Solvay has won the 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Process Innovation Award for the Most Innovative Composite Part.
The award is for the BMW M4 GTS Hood manufactured from Solvay‘s materials and processes, in collaboration with C-Con and Läpple.
This hood was pressed using Solvay‘s new rapid cure thermoset resin system MTR 760 which offered 40% weight reduction over traditional materials.
In addition to significant weight reduction, the part with a Class-A finish also passes head impact crash tests and functional tests.
The ability to use existing metal stamping assets for composite production also enables a manufacturing process that can produce complex 3D shapes in a cost efficient way.
C-Con (development, tooling and system leading supplier), Läpple (pressing and bonding) and Solvay worked together and delivered an automated serial production process in nine months.
“We are honored to receive this innovation awards from SPE for an application we are very proud of,” said Gerald Perrin, Solvay Composite Materials Global Automotive Director. “At Solvay we are committed to working with the OEMs and their composites part manufacturers to develop materials and processes to enable the volume manufacture of composite structures for serial automotive.”
Source : China Plastic & Rubber Journal
