The automobile industry is a pillar industry of China's national economy, and has achieved rapid development in recent years. The rapid development of the automotive industry has led to a sharp increase in car ownership, while also bringing three major problems to society: energy scarcity, environmental pollution, and safety issues.
Automotive energy conservation, environmental protection, and safety are not only the development direction of international automotive technology, but also the requirements of China's automotive industry policies. Reducing fuel consumption and reducing environmental pollution has become a key issue that urgently needs to be addressed in the development of the automotive industry and sustainable social development. Realizing the lightweight of automobiles is one of the most effective ways to save energy, and it is also an important goal pursued by international advanced automobile manufacturers. The lightweight of automobiles depends on both the development of the materials industry and the improvement of automobile performance.
The use of high-performance lightweight materials is an important way to achieve automotive lightweight, such as the use of alloys such as aluminum, magnesium, titanium, high-strength steel, engineering plastics, and composite materials to manufacture automotive body, chassis, engine and other components, which can effectively reduce the weight of the vehicle and improve engine efficiency. It is estimated that for every 10% reduction in car weight, it will save 6% to 8% of fuel.
As an important lightweight material that replaces steel with plastic in automobiles, fiberglass/composite materials are closely related to energy conservation, environmental protection, and safety in automobiles. Using fiberglass/composite materials to manufacture car body shells and other related components is one of the most effective ways to make cars lightweight; The emergence of fiberglass/composite materials has provided important revolutionary conditions for automotive styling design. By utilizing its high degree of design freedom and convenient molding, it has added novelty and beauty to the styling and functions of automotive products, achieving the design concept of streamlined automotive bodies;
At the same time, fiberglass/composite materials also have excellent performance such as safety, low noise, and thermal insulation. Due to the reduction of vehicle mass and Rolling resistance, a series of effects such as reducing fuel consumption, saving energy, reducing environmental pollution and ensuring safety are achieved. The application of FRP/composite materials in the automotive field began in the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries in the 1950s; Composite materials have been widely used in the manufacturing of sedans, buses, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, as well as racing cars, refrigerated vehicles, engineering vehicles and other body and related components.
The Application Status of Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic/Composite Materials in the Automotive Industry
Overview of the application of Car glass FRP/composite materials Since GM Corvette, the first FRP vehicle in the world, was successfully manufactured in 1953, FRP/composite materials have become a new force in the automotive industry.
The traditional hand layup molding process is only suitable for small displacement production and cannot meet the continuous development needs of the automotive industry.
Since the 1970s, due to the successful development of SMC materials and the application of mechanized molding technology and in mold coating technology, the annual growth rate of FRP/composite materials in automotive applications has reached 25%, forming the first rapid development period of Car glass FRP products; By the early 1990s, with the increasing demand for environmental protection, lightweight, and energy conservation, GMT (glass fiber felt reinforced thermoplastic composites) and LFT (long fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites)
