Driving composite design

摘要

Already popular in the aerospace industry, composite materials can play a much larger role in the manufacture of vehicles in the future. Composite materials have been used in the aerospace industry for many years due to their lightweight and performance characteristics, but the issue of weight is not limited to aircraft. Automotive manufacturers are increasingly viewing the material as a method of minimizing mass and maximizing fuel economy. However, composite ply layer stacking order and fiber direction creates a huge number of design variables to take into account when simulating complex events such as crashes. Furthermore, the high cost of the carbon-fiber-reinforced materials can lead many to see composites as the reserve of F1 and supercars.