In the JEC World 2018 exhibition, Magna International announced a new composite center of excellence. The new composite center of excellence in Esslingen, Germany aims to help European car manufacturers use advanced materials to manufacture lightweight structures. And exterior parts, in order to meet increasingly strict emission requirements.
The center will mainly focus on the development of structural components, such as automobile frame and door panels, hoods and other body exterior parts. Several European automakers are working with Magna to seek joint development projects at the new composite center of excellence. A great interest is to study the application of advanced composite materials in the rear structural module of the vehicle. Another interesting point is to study the composite materials used in automobile frames. Another interest is the use of composite materials to develop external surfaces of Class A surfaces. panel.
A new 2,300 metric-ton Engel V-Due press has been newly installed in the Composite Center of Excellence, which is suitable for molding thermoset composites, such as reinforced plastics or sheet molding compounds (SMCs), with a wide range of thermoset composites and The press molding process is set up to develop, validate and prototype full-size automotive components. The press is also directly connected to a test laboratory responsible for the completion of temperature cycling tests, climate cycling tests, and various dynamic and static tests. And microscopy.
In 2010, Magna International worked with the National Research Council of Canada to open its Composite Center of Excellence near Toronto. Here, the eye-catching projects include the carbon fiber hood developed for the 2016 Cadillac V-Series, and is currently A project co-developed by Ford Motor Company to test the feasibility of carbon fiber frames for mass production.