(March 20, 2015) Researchers
are on the verge of a breakthrough that will allow for the wide-scale use of
thermoplastic composites in the automotive industry. These 'futuristic
materials' are ultra-light, while being strong and rigid and also sustainable
and recyclable. Researchers at the ThermoPlastic Composite Research Center
(TPRC) in Enschede (Netherlands) were recently successful in overcoming the
last hurdle, which was to design practically faultless components and to make
the process for doing so predictable. This makes it possible to determine at an
early stage of the design process whether a component can be manufactured at
all. This means that the two biggest requirements made by the automotive
industry, namely weight reduction and reduced costs, can be satisfied.