At its newly-opened Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory (ACSL) in Seattle, Lamborghini is continuing development of composite materials through a collaboration with Boeing to mass produce its potentially game-changing Forged Composite®. The company is calling the Forged Composite “one of the most important developments to come from research within the ACSL.” The material is considered a breakthrough composite made by a manufacturing process that significantly cuts the time it takes to make carbon fiber components and yields a sturdier material than traditional carbon fiber weave.
To make it, shredded carbon fiber threads are combined with resin and sandwiched between two steel molds. Then, the composite is heated and placed under 1,200-1,500 psi of pressure. Three minutes later, the component is ready. According to Carbuzz, this significantly undercuts the 24 hours it usually takes to bake layers of carbon fiber cloth separated with resin in an autoclave and also cuts production costs significantly.
The Forged Composite made its debut in 2010 on the 2,200-pound Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, where Lamborghini says it served in a structural capacity and as “proof of how capable the rapid-formed material is.” Since then, the automaker has continuing refining in the manufacturing of the material.
