Q: What hurdles does the composites industry need to overcome for OEMs such as Ford to increase their use of GFRP and CFRP?
A: On the carbon fiber front, there are a number of cost hurdles, especially the cost of the carbon fiber raw material. For the general composites industry looking at all of the different mixes [of materials], right now the chemistry system is very delicate between making sure that the sizing on the fibers likes the resin system, and that the resin system and the fibers work together seamlessly. And then there’s the manufacturing time that results in [higher] cost. A lot of the aerospace parts are autoclaved, which is high pressure and high temperature for hours. For high-volume automotive parts, the manufacturing challenges of carbon fiber and glass composites are often difficult reach the kind of cycle times (parts per hour) from one set of tools that compare to stamping of steel or aluminum, where we get a part every 6-10 seconds. That’s not the cure time on these composites.
So there’s been some chemistry work that’s been going on, and all of the resin companies and the composites industry has been making great strides in this area to reduce the cycle time and the cure time for the parts. That’s the next big hurdle, but there’s been lots of work in that and we anticipate future improvements. I doubt it’ll get down to the part speeds of a steel stamping press, but it can get to some very high volume production.
Q: What other challenges are you looking to composite manufacturers to help you address?
A: There are other challenges deep in the chemistry [of composites], which is not my forte, about the robustness for high and low temperature. There’s also impact resistance. The surface of the composite has to be resistant to impact and to different environmental factors and different fluids that [composites] would be exposed to. Clearly if you’re on the interior, like a composite seat frame, you’re probably not going to see brake fluid or antifreeze dumped on the inside of a seat frame. With any parts in the engine compartment, the composites have to be robust against all of the different against all of the automotive fluids that we would anticipate, especially for any exterior or chassis parts. There’s a lot of magic chemistry there that’s well beyond me. We can’t have composites degrading or changing their performance if someone spills engine oil on them.
Q: How do you think the use of composites will change over the next five years in the automotive industry?
A: We’re going to see lots more of [composites]. We’re going to see [more] structural composites. We use various polymer and plastic systems throughout our vehicles now. There’s filled and unfilled interior parts and exterior parts. Those are all the non-structural or semi-structural kinds of things that have to hold themselves up, but they don’t add to the durability or the stiffness of the vehicles. So those are going to grow and the use of polymer composites is going to grow. It’s really a matter of cost and vehicle need that will determine how many parts on which vehicles being manufactured with composites.
Q: Aside from using composites, how are OEMs such as Ford achieving lightweighting goals?
A: We have the aluminum F-150, with the high-strength steel frame and the aluminum body. So that’s where we have been. Those are tools that we are bringing to bear as appropriate as we launch new vehicles with what our customer needs are and what the fuel economy requirements are.
Q: What was your first car?
A: Oh my gosh! The first car that I bought was a Pontiac T1000 back in 1981.
