A Vision for Carbon Fiber in the Automotive Market,2009

The composites industry is markedly lagging the metals industry in terms of fast fabrication technology, e.g., there is no composite processing alternative, to date, to high-speed metal stamping. A consortium of industries needs to come Easy repair technology and bonding solutions are just starting to be introtogether and attack the problem from all duced for structural composites. One angles, which include improvements in dispensing technologies, curing chem- problem with permanent bonding technology is disassembly, which is not a istries and the energy sources that drive concern for metals. Using conventional cure. The most talked-about effort within metal fastening technology for composthe automotive composites sector is that of a Japanese consortium lead by Nissan, ites usually leads to disasters, due to crack initiation and propagation from the which has reduced cycle time from 160 high stress concentration regions. But to 10 minutes for resin transfer molding (RTM] simple flat panels with carbon fi- clever assembly designs that circumvent ber/epoxy. The fact that this is newswor- such situations are few and far between. Engineering knowledge for designing thy clearly indicates that the challenge is parts with composites, although growformidable; Composites musí increase manuing, is still limited. While universities are facturing speed f}y almost an order of magnitude teaching courses on this topic, the emlo become competitive. phasis is still on metals. When students In the realm of reinforcements, comface real-world situations, they soon realposites will require carbon fiber if they ize that there would have to be a huge change in how cars are put together before they could take full advantage Current carbon fiber of composites. One-to-one replacetechnology is hostage to ment of a metal part is often the best way to prove the deficiency of a comexcessive cost. posite solution. Conversely, the biggest advantage is realized only by comare to replace metals in high-perfor- bining various functionalities in one part. mance applications- Carbon fiber perIn my opinion, multifunctional carbon formance and cost are important parts composites could become commonplace of the equation when considering com- in mainstream automobiles by 2030 if posites for an automotive application. several factors fall into place: the price of Aerospace-grade carbon fibers of 600 to carbon fiber comes down; designers be1,000 ksi tensile strength and 40 msi to come more comfortable designing cars 60 msi modulus are in the range of Si 5/ with monocoque and/or highly integrated, Ib to $50/lb ( USD). While standard-grade multifunctional structures; and fabricacarbon fibers of 550 to 650 ksi tensile tors reach a part cycle time on the order strength and 32 to 37 msi modulus are two to four minutes. Is it possible? Peravai lable at S7 to S14/lb, the need is great haps. But it will be a long process that will for higher performance at lower cost. require several breakthroughs, including Current carbon fiber technology is hos- a willingness on the part of automotive OEMs to invest in the technology. • tage to the excessive cost of either the precursor or the conversion technology.
MARKET TRENDS
MARKET TRENDS
A VISION FOR OARBON FIBER IN THE AUTOMOTIVE MARKET
Dr. Kalyan Sehanobish ts a leading expert in the area of materials science with partjcuiar emphasis on fracture behavior. in a 20-year career at The Dow Chemicai Co. (Midland, Mich,), he has done pioneering work in the area of thermoplastic resin development, i^ls research has formed the basis for several EDow resin famiiies. He joined Dow Automotive in 2004, and has worked on several new products in satety, bonding, acoustics and heat-storage applications. He holds more than 25 patents, has published extensiveiy and has presented at many technical and industrial conferences. Now a Dow Automotive senior scientist, hts primary responsibility is to drive innovation in various new business platforms and help leverage innovations from outside the ility in oil prices and a growing recognition of the human contribution to global warming and environmental pollution have resulted in an increased focus on fuel-efñcient solutions for ground transportation. One result has been a more serious look at lightweighting options. Large-vehicle users, such as tractor/trailer truck operators, are already seeing the benefit of polymer composites for lightweighting, and increasingly welcome such solutions. The need for weight reduction, however, is less acute in relatively lighter-weight passenger cars. Consequently, the introduction and anticipated growth of polymer composites in the lowcost mass-production car segment will be slow. That said, in recent years, automakers have started to consider composite solutions in mid-priced automobiles where, formerly, composites were justified only in very high-end cars, as market drivers such as crashworthiness take precedence over weight savings. if composites and their supporting technologies are to establish a firm position in the general automotive market, a number of other market drivers must be taken into account. Among them are