Categories
Automotive lightweighting | Basalt fiber composites help save energy and reduce emissions to a new height
Due to the need for environmental protection and energy saving, the automobile industry is developing in the direction of lightweight. The so-called automobile lightweight is to reduce the curb weight of the car as much as possible under the premise of ensuring the strength and safety performance of the car, so as to improve the power of the car, reduce fuel consumption and reduce exhaust pollution.
Nov 6th,2024
239 Views
Experiments have proved that for every 10% reduction in the weight of the car, the fuel efficiency can be increased by 6%~8%, and the fuel consumption per 100 kilometers can be reduced by 0.3-0.6 liters and carbon dioxide emissions by 1 kg for every 100 kg of the car. The use of lightweight materials is one of the main ways to lighten automobiles.
Basalt fiber is a lightweight material
Basalt fiber is a kind of green and environmentally friendly high-performance fiber material, which is often used in the industry to describe its production process, that is, the natural basalt ore is crushed and melted in the temperature range of 1450~1500 °C, and the wire is drawn to prepare basalt fiber.
Basalt fiber has a series of advantages such as good mechanical properties, good high temperature resistance, stable chemical properties, environmental protection in the production process, etc., and has excellent comprehensive performance. The fiber reinforced composite material prepared by combining it with resin is a lightweight material with excellent performance.
Basalt fibers help reduce the weight of automobiles
In recent years, lightweight vehicles made of basalt fiber composite materials have frequently appeared at major international auto shows. The German company Edag's Light Car concept car is made of basalt fiber composite materials, which has the advantages of lightness, stability, and 100% recyclability. The Triaca230, an eco-friendly concept RV from Roller Team, is made of basalt fiber composite wall panels, reducing weight by 30%. The city electric car launched by the Russian company Yo-motor uses a basalt fiber composite body, and the total weight of the car is only 700kg.
The future prospect of basalt fiber in automotive lightweighting
(1) Application prospect in passenger cars
In recent years, with the urgent need for lightweight of pure electric vehicles and the development of advanced molding processes such as high-pressure RTM and integrated molding by injection molding, continuous fiber reinforced composites have begun to be applied in batches in automobiles. Continuous fiber reinforced composites have been widely used in door modules, hoods, battery boxes, impact beams, leaf springs, bottom guards and other components.
At present, composite materials for passenger cars are mainly reinforced with glass fiber, and carbon fiber is difficult to use in large quantities in passenger cars due to its high price. The tensile strength of basalt fiber is close to the level of T300 carbon fiber, and the price is only about 1/5 of T300 carbon fiber.
(2) Application prospects for commercial vehicles
In recent years, the application of composite materials in commercial vehicles has expanded rapidly, especially in heavy-duty trucks, glass fiber composite materials are widely used in cab roof cover, shroud, deflector, front wall mask, bumper, fender, side wall, foot pedal, wheel cover and its decorative plate, door trim panel, front wall decorative cover, side skirt, etc.
Basalt fiber composites have better comprehensive properties than FRP, and are expected to be mass-produced and applied to the above components of commercial vehicles. (Source: Wuhan Advanced Institute)
