JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 40

CRTP

management, CAD concept and CAE
simulation; CQFD Composites (France),
who provided insights into the reactive
pultrusion process and built the pultrusion equipment; and Arkema (France),
the specialist partner for field chemistry and
material testing.

Start of the project
Back in November 2011, the Composite
team within the Engineering Design Department at HMETC in Rüsselsheim (Germany) was asked to look at the front bumper
beam structure of the current Hyundai i30
model as part of an overall weight-saving
programme on that car, which might also be
applied to other Hyundai platforms (Figure
3).
This experienced team is asked to tackle
many improvement projects, but this
quickly became one of the most challenging
because the front bumper beam structure
not only has an obvious role in occupant
and pedestrian safety, but its shape and
weight also affect how the car handles. As
the front bumper is the lowest and foremost
part of the car, any extra weight is particularly unwelcome, so here was a clear task for
the Hyundai team: to cut weight without
compromising safety, raising production
costs dramatically, or compromising mass
production feasibility.

Clearly, the team had to apply the company's "New Thinking. New Possibilities"
philosophy rather than take an easy way
out; a real breakthrough was needed to
deliver the required performance, cost and
production benefits.
Over nine months, Hyundai engineers
based at HMETC thoroughly investigated
the latest composite materials and manufacturing methods based on numerous
discussions with automotive and raw
material suppliers, in addition to prominent universities. Despite their efforts,
the team found nothing in the existing
"toolbox" that could match Hyundai's high
expectations in terms of weight, performance and cost, and the team had to come
up with its own "breakthrough" concept.
For example, using only carbon fibres
could have reduced the weight significantly, but the material costs would not fit
with mass production. On the other hand,
with the existing i30 front bumper beam
structure already featuring a weight of 8.7
kg and entirely composed of high-strength
and ultra-high-strength steels, it was
obvious that a design optimization of the
current steel part could not deliver massive
weight improvements. In any case, with
26 different parts, 24 laser welding lines
and 85 arc welding lines - a total length of
2.1 metres - the production and assembly
process for the current product was quite
complex.

A breakthrough for
automotive composite parts

Fig. 3: Composite Beam

Don't take the easy way
But while it was easy to see the gains from
saving weight in the existing i30 front
bumper and how these might be applied
across other Hyundai models, the team also
knew that the i30 front beam structure was
already the best in terms of performance
and weight within the Hyundai line-up.

With conventional solutions discounted,
Hyundai chemists and engineers had to
think "outside the box"' to meet the project
targets. Creating an advanced composite
material was soon considered due to its
relatively low cost compared to its strength
and performance, and the scope for innovation in this field was promising too.
After investigating different materials and
processes, reactive thermoplastic pultrusion supplied the initial breakthrough.
This low-viscosity process, developed by
the partner company CQFD Composites
(France), is a continuous manufacturing method for composite parts with a

40 jec composites magazine / No98 July - August 2015

constant cross section. Glass or carbon
fibres are impregnated with a liquid polymer precursor (the monomer) and introduced into a pultrusion die. The monomer
is then polymerized through heat into a
polymer resin during the forming process
so that the fibres and plastics are bonded
within just one process - "liquid in-mould
reactive polymerization". This not only cuts
weight dramatically, but also reduces complexity considerably. Consequently, the
new structure comprises only three major
parts, produced and assembled in two
continuous production steps compared to
26 different parts and the various assembly
steps of its steel counterpart (Figure 4).

Fig. 4: I30 steel front bumper beam exploded view

Curved Reactive Thermoplastic
Pultrusion (CRTP): a world first
Another feature of the reactive thermoplastic pultrusion process was the need
to develop special equipment to pull the
composite insert into a 2-metre radius
and cut it to the right length, matching the
existing part geometry of the steel counterpart. This breakthrough in composite
production was developed exclusively for
Hyundai and meant that, for the first time,
a curved shape could be produced in just
one rapid production step, making it not
just superior to conventional composite
production processes, but much faster and
less complex than bending the current
high-strength steel structure. The insert is
then placed into a conventional moulding
tool and a plastic resin is injected onto the
pultruded insert to finalize the front bumper beam. This combination of innovative
materials and processes with a highly costefficient standard production technology,
like conventional injection moulding,
makes the process very competitive and



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015

Cover
Edito
Point of view : business development
Contents
COMPANY & BUSINESS
In brief
Cluster
SME
Agenda of Events
APPLICATIONS
Sports & leisure
Safety
Sports & leisure
MARKET
Resins
FEATURE AUTOMOTIVE
Materials
Binder
Additive
CFRP
Epoxy
Hybrid polymer
QSP
CRTP
Rear axles
Tanks
Engines
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Fractography
Recycling
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATIONS
Ancillary product
Vision system
Nano
Index
In the world
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Cover
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 2
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Edito
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Point of view : business development
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 5
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Contents
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 7
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - In brief
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Cluster
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - SME
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 11
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 12
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 13
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Agenda of Events
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 15
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Sports & leisure
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Safety
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Sports & leisure
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Ad1
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Ad2
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 19
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Resins
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 21
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 22
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Materials
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 24
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Binder
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Additive
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 27
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 28
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 29
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - CFRP
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 31
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Epoxy
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 33
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Hybrid polymer
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 35
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - QSP
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 37
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 38
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - CRTP
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 40
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 41
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Rear axles
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Tanks
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Engines
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 45
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Fractography
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 47
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 48
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 49
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Recycling
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 51
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Ancillary product
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 53
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Vision system
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 55
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Nano
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - Index
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - In the world
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 59
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 60
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