LANXESS will be part of a joint stand (Hall 8A, Stand A21) for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, participating with other exhibitors representing industry, professional associations and universities.
“We are taking advantage of this key event in the international composites industry to present concepts for solutions in lightweight construction based on hybrid technology for sustainable green mobility,” says Hartwig Meier, head of Global Product and Applications Development for LANXESS HPM.
Hybrid technology
The LANXESS display will demonstrate items made of sheet steel or polyamide (PA) composite sheet hybrid technology.
“We want to use them to demonstrate the high mechanical strength of hybrid components and the great potential of lightweight construction for reducing weight, particularly since it is already well established in volume production,” Meier says.
One exhibit is the prototype of a brake pedal engineered by ZF Friedrichshafen AG in partnership with LANXESS and Bond-Laminates GmbH. Fabricated using polyamide composite sheet hybrid technology, the concept component is the world's first automotive brake pedal made of polyamide reinforced with continuous glass fibre that is suitable for high-volume production. It is 50% lighter than comparable brake pedals made of steel, but has the same mechanical strength.
Engineering expertise
The brake pedal is an example of the know-how in materials, design, simulation and process engineering that LANXESS has bundled under the name HiAnt to provide customers with tailored services. For example, experts from the HPM business unit used a forming simulation to calculate localised differences in fibre orientation in the formed polyamide composite sheet.
“We can now precisely calculate all the key properties of components made of hybrid polyamide composite sheet, such as their crash strength," Meier explains. "That enables us to design parts like this on the computer quickly, cost effectively and in consideration of the appropriate loads.”
COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 takes place on 9-11 October in Düsseldorf, Germany. The show is organised by Reed Exhibitions with the support of the European Composites Industry Association (EuCIA), the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA), Reinforced Plastics magazine, the German engineering association VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau) and German association for reinforced plastics AVK.
