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Composites reinvent automotive

To celebrate National Composites Week, CW shares some of the latest innovations in automotive composites, from new process technologies to novel commercial applications.

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Source | Porsche, Alia Mentis, SABIC, Aptera

Composite materials have proven their advantages — especially their light weight, durability, corrosion resistance, and tunability compared to traditional metals — in a variety of automotive applications from high-end luxury vehicles to high-performance race vehicles to high-volume commercial applications.

Every day of , CW is highlighting content about a different end market in which composites are “reinventing” the industry and driving innovation. See yesterday’s “Composites reinvent aerospace, AAM and space” and follow along the rest of this week for more.

What are some of the latest ways composites are reinventing the automotive industry?

Bio-inspired rollover cage 

Porsche worked with Action Composites to design and manufacture an innovative carbon fiber safety cage option to lightweight one of its series race vehicles, built in a one-shot compression molding process.

Keys to success? A multi-tier, bio-inspired design approach.

Innovations in automotive body panels

CW contributing writer Peggy Malnati sheds light on the history of automotive composite body panels — and their challenges — and explains a versatile sandwich panel technology developed to solve decades-long exterior automotive challenge.

Want more content and the latest news about composites technology used in the automotive industry, or in other end markets? Visit CW’s Markets page.


About National Composites Week

The goal of National Composites Week (NCW) is to celebrate and bring attention to the ways that composite materials and composites manufacturing contribute to the products and structures that shape the American manufacturing landscape today.

NCW takes place each year in the final week of August and celebrates a specific theme.

The 2024 theme was Composites Reinvent the World. on LinkedIn and read more from the CW editorial team:

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