Japanese car maker Nissan has reported what it terms a breakthrough in carbon-fibre parts production.
This development should see carbon-fibre, typically used in airplanes, rockets and sportscars, find its way into more mass-market cars, says Nissan.
The new process speeds up the development of car parts made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastics, or CFRP.
CFRP can be used to make cars safer and more fuel-efficient, as it is lightweight, yet extremely strong.
It can also lower a car’s center of gravity when applied to upper body parts, making it more agile and exciting to drive.
Nissan aims to use the new process to mass-produce CFRP parts and introduce them into more of its cars.
The car maker says the innovation can cut the lead time to develop such components by as much as half, and the cycle time for molding by about 80%, compared with conventional methods.
While the benefits of carbon-fibre have long been known, it is expensive compared with other materials such as steel.
This, as well as the difficulty in shaping CFRP parts, have hampered the mass production of automotive components made from this material.
Nissan says it has found a new approach to the existing production method known as compression resin transfer molding.
The existing method involves forming carbon-fibre into the right shape and setting it in a die with a slight gap between the upper die and the carbon fibres.
Resin is then injected into the fibre and left to harden.
Nissan’s engineers have now developed techniques to accurately simulate the permeability of the resin in carbon-fibre, while visualising resin flow behaviour in a die, using an in-die temperature sensor and a transparent die.
The result of the successful simulation is a high-quality component with shorter development time.