Short notice given only, substantially as follows: The use of carbon fibre as the basis for composite parts in aircraft has grown from 10 % of the body of planes 20 years ago to over 50 % in the latest superplanes such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing's Dreamliner. The US military is also using more carbon fibre than ever before not only in its aircrafts but many other items of equipment. Carbon fibre is being used extensively as the material of choice for wind turbine blades. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), the basis of the parts currently used in planes, sports equipment and racing cars, consists of the carbon fibres or fabrics combined with plastic resins to provide a high strength-to-weight ratio material. Because of its high price, carbon only accounts for a small percentage of the total amount of composites produced and consumed. However, aerospace accounts for no more than 5 % of total consumption in Europe and the USA, and just 1 % in Asia at present. A number of announcements suggest that carbon fibre is poised to rapidly expand in the automotive sector. SGL Group has announced to invest 100 million US-dollars in building a new carbonfibre manufacturing plant in USA with BMW to manufacture ultra lightweight carbon fibre reinforced plastic for use in future vehicle concepts, especially BMW's megacity vehicle. Lightweight is said to be a core aspect for sustainable mobility, improving both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. In a parallel development, Daimler and Japan's Toray Industries announced that they will jointly develop carbon fibre car parts to be used in Mercedes-Benz cars starting in 2012. The first cars to use the new composite materials manufactured at the new plant in France will be the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class and will mark the debut of carbon from Toray, the world's largest manufacturer of the fibre with a global 34 % market share in commercial vehicles. Zoltek, a leading carbon fibre manufacturer has announced to build a new subsidiary called Zoltek Automotive which will aim to speed up the development of high-volume applications for lightweight carbon fibres within the automotive industry.


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    Title :

    Fast lane for carbon. Recent industry announcements suggest a growing move towards replacing steel with carbon in cars


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Future Materials ; Jun ; 14-15


    Publication date :

    2010


    Size :

    2 Seiten, 3 Bilder



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English