Compared with traditional materials, composite materials have many advantages, such as high specific strength, light weight, high specific modulus, good fatigue resistance and good vibration damping performance. Each component of the composite plays a synergetic role in performance, and has superior comprehensive performance that can not be compared with a single material. Therefore, in the automotive industry, composite materials are widely used in the design and manufacture of body, lamp housing cover, front and rear guard, bumper, plate spring, seat frame, drive shaft and other components.
Three principles should be paid attention to in the design of composite materials in the automobile industry:
1) High specific strength and stiffness;
2) The materials are compatible with the environment;
3) High cost performance.
In addition, there are some empirical methods when designing the car body, such as: applying carbon fiber composites in areas with high stress; In the area with high requirements for toughness and rigidity, use the composite material of plywood; Laminates can be used in areas with complex geometry.
The properties of composite materials are suitable for the requirements of lightweight body and reduce fuel consumption. The traditional automobile body material is in a single state dominated by sheet steel, which cannot meet the requirements of people's pursuit of high speed and lightweight. In order to reduce its mass, improve the wind resistance coefficient and reduce fuel consumption, many automobile manufacturers are actively researching and using new materials to meet the above requirements. The vehicle dead weight can be reduced by 50kg, and the driving distance of 1L fuel can be increased by 2Km; If the dead weight is reduced by 10%, the fuel economy can be increased by about 5.5%. Many types of composite materials have obtained the stage to display their talents in the process of body lightweight, and show their skills in the process of automobile lightweight. The purpose of automobile lightweight is to save energy and reduce emission pollution. At the same time, environmental protection has become an indispensable condition for the sustainable development strategy, and the development trend of composite materials is towards the direction of extending the service life and renewable.