Weight Reduction in Automotive Components Using Synergex Technology - Two Case Studies

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1 Weight Reduction in Automotive Components Using Synergex Technology - Two Case Studies Probir Guha, VP Global Composites Innovation Coats, Performance Materials SPE-ACCE, Novi, MI September, 2017

2 Who we are

3 Overview Coats Synergex & Lattice technology Value Stream Design Study Comparison of Light Weight Technologies (estimates) Conclusions Coats Page 3

4 The Future of Composites Elemental Opportunity

5 Elemental Opportunity First fully functional thermoplastic composite part for a high performance automotive application has been developed using Coats SYNERGEX

6 Coats Process and Value Stream

7 Coats Technologies for Automotive Light Weighting Coats offers two basic patents pending technologies for automotive light weighting Synergex is a method to commingle dissimilar fibers for final property optimization for a specific product requirement Reinforcing Fibers Carbon; Glass; Aramid (in future) Thermoplastic Matrix Fibers Nylon6; Polypropylene; PEEK; PPS Has been proven in o TP Compression Molding o RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) o LCM (Liquid Composite Molding) Trialing in SMC Lattice is a fiber preform manufacturing technology to maximize the utilization of the reinforcing fibers By utilizing continuous directed fibers and not chopping the fibers as is customary in high volume composites like Sheet Molding Compound And by eliminating all wastage of fiber while attaining complicated preform shapes for specific applications

8 Path to market The key strengths that Coats brings to automotive are Technology to commingle multiple fibers fine tunes properties as required Synergex Preform technology using the commingled fibers without cutting or damaging the fibers and placing them exactly where required Lattice Both of these capabilities together provides the ability to Reduce weight (and therefore cost) Eliminates Carbon Fiber wastage which in conventional technology runs as high as 50%, thus driving up cost The Coats technology can be used both by the Thermoplastic or Thermoset molder (Tier-1 s who supply parts to the Automotive OEM s) To expedite the development and path to market we are working with various Universities And are demonstrating the benefits of the technology to the OEM s and Tier-1 s Coats would supply Synergex &/or Lattice products to Tier-1 s Would work jointly with OEM s and Tier-1 s to achieve targets in an efficient manner

9 Summary of Development / Implementation Status Coats has expedited the path to market by working with Universities and Customers including our own effort internally through Coats GIF (Global Innovation Forum)

10 SYNERGEX

11 SYNERGEX Alternatives Reinforcing Fibers Thermoplastic Fibers Carbon Glass Aramid Nylon 6 Polypropylene PEEK PPS Commingled fibers Typically 2 or 3 fibers commingled in one final product Typically has at least one thermoplastic fiber But has been made without thermoplastic fiber for RTM and LCM Product with Aramid in early stages of trials not ready for customer trials Fiber content adjusted based on denier of input raw material

12 SYNERGEX Mechanical Property Determination For Component Design/Analysis

13 SYNERGEX Mechanical Property Determination For Component Design/Analysis

14 SYNERGEX Commingling Technology Synergex (Carbon Fiber-Nylon) SEM Scans SEM Scanning Electron Microscopy scans of tested samples Synergex (both Carbon Fiber) show excellent fiber wetting compares very favorable with existing carbon fiber composites Superior wet-out of the fiber is what gives higher mechanical properties Higher mechanicals allow the OEM/Tier-1 designers to design thinner part thickness therefore lowering weight & cost

15 SYNERGEX Mechanical Properties vs. Conventional Synergex can offer 20% to 300% higher strength than conventional structural composites in use today 10% to 522% higher modulus Synergex allows the possibility of commingling Carbon & Glass fibers and fine tuning properties and minimizing cost This capability allow parts to be designed thinner and lighter and therefore lower cost than conventional Carbon Fiber approaches

16 Some comments on the Decklid Design Alternatives While the study was based on properties we measured for compression CF-Nylon and CF-GF-Nylon, we expect the properties to be comparable to RTM and LCM molded composites using an epoxy matrix (typical values from published literature shown below) Fiber Volume Fraction: 50.00% Property Lay-Up Unidirectional Quasisotropic [0 ]s [+45 /-45 /90 /0 ]s Test Direction 0 0 Tensile Modulus GPa Tensile Strength MPa 2, Composites Density g/cm³ Additional testing is ongoing

17 SYNERGEX LATTICE

18 What is Lattice Lattice is an optimized continuous fiber laying technique to create preforms for automotive components Maintains the integrity of the fibers thru the process does not require cutting or chopping the fibers Fiber direction is in line with the stress patterns the part is expected to see in actual use No loss of fibers even for parts with complicated shapes Design/Material/Equipment innovations to achieve automotive cycle times Better weight reduction & cost achieved due to Higher fiber loading possible with continuous fibers compared to chopped fibers Use of continuous fibers as opposed to chopped fibers Resulting in higher strength and modulus Fibers can be aligned to mimic stress contours predicted by FEA analysis Almost complete fiber utilization compared to up to 50% fiber loss with prepreg material

19 Example Technology allows almost 100% fiber utilization In this part conventional technology would have lost up to 80% fibers

20 Advantage of Fiber Path Control Lattice allows for a contoured fiber path This can designed to address optimal fiber placement to high stress/strain areas Not possible with chopped fiber systems or with unidirectional or biaxial fiber prepreg Provides additional weight reduction at a lower cost

