COMPOSITES EUROPE 2012 Blog

Despite the increase in production capacities, the demand for carbon fibres continues to be far greater than the supply. This is evident from the annual market survey by the AVK – Industrievereinigung Verstärkte Kunststoffe e.V. The worldwide capacity in 2007 is estimated to have been 55,000 tons. The applications are multifarious and consist primarily of the sports sector, wind energy, the oil industry, the automobile and transport sector as well as civil engineering. By 2010, an annual increase in the demand for CRP is predicted to be between 14 and 16 per cent. This is due to the development of new applications over and above the previous use. Current new developments can be found, e.g. with hydrogen tanks, although the main application continues to be aviation. Experts think that even though fibre production will experience a double-digit increase as expected, there will continue to be bottlenecks at least in the medium-term. Read Full Post

Something that awakened the interest of the experts in 2006, is now becoming a reality since last year with the production of a small batch of the Tesla Roadster, an all electric driven, two-seater sports car that has now also been available in Europe since May 2009. It is driven by a 252 PS electric motor in the rear, which develops a maximum torque of 375 Nm on the back axle. In almost 4.0 seconds the vehicle reaches 62.5 mph (100 km/h), with an electronically restricted maximum speed slightly above 125 mph (200 km/h).

Consequently, the American Tesla Roadster has everything a sports car needs, apart from the sound. This is now being provided by BRABUS, the German tuning specialists. The company from Bottrop and its Zero Emissions Division, is cooperating with Tesla Motors Inc., and is providing the sports car with an appropriate soundscape.  For this, the electricians developed a so-called space sound generator, which can imitate the sound of a V8, a racing car or various fantasy sounds. The intensity of the sound matches the current performance of the electric motor.

To keep the weight low, the body rests on a stuck aluminium frame and consists of glass fibre reinforced plastic.  Consequently, the 4.0 metre long sports car only weighs around 1,240 kilograms. This demonstrates the increasing importance of composite fibres for automobile construction. At the Composites Europe Trade Fair, which will take place in Stuttgart from 27 to 29 October 2009, this trend will also dominate the presentations of numerous exhibitors.

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