Lightweight Automotive Fibre-Steered Structures (LeAFS)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

LeAFS focuses on the development and commercialisation of an automated manufacturing process, aiming at introducing the light-weighting benefits of composites in the automotive sector, in a cost-efficient way. During LeAFS, iCOMAT will use its novel manufacturing technology of Continuous Tow Shearing to manufacture preforms for composite structural components that require the use of fibre steering. These are often highly curved and will be manufactured by stamping a combined preform of 2D fibre-steered tapes and randomly-fibre-orientated material such as sheet-moulding-compound (SMC). In this Phase 1 project, the fibre-steered composite preforms will be manufactured and evaluated. As light-weighting technologies are crucial to enable green mobility, LeAFS is key to develop an automated manufacturing capability in the UK to produce ultra-lightweight automotive parts.