Lightweight technology: processing of thermoplastic composite sandwich structures for high volume applications

Sandwich composites with face sheets made of continuous fiber-reinforced plastics offer optimum lightweight performance and associated material efficiency when implementing large-area structural components.

In order to exploit the enormous lightweight construction potential and the related material and resource efficiency of composite sandwich structures for components that are produced in large quantities, the use of thermoplastic composites and core materials for the realization of corresponding sandwich components has been researched for several years.

With the Thermoplastic Sandwich Moulding technology (TS moulding), the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS has developed a process that enables the processing of pre-consolidated, thermoplastic sandwich semi-finished products. This makes it possible to produce 3D-shaped and functionalized sandwich components within cycle times suitable for large-scale production. The technology and its potential applications will be presented in the session.