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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedComposite use up in auto industry - Supplier Technology - Brief Article
Automotive Industries, July, 2002 by Andrea Wielgat
Automakers are using more and more composites to build pickup trucks, says the Automotive Composite Alliance (ACA) in its annual survey of composite use in the industry.
Thanks to lower tooling costs and a lighter weight, composites are gaining popularity in under-the-hood and structural applications, says the ACA.
"Ford, on the Thunderbird was willing to just about make the whole car out of composites," says Dave White, the incoming ACA executive committee chairman.
And the trend is expected to continue. The ACA says composite use will jump from 370 million pounds this year to 500 million pounds by 2005.
Composite type Weight per unit Planned SMC production in components for 2000 (pounds) (pounds) Sheet molding composites 9,920.1 277,154,191 Bulk molding composite/ injection molded 1,156.1 55,884,200 Liquid composite molding 1,868.6 14,292,600 Reinforced reaction injection molding 780.2 27,524,400 Resin transfer molding 1,279.8 3,068,262 Structural reaction injection molding 85.2 6,390,085 Total composite market automotive and heavy truck components 15,090.0 384,328,828
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