JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #119 - March 2018 - 59

MATERIALS: PUSHING BOUNDARIES
CFRTP

Beautiful, lightweight, and tunable

michaEl schmidt,
Co-CEO,
david hartmann,
Co-CEO,
Continuous Fibre-Reinforced Thermoplastic
Composites (CFRTP), Covestro

The future is here
Lightweight material solutions are in greater demand than ever - from automotive
to consumer electronics. Manufacturers
of consumer electronic devices such as
laptops, tablets, and smartphones want to
make their products slimmer and stiffer.
Continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTP) from Covestro
are a solution. Targeting large-volume
applications in key industries such as
consumer electronics, home appliances,

furniture, medical, automotive, e-mobility and many others, these CFRTP offer
low cycle times and high yield rates, and
are a realistic solution for making millions
of parts and devices.
Strength, flexibility, and
customization
CFRTP composites from Covestro can be
tuned to be as strong as metal, with a high
specific stiffness and strength compared
to magnesium and aluminium. This is
achieved by combining strong performance fibres with the power and flexibility
of thermoplastics. This allows for fine-tuning to specifications while customizing the
material to unique needs. These CFRTP

can be further processed by a fast and efficient technology by combining the three
conventional steps of preheating, thermoforming, and functional integration
by back injection moulding into a single
process. This hybridization and one-step
forming can often result in substantially
lower costs and shorter cycle times. Late
last year, the company's CFRTP received
the European Plastics Innovation Award
for the composite "A-Cover" for next-generation laptops that utilize the one-step
forming technology. The development
took second place in "Best Lightweight
Innovation," and is a perfect showcase of
the capability of thermoplastic composites
for driving lightweight solutions at scale.

Fig.1 A single mold manufacturing
process used to form composite
sheets into 3D parts with
integration of features in one go

N°119 March 2018

/ jec composites magazine

Materials: pushing boundaries

dvanced composite materials
combine great strength and
stiffness with low weight and high
performance in demanding environments.
Historically, this made them ideal for use
in aerospace applications, and has driven
the development and manufacture of relatively low-volume, high-value composite
materials. In recent years, we have been
seeing increasing interest from industries
using composites to reduce weight without compromising on strength, which is
driving up the demand for high-volume,
lower cost composites.

Industries and consumers are in need of new materials with cuttingedge technology. The Composites Solutions portfolio is an authentic
answer from Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience), representing
how "Pushing Boundaries" can look, feel and perform. Leveraging
expertise in thermoplastics, coatings and polyurethane, the company
works with its customers to invent, innovate and design composite
solutions for next-generation applications, today.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #119 - March 2018