Every litre of fuel saved by a lighter car cuts CO₂ emissions by 2.6 kilograms. A consortium led by an automotive manufacturer, with partners including a materials supplier, manufacturing catapult centres, and a university, is developing automated methods to produce carbon fibre composite parts for vehicles more cheaply. Carbon fibre composites are stronger and lighter than steel or aluminium, but their high cost has kept them out of mass-market cars. The project targets the pre-form stage—where dry fibres are shaped before resin is injected—by reducing material waste and automating that process. If successful, the technology could make lightweight composite body panels and structural parts affordable for ordinary family cars. Because a 10% reduction in vehicle mass improves fuel consumption by 7%, even modest weight savings add up across millions of vehicles. The same manufacturing advances could also lower costs for wind turbine blades, aerospace components, and sporting goods. This is applied industrial research with a clear commercial target: remove the cost barrier that has kept advanced composites from widespread road use.
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With the ever more stringent requirements on improved fuel efficiency and CO2 emission reduction for road vehicles, a key enabling technology is the use of advanced composite materials to significantly reduce the mass of vehicles on the road. Life cycle analysis has shown that approximately 15% of total CO2 emissions results from material and parts production, assembly and disposal. The remaining 85% of the CO2 is emitted during operation and driving. The lighter the vehicle is, the less fuel is burnt and the lower are the CO2 emissions. A 10% reduction in vehicle mass improves fuel consumption by 7%, and every litre of fuel saved reduces CO2 emissions by 2.6kg. Advanced carbon fibre composite materials have higher strength to weight ratios, better chemical and heat resistance and greater design flexibility when compared to conventional automotive construction materials. A consortium, led by an automotive OEM, with partners including a material supplier, high value manufacturing catapult centres and an academic institution, aim to develop technologies that will significantly reduce the cost of utilising these advanced materials in vehicle structures, a traditional barrier to date. Through a combination of reduced material wastage and automated pre-form manufacture, these technologies will have a significant impact on the cost of resin transfer moulded composite components. Not only will they be of benefit to the automotive industry, but also to other industrial sectors such as wind energy, sporting goods and aerospace.
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