Celanese Corporation (Sulzbach, Germany) will present innovative composite developments for light and tough automotive components during the international CAR-Symposium on Tuesday, Jan. 28, in Bochum, Germany.

As a partner company of the CAR-Symposium, Celanese is presenting "UD-reinforced thermoplastic Composites - The Key for tailor-made Products" at 1:15 PM during the Infoshop Block II "Material trends and lightweight construction" segment.

Manfred Reif, an engineer in Materials & Lightweight Construction at Celanese, and Dr. Oliver Kuisle, head of Application Development at Celanese, will explain the benefits of a weight-optimized commercial vehicle storage compartment flap made by using Celstran CFR-TP PP GF70, a 70 percent glass polypropylene continuous-strand, unidirectional-glass (UD) tape from Celanese, as well as the process co-developed with the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT, Pfinztal, Germany) and EDAG GmbH & Co. KGaA (Fulda, Germany).

"We wanted to find a way of producing an inexpensive, CO₂-saving lightweight component in small-scale - and we succeeded with the thermoplastic tape laying method," Reif said. The tapes, comprising a thermoplastic matrix, are reinforced with unidirectional continuous fibers that give them outstanding mechanical properties: They are light, resilient and can be processed to form complex shapes. Laying thermoplastic tapes also reduces waste and cost.

Celanese offers various engineered materials that are helping automakers and tier suppliers improve quality while reducing weight and lowering production costs, as well as safety and comfort. For example, a glass fiber-reinforced Fortron polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) injection molding grade from Celanese was used for a head-up display that shows important information directly at the driver's eye level. The rigid, temperature-resistant material features high dimensional stability and low warpage, enabling very narrow tolerances that allow precise dimensions for various components.

"The components of a head-up display - case bearing housings, the optical rail and mirror holder - should not even change shape slightly", said Monika Taut, graduate engineer in applications technology, Celanese Transportation Business Unit, in describing the advantages of Fortron PPS. "This material is resilient and has extremely low moisture absorption over a wide range of temperatures, making it the material of choice for these lightweight components."