Composites in the Transportation Industry
With a increasing demand for greener, safer, and more sustainable vehicles, CFI assists in meeting the challenge of utilising composite materials in cars and other forms of transport. We work with transport designers and system suppliers from all around the world to design, develop, and manufacture carbon fibre, fibreglass, and hybrid composite solutions for safer, lighter, and more energy–efficient vehicles. These days, we see an increasing demand for lighter vehicle solutions, from stiffeners to body panels to battery boxes.
CFI’s composite experts work closely with system suppliers and vehicle integrators of buses, cars, trains, trams and trucks.
Buses and Coaches
OEM’s and system suppliers understand that weight and material performance are essential factors when designing the many functions and features of today’s buses and coaches and choose composites for these advantages. Composites such as fibreglass offer long life durability, reduce manufacturing complexity, and provide the desired surface finishes, for inside and outside the bus or coach.
Trams and Trains
From side panels, to wall and ceiling panels, composites help reduce train and tram weight while providing long life solutions which assist in reducing lifetime operational costs. We work with train and tram OEMs and system suppliers to compose composite profile solutions which are simply integrated into the vehicle and improve the value chain.
Trailers and Trucks
Trucks and trailers are subject to some of the hardest working conditions out there. From the daily loading and unloading to any possible road and weather condition. If you are considering how composites can assist you to save weight, reduce fuel use, or help your vehicle remain on the road longer, you’ll be happy to know that we are too.
The Automotive Industry
The ways we are traveling are alternating. Our cars are becoming more technologically advanced and the drive towards electric vehicles is forming a new wave of automotive creation and curiosity. If you are thinking about how you can more effectively use composites in cars, you’ll be happy to know that we are too.
Benefits of Composites in the Transportation Industry
Lightweight
Lighter than comparable metal materials, composites such as fibreglass and carbon fibre are tailored to meet your engineering requirements. Using composites helps to reduce overall vehicle weight, leading to extending EV ranges or greater fuel savings.
Strong and stiff
With strength that’s superior or comparable to steel or aluminium, we can engineer the design of composites to present the strength or stiffness required of the vehicle’s application (for example stiffeners or even driveshafts).
Cost-efficient
CFI’s composites are specification and shape ready. Continuous manufacturing with pultrusion and pull-winding deliver cost efficiencies that spread across the supply chain.
Thermally efficient
Composites are incredible insulators and maintain their shape in extremely hot or cold conditions. Their thermal management properties are particularly helpful in applications such as EV battery boxes.
Environmentally durable
Vehicles are exposed to a vast range of harsh environmental conditions. Our composites are corrosion resistant, and easily withstand both acidic or salty road, sky or sea conditions.
Impact-tolerant
The elastic nature and properties of composites such as fibreglass mean they spring back into shape and withstand general dings and bumps; and can be easily repaired in depot. This is especially useful for heavy use vehicles like city buses which would fall victim to quite a lot of bumps and dings throughout each day.
At Composites Fibreglass International, we are keeping ahead of the game in terms of developments and trends for lightweight RVs, campers, caravans, trucks and van bodies – reducing gross weight, efficiency in build technology and multi-process solutions.
Through our extensive experience and working with key suppliers globally, we have the perfect solutions for sandwich panel technology used in floors, sidewalls, roofs and doors. We can assist you to build and fabricate, or if you just want to purchase a finished solution. We understand load paths, thermal values and fixing points needed as key factors of your project or build.
To learn more about our wide range of products and solutions for cored panel technology, contact us and we would be more than happy to work with you in developing your specific solution.
Our vast range of fibreglass skins, core types, finished panels and high-density wood and steel replacements are all embedded in our offering along with speciality reinforcements and fibres and a specific range of resin and adhesives to cover all of your needs.
Talk to us about our Armour Tough High-Density PET fully recycled core. This core offers the strongest core on the market for floors and has an incredible bolt and screw retention. With ease of the process, it is non-friable and its fully closed-cell technology makes it extremely cost-effective in replacing plywood with fully certified engineering values.
Call us to find out more about this new product and how it is being used in the field of transport.
