Material and Manufacturing Process Selection - Coursework Example

Material and Manufacturing Process Selection Carbon Fibre Composites Compared with traditional metallic Material: The Carbon fibre composites is one of the most commonly used material in vehicles. The Carbon fibre is normally used in high performance applications. The carbon fibre can be made from polyacrylonitrile fibre (PAN). The main advantage of most of the composite materials is that it saves weight (Chung, 1994). The strength to weight ratio is an important factor to identify the quality of the material. The major properties of carbon fibre is its solidity, its high strength and most importantly very low weight as compared to traditional metallic material, the carbon fibre properties also include high tolerance for temperature and low thermal expansions (Omar, 2011). The traditional Metallic materials, which are used in the automotive industry, include steel, aluminum and magnesium. The traditional metallic material is more costly and heavy. The fuel consumption of the vehicles, which are manufactured based on traditional metallic material, is higher. Therefore the traditional metallic material is more costly than carbon fibre composite. The traditional metallic material is heavy in nature and less efficient from the perspective of fuel consumption because of heavy weight, the weight to size ratio is less suitable for the product (Rehkopf, 2012 ). 1a . Advantages of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers The advantages are discussed from the perspective of its mechanical, as well as, mass specific properties; in replacing traditional metallic in vehicle body structural applications. 1. Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) is considered to be one of the most strong polymer. 2. It is light fibre reinforced polymer that has carbon fibres in it. 3. The production cost of carbon fibre reinforced polymer is relatively high as compared to traditional metallic material but it is commonly preferred in newly manufactured automotive products because of high strength to weight ratio 4. Carbon fibre reinforcement polymer is widely used in the production of structures such as aerospace etc. 5. Carbon fibre reinforcement polymer is believed to exhibit potential that cannot be compared. (Elmarakbi, 2013) Issues associated with Anisotropy The Carbon fibre is non corrosive in nature. The unique property of carbon fibre reinforced polymer is that it is anisotropic in nature. The major issue associated with anisotropy are as follows 1. It can be easily consumed by all types of excavation machineries. Therefore, the anisotropy is also known as the Anchors, which are removable. In other words, these are known as “Removable Anchor” (Newnahm, 2004). 2. It prevents elimination of static electricity (Newnahm, 2004). 3. It may cause erosion or waist of material because of the micro discharge, which arises at contacts with the help of sensors that are quite fastening and embedded (Newnahm, 2004). 4. The micro discharge may also lead to malfunctioning of CFRP (Newnahm, 2004). All of the above issues are associated with the anisotropy and all such issues can be addressed by investigating the electric properties of Carbon fibre reinforced polymer, such investigation may provide the solution to the issues associated with anisotropic nature of CFRP (Mackay, 2010). The electrical properties of CFRP may lead to generate the non removal anchor and stops the prevention of static electricity. The utilization of identified properties of CFRP may prevent the discharge or erosion of waste material, which may eventually stop malfunctioning of CFRP 1b. Effect of high production rates on use of composite materials with according to their processing characteristics. Vehicle manufacturing rising concern these days is affordability or cost effective production. Because competition is increasing tremendously and if the manufacturer wants to sustain itself in competitive environment then it has to make sure that his processing cost is at minimum. If we talk about vehicle industry then only in aerospace sector, cost is not the issue. However, in other sectors whether it is car industry or watercraft industry; every penny that is spent during its entire production cycle matters. Therefore, many engineers have said that production of carbon fibers is very expensive and time consuming process. Production cost and production time both are increased if carbon fibers composites are to be used. But there are vehicle industries that are using carbon fiber even though processing time is extended because such composite material are supplied in pre-preg form which require autoclave molding and vacuum bagging. The two process are two different ways of composite formation, in these process composite materials are combined. Furthermore, these two process itself are time consuming and expensive but they increase vehicle performance (McBeath, 2010) Basically, in vacuum bagging techniques the two metals are combined in such a way that gives a uniformly distributed compression that will support the parts above it, thus minimizing any voids or bubbles in buildup layers. Similarly autoclave molding is a modified version of vacuum bag technique; and in some industries in order to withstand higher heat and pressure, the composite process produces denser surface and moldings free of bubble. In this process heated pressure vehicles are used which are named as autoclaves, in which mold have been laid up is taken into a cure cycle. Additionally this process requires many hours for completing one cure cycle (McBeath, 2010). Hence, both the processes require further processing in order to give final shape to the material thus these processes are not only increasing the production time and production cost but decreasing production rate. this means that high quality products will take more time to produce and will be costly, and most importantly the quantity of such high quality would be less (McBeath, 2010). 