Sabic, Kringlan Composites and other industry partners are making progress in the development of the world’s first thermoplastic composite wheel. The wheel uses Sabic’s proprietary Ultem resin and Kringlan’s proprietary three-dimensional composite design platform to create a material that can be used to replace metal and aluminum alloy, helping reduce weight and emissions in automotives and other applications.
“This ongoing collaboration with Kringlan is an excellent example of how we identify innovative companies with unique technology to collaborate on developing industry for the benefit of the downstream industries that we serve,” said Thierry Materne, Vice President, Technology & Innovation for Sabic’s Innovative Plastics business. “Combining Sabic’s high-performance Ultem resin with Kringlan’s proprietary three-dimensional manufacturing technology for carbon composites offers OEMs the opportunity for reduced weight, lower production costs, as well as material recyclability. When compared to other thermoplastic materials, the Ultem resin composite concept offers superior strength at high temperatures, dimensional stability as well as resistance to chemicals,” added Materne.
To advance the wheel’s development, Kringlan and Sabic have been working on a prototype for a German automotive manufacturer. The significant weight savings made possible through Kringlan’s wheel design, coupled with the material technology employed, can improve fuel economy. In addition to emissions reductions, the wheel can also be manufactured with less environmental impact compared to conventional processes, and it offers full system recyclability.
The design of the part allows for the wheel to be mounted with either traditional metal spokes, or spokes with carbon fiber-reinforced Ultem resin composites, potentially enabling even greater weight savings.
The full composite wheel design complies with current standards set for metal wheels by the German testing institute TüV, which reportedly gives the firms the opportunity to work with additional global automotive OEMs for the prototyping of lightweight wheels according to their specific design and specifications.
“This new material technology resulting from the ongoing collaboration between Kringlan and Sabic has the potential to be a breakthrough for OEMs in multiple industries,” said Steffen Heinecke, CEO of Kringlan. “Sabic’s support is critical to the success of this project. In addition to their world-class material technology, they provide application and secondary operation expertise. Already, in the automotive industry alone, several OEMs have shown interest in the carbon composite wheel application, which can enable the reduction of CO2 from a passenger car by two to three percent.”
As well as the potential for the automotive sector, in consumer appliances, OEMs are focused on designing their products to achieve energy efficiency certifications.
In washing machines, for example, this new three-dimensional carbon fibre composite technology can reduce the inertia – the amount of energy needed – to start the machine drum moving, compared to current metal alternatives, which can mean greater efficiency, and potentially a lower carbon footprint for the machine. Additionally, by considering the use of the Ultem resin-based carbon fibre composites with Kringlan’s manufacturing technology, appliance manufacturers can potentially save costs by reducing the number of secondary operations required to develop key parts.
“We are very excited about our on-going collaborative work with Kringlan,” added Materne. “We share with them a passion to constantly drive innovation in thermoplastic applications. Our work with Kringlan demonstrates how we constantly strive to deliver added value, drawing upon our deep and relevant portfolio of material technologies, our in-depth expertise in materials science and engineering and the strong understanding that we have of our customers’ challenges and requirements. It is this know-how in materials and applications combined with our collaborative approach that allows us to fulfil Sabic’s promise to deliver chemistry that matters.”