An excerpt of our projects in the field of fibre-reinforced plastics
Development of a component carrier for a battery electric vehicle using continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics
As part of a cooperation between the MAHLE Group and thermoPre ENGINEERING GmbH, a component carrier from an electric vehicle was redesigned with long and continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic moulding compounds and a 35 % weight reduction was achieved.
Through the holistic development process, an integrative and load-adapted plastic component was produced that meets the highest requirements in terms of stiffness, strength and lightweight construction. Another advantage of the FRP component: In the event of a crash, a higher energy absorption takes place, which means that there is no abrupt component failure.
Project overview
- Analysis of the component and specifications, development of solutions
- Joint evaluation of the variants and selection of a preferred variant
- Detailing of the component construction incl. stiffness and strength verification
- Tool design and conceptual design of the manufacturing process
- Prototype manufacturing using the press process with fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites
- Possible series supply by MAHLE
- Duration Stage 1, Engineering: June 2017 - November 2017
- Duration Stage 2, Prototyping: January 2018 - September 2018
- www.mahle.com
Source: thermoPre ENGINEERING
Source: thermoPre ENGINEERING, MAHLE Group
Source: MAHLE Group
Weight reduction compared to steel component
Reduction in production time
Multifunctional lightweight stretcher table for ERVs reduces weight by 43 %
Together with Ambulanz Mobile GmbH & Co. KG, thermoPre ENGINEERING GmbH has developed a new stretcher table for fixing stretchers in ambulances and emergency response vehicles (ERVs). The conventional steel construction was completely redesigned as a plastic component. This made it possible to achieve the goal of using the material primarily along the lines of force flow and thus significantly reduce the overall mass.
Project overview
- Analysis of the actual component and the acting forces
- A topology-optimised bionic structure has already made it possible to reduce the mass by 50 %, resulting in a basic shape with a bionic appearance.
- Subsequently, a further optimisation of the basic shape was carried out according to the force flows
- Validation through FEM analysis
- Product design of the final stretcher table
- Development of a modular storage compartment concept according to customer requirements and application
- Production of the 1:1 model using rapid prototyping and 3D printing
- Duration: January 2019 - May 2019
- www.ambulanzmobile.eu