2. Competitive nature of composites in the automotive industry. Initially, composites have been used in aerospace industry only then in marine industry and now trend has penetrated in automotive industry as well. The reason of the shift from traditional steel industry to composites is that they give weight reduction and recyclability properties to the vehicle products (Tucker & Lindsey, 2002). The composites have delivered many advantages to the auto industry in terms of weight and structure. In addition to this, there are some composites like thermoplastic composites which have excellent crash performance unlike traditional steel. Initially composites were used in automotive industry where production volume was low like sports car high-end, high end performance vehicles, luxury car etc, but now trend of composite material usage has been observed in high volume production car segment which includes entry level and mid-range cars. Some of the competitive advantage of composites area as follows Light weight: Even though composite material usage decrease production rate but still the trend of using composites is increasing this is because of the major weight reduction of automobiles which is not possible if the industry is using traditional steel. Weight reduction in turn also decreases fuel consumption (Tucker & Lindsey, 2002). High strength Apart from offering light weight properties, composites are single layered metals that are many times stronger than traditional steel. Thus, being single layered materials they are much more resistant to break. Therefore, composites can withstand harsh situations like high pressure, high temperature and stress (Tucker & Lindsey, 2002). Resistance to chemical and corrosion Composites have a resistance to chemicals; therefore their chances to corrode are negligible. Hence increasing life of vehicle and decreasing cost on maintenance (Tucker & Lindsey, 2002). Elastic nature Composites have been designed in a way that they have natural elasticity which means that if composites are bent they will come back to their shape. Thus, car leaf are usually made of composites because of their elastic nature (Tucker & Lindsey, 2002). However, composites have competitive edge over traditional metal but still industry is trying to come up with ways to make further innovation in designing composite so that the new generation of composites is environmental friendly, have low fuel combustion and high production rates. 2a Niche Vehicle Production Moving away from composites because of their medium production rate and long processing times Most of the Niche vehicle manufacturers are moving away from the carbon fibre components for their medium production volume vehicle structure. The reason may be the long processing time is required for high integrity carbon fibre. As in the article published in Automotive Engineering Magazine with the title “Ferrari Prefers Aluminium Over Carbon Fiber”, the view of Ferrari manufacturers over the use of aluminium instead of carbon fibre reinforces plastic (CFRP). According to the experience of Ferrari, despite of the perceived ideal combination of weight and strength of CFRP, expensive vehicles have the opportunity of using the aluminium. The reason may be the difficulty of using it in automated production. The niche vehicle manufacture like Ferrari do not prefers to use carbon fibre. The reason may not be because of lack of acquaintance with carbon fibre but may be because of low cost of aluminium. According to article companies like McLaren & BMW prefer the use of models created in carbon fibre material but some other companies may find it better to utilize aluminum. One of the major reason of selection of aluminum over carbon fibre reinforcement may be that the overall production process in (Carney, 2011) creases, which may eventually lead to the reduction of supply chain process. As King Swan is highly renowned as for working to tight deadline and strong supply chain process, the use of aluminium may better serve the purpose because the aluminium may reduce the overall material manufacturing process, which may eventually lead to the shorter supply chain process. The reorder level for raw material may be increased but the overall supply chain process which starts from the raw material purchasing and ends at the final goods. In the article “Ferrari Prefers Aluminium over Carbon Fiber”, according to the Ferrari manufacturers, it can be easily understood that the carbon fibre in not congenial to the high volume production process. The aluminium is technically proved to be better suited for the mass production within time. Absolute Optimization versus Suitability of Mass Production Despite the fact that carbon fibre components generate more absolute optimization, the manufactures like Ferrari prefer to use aluminium. The large number of alloys, which are tailored to the specific application, the aluminium can be easily molded with heat and can be easily tailored with different designs. In addition to this, the anisotropy nature of carbon fibre reinforce polymer, the utilization in the vehicle manufacturing process may be limited and the cost of production may increase. Demand Analysis & Conclusion Despite all the drawbacks, limitations and the issues associated with the use of carbon fibre components; engineers still urge to explore and bring innovation in carbon composite to make it more environmental friendly and cost effective. Furthermore, the following graph and table will help us understand the composites demand in various sectors; (sloan, 2013) Source: http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/market-outlook-surplus-in-carbon-fibers-future The above graph and table clearly depicts that demand forecast of carbon composite is showing an increasing trend in different segments of market sectors whether it is in industrial, aerospace, automotive or consumer. Similarly, carbon composite demand forecast in automotive industry has also showed an increasing trend. We can clearly see from the graph that demand of carbon composite for automotive industry in 2011 was 2700 metric tonne, whereas in 2015, it is projected to reach at the level of 4000 metric tonne in 2020 Carbon Fiber Demand Forecast1 Thus, engineers should work on ways to improve the carbon composites and to make it more eco-friendly, cost effective and to make it more useful. Bibliography Carney, D., 2011. Ferrari Prefers Aluminium Over Carbon Fiber. Automotive Engineer Magazine. Chung, D. D. L., 1994. Carbon Fiber Composites. 10 ed. s.l.:Butterworth-Heinemann. Elmarakbi, A., 2013. Advanced Composite Materials for Automotive Applications: Structural Integrity and Crashworthiness. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons. Mackay, T. G., 2010. Electromegnatic Anisotropy & Bianisotropy A Field Guide. New Jersey: World Scinetific Pub. Co.. McBeath, S., 2010. Competition Car Composites: A Practical Handbook. s.l.:Haynes Publishing UK. Newnahm, R. E., 2004. Properties of Material Anisotropy, Symmetry,Structure. s.l.:Oxford University Press, UK. Omar, M. A., 2011. The Automotive Body Manufacturing Systems & Processes. s.l.:Wiley. Rehkopf, J. D., 2012 . Automotive Carbon Fiber Composites: From Evolution to Implementation. s.l.:SAE International. sloan, j., 2013. High Performance Composites, s.l.: Gardner Business Media Inc.. Tucker, N. & Lindsey, k., 2002. An Introduction to Automotive Composites. s.l.:Rapra Technology. Read More