Integration Concept of Injection, Forming and Foaming: A Practical Approach to Manufacture Hybrid Structures

Farahani, Saeed; Pradeep, S; Pilla, Srikanth

doi:10.1007/978-3-662-60809-8_17

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 11 publications

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“…Multi-material design is one of the cost-effective approaches for automakers to reduce the weight of the vehicles and consequently meet the stringent regulations and fuel efficiency concerns. 1 Besides the light-weighting opportunities, parts consolidation, assembly reduction, and diverse functionalities are the other advantages of the multi-material design, especially for automotive components. 2 An example of the multi-material design approach is the promising combination of carbon fiber (CF) composite sheets with a body or layer of injected thermoplastics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental analysis on the bonding conditions of thermoset-thermoplastic composite parts manufactured by the hybrid single shot method

Kazan

Farahani

Zheng

et al. 2021

Journal of Composite Materials

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The hybrid single shot method is an innovative manufacturing technique that allows thermoset composite sheets to be formed and cured while they are also bonded into an injected thermoplastic body all in a single integrated operation. This integration concept is complex in nature but promising to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional procedures for manufacturing such multi-material structures by reducing the cycle time, energy consumption, and cost of the required tools and machinery. In this study, CF/Epoxy prepreg sheets are selected as the inserted material which is then later deformed and bonded to an injected body made of a polypropylene compound. The bonding between these two dissimilar materials is mostly achieved by taking the advantages of the melt penetration and the tackiness of the prepreg sheet. Therefore, an experimental study is here designed and carried out to evaluate the bonding conditions of the final hybrid parts regarding several influential process parameters. To better monitor the process and analyze the physics behind this integration, a set of real-time process variables are measured and analyzed using an instrumented experimental setup. The results show that the pre-heating time has the largest effect on the bonding strength, and the best combination of the deformation and bonding strength is achieved when the cavity pressure and temperature are at the highest level compared to the other experiments. The maximum bonding strength attained in the optimum process settings was 6.8 MPa which shows a 51% improvement compared to the average value of the other experiments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental analysis on the bonding conditions of thermoset-thermoplastic composite parts manufactured by the hybrid single shot method

Kazan

Farahani

Zheng

et al. 2021

Journal of Composite Materials

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Advancing Automotive Light-weighting: Material–Process–Microstructure–Performance (MP2) Relationships of Supercritical Foam Injection of PP–Graphene Nanocomposite Foams and Over-molding

Pradeep,

Deshpande,

Shah

et al. 2024

SAE Int. J. Sust. Trans., Energy, Env., & Policy

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<div>Vehicle light-weighting constitutes a critical component in the automotive sector’s drive to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among the various options for lightweight materials, thermoplastic foams are distinguished by their durability, low weight, and environmental sustainability. This study explores the manufacturing of novel graphene-filled polypropylene (PP) foam, employing supercritical nitrogen as an eco-friendly substitute instead of conventional chemical foaming agents, and investigated the role of over-molding a solid skin over a foamed core on the flexural strength of the molded component. Our approach is broken down into four distinct investigations—Study I investigated the effect of different graphene content by weight percentage (wt.%), namely 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1%, on flexural properties and foam morphology obtained for 15 wt.% reduction of the PP thermoplastic, thereby helping identify an optimum graphene loading wt.%. Study II broadened the wt.% reduction horizon for PP to 5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, and 15 wt.%, systematically analyzing the impact of the optimal graphene loading and comparing their cell morphology and flexural properties. This improvement in microstructure and mechanical properties was confirmed in the case of graphene addition to 10 wt.% and 15 wt.% reduction, where cell size was reduced by ~100% for 10 wt.% reduction samples and cell density improved from 4.37 × 10<sup>5</sup> cell/cm<sup>3</sup> to 5.42 × 10<sup>6</sup> cell/cm<sup>3</sup> for the same when compared to baseline PP foams. Study III serves as a demonstrator for a novel hybrid over-molding process designed to improve flexural properties. Over-molding with solid PP was performed over a foamed PP core, generating a composite foam with improved flexural strength and a class-A surface finish and noticeably improved flexural strength from 23.4 MPa to 27.3 MPa, achieving an overall 10 wt.% reduction. This is significant since it translated to a 16% improvement in flexural strength over baseline PP foams and a flexural modulus equivalent to solid PP. Study IV investigated the impact of this light-weighting to assess the potential energy savings over a typical passenger vehicle’s life cycle. The study demonstrates a viable route to achieve sustainable vehicle light-weighting and highlights the role supercritical fluid-assisted foamed thermoplastic nanocomposites may occupy in the vanguard of sustainable material development.</div>

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Integration Concept of Injection, Forming and Foaming: A Practical Approach to Manufacture Hybrid Structures

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Experimental analysis on the bonding conditions of thermoset-thermoplastic composite parts manufactured by the hybrid single shot method

Experimental analysis on the bonding conditions of thermoset-thermoplastic composite parts manufactured by the hybrid single shot method

Advancing Automotive Light-weighting: Material–Process–Microstructure–Performance (MP2) Relationships of Supercritical Foam Injection of PP–Graphene Nanocomposite Foams and Over-molding

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