Composite Concept Vehicle

CCV Composite Concept Vehicle GGPM Conference General des Poids et Mea-... 

Fig. 5. Chrysler composite concept vehicle (CCV) with large body parts molded from ImpetR PET, Daimler Chrysler. Courtesy of Ticona, A business of Celanese AG.

Figure 1-20. Ford s lightweight concept vehicle of the 1960s made extensive use of high-performance reinforced plastics and composites employing graphite fiber.

Manson (72,) expanded the concept to the solid state by observing that the strength of composite materials also depended upon the acid-base interaction between continuous and dispersed phases. More directly, Vanderhoff et al. (21) addressed the issue of adhesion of polymeric materials to corroded steel. They synthesized eight corrosion products of iron, and used the interaction scheme developed by Fowkes and Manson first to characterize the iron corrosion products as Lewis acids or bases and then to select polymer vehicles for practical coating systems. Such results were employed to enhance the adhesion of epoxy systems to substrates which were predominantly iron oxide in nature. A good overview of these Issues was presented by Fowkes in 1983 (74). ... 

There are, however, some distinctive differences between the environmental and the other aspects of catalysis. Fust, the feed and operation conditions of environmental catalysts cannot be changed in order to increase conversion or selectivity, as commonly done for chemical production catalysts. Second, environmental catalysis has a role to play not only in industrial processes, but also in emission control (auto, ship, and flight emissions), and even in our daily life (water purifiers). Consequently, the concept of environmental catalysis is vital for a sustainable future. Last but not least, environmental catalysts often operate in more extreme conditions than catalysts in chemical production. There are also cases, such as automotive vehicles, where they have to operate efficiently for a continuously varying feed flow rate and composition. 

Recently, the concept of cold hibernated elastic memory utilising SMP in open cellular structures was proposed for space-bound structural applications [108]. The concept of cold-hibernated elastic memory can be extended to various new applications such as microfoldable vehicles, shape determination and microtags [109]. Recent studies on shape memory PU-based conductive composites using conducting polymers and carbon nanotubes show considerable promise for application as electroactive and remote sensing actuators [110]. 

Figure 9.8. Actively cooled leading-edge panel concept for hypersonic vehicle. Material is a carbon fiber/oopper composite.

While metal still rules the road in production vehicles, designers concept cars also look to carbon fiber, aramid fiber, natural fiber, and a range of composite technology for body panels and structural components. On the inside, there are thermoplastic elastomers, and urethane to provide soft-touch feel while plastic-laminated glass provides a tinted view of the world. 

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