A review of carbon fiber materials in automotive industry

Abstract

In present scenario, light weighting becomes a main issue for energy efficiency in automotive industry. The emission of gases and fuel efficiency of vehicles are two important issues. The best way to improve the fuel efficiency is to decrease the weight of vehicle parts. Research and development played an important role in lightweight materials for decreasing cost, increasing ability to be recycled, enabling their integration into vehicles, and maximizing their fuel economy efficacy. There arises a need for developing a novel generation of materials that will combine both weight reduction and safety issues. The application of carbon fibre reinforced plastic material offers the best lightweight potential to realize lightweight concepts. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic has outstanding specific stiffness, specific strength, and fatigue properties compared to commonly used metals. In automotive industry, the advantages of carbon fibre reinforced plastic are reduction in weight, part integration and reduction, crashworthiness, durability, toughness, and aesthetic appealing. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic is a composite material that has been used extensively in various applications such as aerospace industry, sports equipment, oil and gas industry, and automotive industry. Keeping in view the aforementioned advantages of carbon fibre reinforced plastic, the authors have presented a brief review on carbon fibre for automotive industrial applications.

Epoxy Based Nanocomposite Material for Automotive Application- A Short Review

“…Due to its excellent modules, strengths, and low densities, carbon fibrereinforced epoxy nanocomposites are widely used as substitutes for metals such as steel. The common use of carbon fibreepoxy nanocomposites is automotive, aerospace, and marine applications [29]- [31].…”

Simulation of the Hybrid Carbon-Aramid Composite Materials Based on Mechanical Characterization by Digital Image Correlation Method

“…The utilization of natural or synthetic fibres for manufacturing of the composite materials has found significant applications in a variety of fields, such as construction, the automotive industry, the aerospace industry, the shipbuilding industry and the biomedical industry [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Composites reinforced with carbon fibre or carbon–Kevlar hybrid fabrics are widely used in the aerospace and automotive industries due to their high performance properties in terms of high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, as well as their impact resistance in the case of composites reinforced additionally with Kevlar fibres [ 5 , 6 ].…”

“…Parts made of composite materials reinforced with carbon or carbon-aramid fabrics, used in the aerospace industry and in the automotive industry, must be designed and manufactured with high precision [ 5 , 6 ]. As a result, it is necessary to determine with great precision the mechanical characteristics of such materials by using precise, fast measurement methods such as the digital image correlation (DIC) method.…”

“…There are a lot of applications of the carbon composites in aerospace industry [ 5 ]. A recent study [ 6 ] showed that the carbon fibres can be used in various parts of vehicle, such as in the bumpers, due to providing an improvement in strength and an appreciable reduction in the weight and size of the frame.…”

Crash Analysis of Aluminum/CFRP Hybrid Adhesive Joint Parts Using Adhesive Modeling Technique Based on the Fracture Mechanics

“…Automotive structural parts are being replaced by lightweight materials, such as carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), plastics, and aluminum, instead of steel, to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the automotive industry [ 1 , 2 ]. Due to the fact that mechanical joining methods, such as bolts or welding, are unsuitable for these materials, a structural adhesive is a good alternative to provide the required strength at joints for dissimilar materials [ 3 ].…”