The fabrics for a super light car’s underbody part were featured at the KraussMaffei stand during the K Messe from October 16-23, 2019, in Düsseldorf/Germany, by the manufacturer of composites and technical textiles Chomarat Textile Industries, Le Cheylard/France.
Chomarat has created a glass reinforcement adapted to the mass production of automotive parts, helping to lighten leaf springs by 60% compared to metal. The strength of the new leaf springs can be deliberately increased in sections where it is required and the corrosion resistance offers further added value. The stitched UD glass developed for the project is adapted to the HP-RTM process (high pressure resin transfer molding) used to produce the leaf spring with high weight content of glass fiber. This design of the fabric offers an improved permeability that allows the resin flow through the multiple plies of the preforms.