bonding method realizes the connection between parts or with other metal parts, but the thermoplastic parts can be directly welded together, saving the weight and cost of fasteners, which adds a powerful weight to the lightweight carbon fiber; secondly As long as it is melted, it can be remodeled to make the recycling of composite materials possible.
Although there is no case of batch recycling, the recyclability of thermoplastic composites has a certain theoretical basis
.

For example, the recycled pellet properties of thermoplastic polyamide composites were measured, compared to their nascent equivalents, and found to still have 85% of their original intrinsic properties, providing new insights into how to use carbon fiber composites in a greener way.
Furthermore, this method of curing enables the production of thick and complex parts in relatively short cycle times, making thermoplastic carbon fiber reinforced composites many times more efficient than thermosets
.

At present, there are two "stumbling blocks" in the development of domestic thermoplastic composite materials, one is technology, and the other is cost
.
According to the R&D staff of Noen Composites, thermosetting resins can be easily transformed into a low-viscosity state before curing, and it is not so difficult to impregnate fibers
.
Unlike high-end thermoplastic composites, high-performance thermoplastic resins themselves have higher matrix viscosity, and the flow of the material will not be as good as some low-viscosity resins
.
It can be said that most of the high-performance plastic resins are insoluble and insoluble or even insoluble, which brings challenges to the resin impregnation and molding processing of composite materials
.
Also, the higher the processing temperature, the more easily the resin is thermally oxidized or degraded during production
.
Therefore, the high viscosity of thermoplastic resin becomes the biggest difficulty in its molding, which also puts forward higher requirements for production equipment
.