The automotive industry has committed to increasing the use of sustainable materials in order to meet long term embodied carbon and circular economy goals. “Sustainable” materials are not clearly defined, but generally include natural fillers and fibers, polymers produced from bio-renewable feedstocks, and post-consumer and post-industrial recycled polymers. While bio-renewable feedstocks are largely equivalent to petroleum-based feedstocks in final polymer performance, natural fibers and recycled materials suffer from reduced and inconsistent mechanical properties compared to their synthetic or virgin alternatives. A significant portion of plastic components in the vehicle today are glass reinforced, presenting a substantial performance barrier to the adoption of natural fibers.

WEAV3D has developed a novel hybrid-material approach, Rebar for Plastics®, that dramatically improves the performance of sustainable materials, through a combination of natural fiber reinforced polypropylene (NFPP) mats and woven composite lattices formed from unidirectional tapes.

Recent advances in thermoplastic composite manufacturing have resulted in the development of hybrid overmolded composite structures, combining continuous fiber composites with injection or compression molded compounds; however, standard FEA techniques developed for isotropic materials and ply-based composites do not accurately capture the physical properties and material behavior of these hybrid materials.

Cost-effective Weight Reduction with Multi-material, Hybrid Length-scale Composites

Combining multi-material continuous fiber-reinforced lattices with long fiber overmolding enables lighter, stronger and less expensive structural composites
Novel composite manufacturing process enables high throughput production of multi-material and locally optimized composite lattices
FEA case study that illustrates expanded design space provided by multi-materials, hybrid length-scale composites

JEC Composites Connect is the online meeting place for the global composites community.

This first JEC Composites Connect works as an online trade show with digital booths, a conference program, networking areas and JEC Group Innovation Programs.

Within the current reinforced plastic manufacturing paradigm, a paradox exists; filled and long-fiber-reinforced plastics are cheap, but lack the mechanical properties needed to displace structural metals, while continuous-fiber reinforced plastics (“CFRP”) possess exemplary mechanical properties but cost too much to compete with inexpensive stamped steel. A revolutionary approach is needed to enable vehicle designers to bridge this gap and restart the growth of plastics in automotive structures.