Poster
Throughout the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, 195 nations agreed to reduce their CO2 emissions "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees centigrade". The European Union has set an even more specific goal: Compared to 2009, CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 20 % until 2020. These highly ambitious aims and corresponding governmental regulations are calling for more energy efficiency. For the automotive industry, the most promising area of research is lightweight construction. Next to weight reduction, lightweight materials like fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites (FRTC) may also improve mechanical properties of vehicle body parts. FRTCs, so-called organic sheets, have the potential for large scale series production and they can be back moulded due to the thermoplastic matrix. On the other hand high production cycle times and a poor surface quality are limiting their potential. Therefore, ITA’s current research approaches these problems in two ways. Nanomodified materials and a new tool concept for heat pressing are going hand in hand and may lead to the technology’s breakthrough.
To reduce the cycle times of the production of FRTCs innovative and modified matrix systems are investigated. The goal of the public founded project “VarioOrgano” is to analyse the potential of these modified yarns and the tool system during the FRTC production. Therefore, the whole process chain from compounding, to melt spinning, commingling and consolidation with a heat press is investigated.
This poster presentation shows the production steps along the process chain to produce these FRTCs. The different textile products (compounds, fibers, hybrid yarns, textiles and composites) will be presented.
