Strategy, Planning, Execution
Machinery and Agricultural
Machinery use composites for safety guards for machinery and outer body panels and trims.
The benefits of using composites are extensive.
They are lightweight, strong, non-corrosive, chemical resistant, moulded to any colour or finish required, and can be mass-produced.
Panels can be made as one whole piece or broken up to make replacement easier and cheaper.
Trucks and Buses
Composites are used for trucks, buses, trams and train parts.
Composite parts make up many components in the land transport industry as every saving on weight, and the long life of the parts make them greatly beneficial.
The reduction in weight makes the vehicle lighter saves on fuel/energy costs and helps reduce the carbon footprint that they use.
As composites are naturally flame retardant, they are suited for vehicles and give an added benefit.
Composites are used for making bumpers, exterior body panels/ trims, covers, interior trims, seat bases, dashboards, trays, luggage holders, and various internal panels.
Why use composites for trucks, buses and machinery.
Trucks, buses and machinery industry is one of the most important parts of the world economy. This sector is responsible for the transportation of goods and people which are the primary need of human society. Therefore trucks, buses and machinery are in operation at all times with different load conditions.
Therefore manufacturers need materials that have high stiffness, strength, toughness and good fatigue resistance to create reliable parts according to customer requirements.
The most important properties for the final application are the stiffness of the composite material, its specific strength (stiffness per unit weight) and toughness. The new process manufactures polymer-based compounds having excellent uniaxial tensile properties thus making them very suitable for trucks, buses and the machinery industry.
Composite manufacturing creates lighter products with reduced deadweight thus increasing the fuel efficiency of vehicles using them.
The new process for manufacturing polymer-based composites is called resin transfer moulding (RTM). This method allows us to produce parts using less material than traditional composite manufacturing methods thus creating lighter products that comply with environmental requirements, reduce fuel consumption and lower the vehicle’s CO2 emissions.
Trucks, buses and machinery manufacturers prefer this new process because it enables them to create new lightweight components according to customers’ demands. The new process is cost-effective and can be automated, so it can also be used in mass production.
For the manufacturing of components using the RTM method, manufacturers use fibreglass or another type of reinforcing material. The resin transfer moulding process enables the manufacture of composite parts with different thicknesses, shapes and sizes for transportation equipment industry needs. The size of manufactured components is limited only by the size of mould tool that is used. Using this technology, load-bearing structures can have high specific stiffness and strength to withstand heavy loads during all phases of operation.
This new technology for manufacturing composites is an important step towards our aim to use more environmentally friendly materials in the transportation equipment industry thus creating a sustainable future for all of us that live on this planet.