21 FEA Design to the Strengths of Lattice Technology Additional 30% Weight Reduction possible with Strategic Fiber Path Selection

22 Design Study

23 Coats Design / Analysis Study

24 Two Parts Selected for Value Analysis Study Parts selected from a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) website Two (2) automotive parts selected for design analysis & value proposition using Synergex Rear Wheel Well Floor Pan (shown on left) Rear Decklid (2 views shown on left) Design based Competing materials - published data on Steel; Aluminum; Competing Composites Coats Synergex /Lattice based material Parts were designed to performance (multiple load) criteria defined for each part Decklid outer-inner assembly Rear Wheel Well Floor (RWWF) Design conducted by Advanced Materials Design

25 Baseline Performance for the Steel Decklid Other Materials were Optimized Against this baseline Design Criteria

26 Baseline Performance for the Steel Decklid Other Materials were Optimized Against this baseline Design Criteria Materials Specific Gravity (g/cc) Mechanical Properties Inner Outer Inner Outer Elastic Modulus, GPa Inner Strength, MPa Elastic Modulus, GPa Outer Strength, MPa Steel Steel Aluminum Aluminum CF Orientation - (0/60/-60) 2 LDSMC CF/GF Orientation - (0/90) 2 LDSMC CFSMC LDSMC CFRTM LDSMC Material Properties are based on measurements by Coats at Universities published sources for other materials

27 Decklid FEA Study Inner Outer Inner Outer Inner Outer Total to Steel to Aluminum Steel Steel Aluminum Aluminum % - CFSMC CFRTM Materials CF Orientation - (0/60/-60) 2 LDSMC CF/GF Orientation - (0/90) 2 LDSMC LDSMC LDSMC Optimized Thickness (mm) Optimized Weight (kg) % % 30.7% % % 25.6% % % 12.4% % Weight Reduction % 12.4% Stress contour plots from FEA study shown in next slide Elbow Loading condition or denting under a point load The optimized solutions had in excess of 70% weight reduction compared to steel Thicknesses at these levels were not deemed possible with existing manufacturing processes Thicknesses corrected upwards had weight reductions of 50% to 57% compared to steel Synergex /Lattice solutions were lighter

28 Contour Plot From Decklid FEA Study Steel/Steel Aluminum/Aluminum LDSMC/Synergex

29 Baseline Performance for the Steel RWWF Other Materials were Optimized Against this Baseline Design Criteria

30 Properties of Materials Used in Design/Analysis Materials Specific Gravity (g/cc) Mechanical Properties Inner Outer Pan Stiffener Elastic Modulus, GPa Pan Strength, MPa Elastic Modulus, GPa Stiffener Strength, MPa Steel Steel Aluminum Steel Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Steel Synergex CF/N - (0/90) 2 Steel Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Synergex CF/N - (0/90) Synergex CF/GF/N - (0/90) 2 Steel Material Properties are based on measurements by Coats at Universities published sources for other materials

31 Properties of Materials Used in Design/Analysis Optimized Thickness Materials Weight Reduction (mm) Total Optimized Weight (kg) to Pan Stiffener Pan Stiffener to Steel Aluminum Steel Steel Aluminum Steel % - Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Steel % 28.1% Synergex CF/N - (0/90) 2 Steel % 34.9% Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Synergex CF/N - (0/90) % 43.4% Synergex CF/GF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Steel % 19.6% Load Distribution diagram from FEA study steel vs. aluminum vs Synergex alternatives With Coats Synergex & Lattice technology fiber can be re-distributed as required for further weight reduction Carbon/Glass alternative shows better weight reduction than aluminum

32 Rear Wheel Well Floor (RWWF) FEA Study Optimized Thickness Materials Weight Reduction (mm) Total Optimized Weight (kg) to Pan Stiffener Pan Stiffener to Steel Aluminum Steel Steel Aluminum Steel % - Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Steel % 28.1% Synergex CF/N - (0/90) 2 Steel % 34.9% Synergex CF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Synergex CF/N - (0/90) % 43.4% Synergex CF/GF/N - (0/60/-60) 2 Steel % 19.6% Load Distribution diagram from FEA study steel vs. aluminum vs Synergex alternatives With Coats Synergex & Lattice technology fiber can be re-distributed as required for further weight reduction Carbon/Glass alternative shows better weight reduction than aluminum

33 Contour Plot From RWWF FEA Study Stress Contour Plots Steel/Steel Aluminum/Aluminum LDSMC/Synergex Frequency Contour Plots

34 Conclusions

35 Weight Reduction Comparisons - Decklid

36 Weight Reduction Comparisons - RWWF

37 Conclusions / Next Steps Synergex and Lattice technologies offer better weight reduction capabilities compared to Aluminum and conventional composites in use today Synergex and Lattice technologies offer weight reduction capabilities similar to high end carbon fiber composites that have limited use in automotive due to cost Synergex and Lattice can be expected to be cost competitive versus conventional materials when we look at total cost increase per unit weight reduced Coats has started taking the Synergex and Lattice stories to Tier-1 s and are starting to initiate development assessments with Tier-1 s Processes being investigated include TP compression molding; RTM; Liquid Composite Molding, SMC & co-molding The Coats light weighting capability is ready to be implemented in components that require cost effective weight reduction in excess of the conventional methods

38 Thank you