Page 49 - ETP-April-May2020

AUTOMOTIVE

Because every gram counts

A provider of vibration technology and plastics applications for the automotive
industry has joined hands with a speciality chemicals company to create an all-
plastic brake pedal.

n a battery-electric sports Tapes are thin plastic
car, every gram of weight strips with unidirectionally
counts. That is why the oriented, high-strength con-
Ifirst mass-production ve- tinuous fiber systems em-
hicle in this segment is using bedded in the thermoplastic
an all-plastic brake pedal. This matrix. Multiple tapes with
safety-critical component glass-fiber rovings are used in
has been developed by Boge the brake pedal to reinforce
Elastmetall GmbH, a global the bottomside of the compo-
provider of vibration technol- nent. Since the tapes and the
ogy and plastics applications Tepex insert consist of mutu-
for the automotive industry, ally compatible plastic matri-
in close cooperation with the ces, the tapes can simply be
Lanxess High Performance welded onto the Tepex insert
Materials (HPM) business unit. It Dr. Klaus Vonberg, an expert in using a laser. This results in tailor-
owes its high mechanical strength lightweight design at HPM’s Tepex made laminates with fiber layers that
and very low weight to a thermo- Automotive Group. follow the load paths precisely and
plastic composite design. Its struc- are adapted to the exact load-specific
ture comprises an insert made from Precise combination of component requirements. The cov-
Tepex dynalite, a continuous-fiber- fiber layers arranged in ering layers of the insert with their
reinforced thermoplastic composite various orientations 45° fiber layers, combined with the
from Lanxess, and several tapes. The fully consolidated semi-finished tapes on top, thereby ensure the high
“The composite structure makes products Tepex dynalite have a ther- torsional strength of the pedal.
the brake pedal 50 percent lighter moplastic matrix that is typically
than a comparable steel design. The reinforced with layers of continuous Four brake pedal versions
structural component meets the de- glass-fiber fabric. The brake pedal in series production
manding load requirements thanks for the battery-electric sports car “This tailor-made fiber-layer struc-
to the tailor-made fiber-layer con- uses a composite structure with a ture and the combination of organic
struction of the Tepex insert and polyamide 6 matrix, which contains sheets and tapes have made it possi-
additional local tape reinforcement. unidirectional fiber layers inside and ble to reduce brake pedal weight even
Extensive automation allows the fabric layers with fibers arranged at further while simultaneously achiev-
geometrically complex safety-critical 45° angles on the two covering lay- ing the exceptionally high level of
component to be manufactured effi- ers. The inner layers are what give mechanical characteristics that such
ciently and in a way that is suitable the component its excellent tensile a safety-critical component needs to
for large-scale production,” explains and bending strength. provide,” says Dr. Daniel Häffelin
from the Innovation Center at Boge
“THE COMPOSITE STRUCTURE MAKES THE BRAKE Elastmetall. There are currently four
PEDAL 50 PERCENT LIGHTER THAN A COMPARABLE different brake pedal designs in mass
production based on an all-plastic
STEEL DESIGN. THE STRUCTURAL COMPONENT version. For all component versions, The Economic Times POLYMERS | April-May 2020
MEETS THE DEMANDING LOAD REQUIREMENTS the load paths are also optimized to
THANKS TO THE TAILOR-MADE FIBER-LAYER suit the various torsion directions.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEPEX INSERT AND
ADDITIONAL LOCAL TAPE REINFORCEMENT.” Automated processing of
Dr. Klaus Vonberg, an expert in lightweight design at HPM’s tapes and Tepex
Tepex Automotive Group. The brake pedals are manufactured
in an automated process using hy-

49