Thermhex presents new sandwich material for vehicle construction
The company Thermhex Waben presents its lightweight sandwich semi-finished product at the international congress “Plastics in Automotive Engineering”, the Organosandwich with honeycomb core. The thermoplastic material can be used in a wide variety of applications in vehicles – from the inner bonnet to door modules and rear parcel shelves. By using the lightweight Organosandwich, weight savings of more than 80 % are possible compared to a monolithic design. Compared to a monolithic GF/PP 0rgano sheet, the Thermhex sandwich requires fewer layers with the same stiffness, which leads to considerable cost savings when using GF/PP-UD tapes. In addition, the Organosandwich is produced with the patented Thermhex process. Through the continuous and fully automatic production of the sandwich material in a production line, both material and production costs are saved. The Organosandwich consists of two glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene cover layers of two layers each of UD tape in 0°/90° composite and a polypropylene honeycomb core. The inline laminating process enables an optimum connection between core and cover layers. The Organosandwich can be thermoformed and functionalized by injection moulding. This allows load introduction and functional elements to be implemented at the component edges in a single step.
In the meantime Thermhex is already working with automobile manufacturers on various applications. Other interested parties will have the opportunity to convince themselves of the lightweight construction material at stand no. 40 in Mannheim. “With the Organosandwich we enable cost-reducing lightweight construction in the vehicle in order to reduce fuel consumption, which has a positive effect on C02 emissions and the environment” says Dr. Pflug, Managing Director of Thermhex.
Source: K-Zeitung, 22. 03. 2019
