Novel composite comes onstream

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 23, 2003

SymaLite is an innovative composite material based on polypropylene and specially oriented glass fibres, which sets new standards with regard to weight, rigidity and formability.

Quadrant Plastic Composites (QPC), has just brought the new SymaLite production line on stream at its site in Lotte, Germany.

SymaLite is an innovative composite material based on polypropylene and specially oriented glass fibres, which sets new standards with regard to weight, rigidity and formability.

SymaLite will complement the already successful glass mat thermoplastic (GMT) material, which is used as a substitute for steel, aluminium or magnesium alloys, as well as for industrial thermoplastics and thermoset plastics.

QPC can now further consolidate its position as global market leader for thermoplastic composites with this innovation.

The automotive industry in particular will benefit from the performance profile of this new engineering material.

It is especially suitable for large-format, nonstructural components which have to feature high rigidity and/or noise absorption despite low weight, for example in: vehicle interiors, such as head linings, loading surfaces, sun shields and shelves (weight, rigidity); vehicle exteriors, such as components for the vehicle underbody and noise control (rigidity, acoustics, weight); components which have to be varied in their density and thickness without increasing their weight (weight, formability); and applications where the addition of decorative material is difficult in terms of forming technology (processing).

"The material permits much greater diversity in consolidation and can thus be processed into thicker or thinner components compared with materials currently in use", says Harri Dittmar, Manager Market Development Composites, at QPC.

"The manufacturing process also considerably enhances the material's performance.

I see further advantages in acoustic applications, where a high degree of rigidity and low weight are required." SymaLite is fabricated in a compression moulding process in which the density of the components can be varied very widely by systematic partial consolidation.

The components can be laminated directly with sensitive decorative materials due to the low moulding forces applied.

QPC specialists provide direct support for OEM designers and Tier 1 customers.

"SymaLite offers our customers cost benefits with equal or superior performance", explains Volker Fritz, CEO of QPC.

"In addition to close cooperation with our direct customers, the forming plants and component suppliers, QPC goes a step further and evolves basic concepts directly with platform manufacturers or car manufacturers.

QPC offers its customers industrial design capacity and computer-aided engineering resources in order to develop the application in its entirety, ie from product idea to market launch and material definition, together with the customer." Quadrant Plastic Composites is the world's leading manufacturer of glass mat thermoplastic (GMT) composites.

The semifinished sheet form is processed into complex components, primarily for the automotive industry, using large-volume pressing processes; these components satisfy the highest safety standards, as well as featuring low weight compared to materials such as metal.