COMPOSITES IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

A new class of fiber reinforced plastic composite materials has been developed to meet the needs of the automotive industry. These automotive composites are made of filled or unfilled thermosetting polymers reinforced with milled, chopped, continuous, or combinations of chopped and continuous fibers. The primary reinforcing fiber for automotive composites is E-glass, but in the future, higher performance reinforcements such as S-glass, aramid, and graphite fibers may be used. These automotive composites will provide corrsion resistance, dent resistance, parts consolidation, weight reduction, design freedom, and engineering versatility. The applications of these composite materials are grouped in four categories: appearance, semistructural, structural and high temperature. Examples of their use by Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile are described. These composites have mass production process capabilities and the understanding of their process variables is crucial to cost-effective production of high quality parts. Development issues that must be addressed to expand the use of composites in the automotive industry are noted. The ASTM Subcommittee on Automotive/Industrial Composites has developed a proposed "Recommended Guide for Testing of Automotive/Industrial Composite Materials" and is currently addressing the standardization of test methode for determining accurate structural property data.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11951092
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

  100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700
  West Conshohocken, PA  United States  19428-2957
• Authors:
  • Riegner, D A
• Publication Date: 1983-12

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 24-27
• Serial:
  • ASTM Standardization News
  • Volume: 11
  • Issue Number: 12
  • Publisher: ASTM International
  • ISSN: 1094-4656
  • Serial URL: http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/archive.html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile industry; Composite materials; Fiberglass; Fibers; Graphite; Materials tests; Plastics; Polymers; Standardization
• Subject Areas: Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387743
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-036 413
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 30 1984 12:00AM