25/08/2016

PRESENTATION TITLE - Entity

1

Process & Resin Development for BMW M4 GTS hood program

• Marco Bernsdorf

• Application Research & Engineering

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

2

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

3

Introduction

21.000 km race testing passed

Process

Development

Material

Development

09/2016 750th

hood made

CFRP

Design

Validation

by BMW

05/2014 CFRP concept

Weight - 40%

06/2014 Resin

Concept

05/2015 Black version

of Resin

02/2015 DDF trials

first hoods

04/2015 Prototypes

Drive tests

09/2015 MTR760®

fully validated

07/2015 Pre-series 1

Crash tests

10/2015 Pre-series 2

Quality control

CFRP hood made with SOLVAY material reduced

weight from 12.5kg down to 7.5kg

08/2015: Press Release inner structure outer body panel

03/2016 SOP

at customer

4

Project Lead & Design All Equipment & Blank supply

Contracted by BMW

Technology Centre

Design & tooling supplier for

major OEM’s

Based in Germany

324 employees

€31.2M revenue

Material Development Double Diaphragm Technology

Application Engineering

Tailored Resin System

Access to German serial OEM’s

Referral for volume applications

Based in 53 countries worldwide

30,000 employees worldwide

€12.4 Billion revenue

Stamping & Bonding Automated production cell

Logistics, Spare Parts

Robot bonding cell

Tier1 supplier of stamping

parts & assemblies to OEM’s

Based in Southern-Germany

1100 employees

€250M revenue

Alliance for development & production

5

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

6

7

Double Diaphragm Forming (DDF) - as developed and practised at Solvay

First film layer vacuumed

onto bed and lower frame

‘Prepreg’ blank laid on film

Centre frame

Top film layer

Top frame

Frames clamped and

vacuum applied

Two films, sandwiching the materials and are held together by vacuum in a frame

Conditioned offline through the application of heat

Formed using a press or external force to create the geometry

DDF Preheating and Part Forming/Curing

25/08/2016

Double Diaphragm Forming

8

Shuttles into pre-heat station

Blank held in frame

Press tool forms DDF

film and part

Shuttles into press tool

Contact pre-heating

Part cured

DDF benefits

9

X

Provides a closed environment within existing metal supply chain No part contamination

Enables automatable & repeatable forming of challenging geometries

secures materials in place

allows controlled draping

prevents out-of plane wrinkles

Compatible with many product forms

UD, D-Form, NCF, woven fabrics

Different blank thicknesses

Different resin chemistries

Facilitates a number of processes

compression moulding of prepreg

preforming of dry (e.g. for HP-RTM) and prepreg materials

No mould release agent nor cleaning need

DDF films are specifically designed to be released from the tool & the part

no detrimental impact on the finished product

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

10

Objective: Resin to match blank and part manufacturing properties

Low impregnation viscosity VS. Medium viscosity for handling

Tg > 120°C (248°F) & good mechanicals VS. Resin price

Toughness for dynamic loading characteristics

7 day out-life at RT VS. Rapid curing

Durable class-A surface compatibility

Resin Design

11

Solution: Behavior achieved through optimized curing chemistry

Two component epoxy system compatible with double diaphragm forming and compression-moulding processes

Initial low viscosity for impregnation which develops to enable easy handling

Rapid cure advancement at RT, imparting flexibility for handling and forming

Secondary fast curing at HT yielding high conversion and Tg

Resin Design

12

Different cure times at 140°C

Cure Optimization Different cure temperatures

140°C is the sweet spot providing fast cure & high Tg

! Higher temperature lowers the Tg

! No advantage to cure above 140°C

to accelerate the curing

13

Understand sensitivity to staging variations:

Current: staging for 24h at RT

But: varying process conditions

Result: variations of final part quality

Ideally: Final cure unaffected by staging

Investigation of staging scenarios

7,5

8

8,5

9

9,5

10

10,5

11

11,5

12

12,5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Lo

g(I

on

ic V

isco

sit

y)

Time (Hours)

Ion Viscosity (1Hz) during staging

RT Staging21°C

RT Staging25°C

RT Staging30°C

Explore alternative staging conditions:

Cycle time: staging complete << 1 h

Process window: low advancement

Still formable after pre-heating

Resin flow to give a good surface

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Un

cu

red

Tg

(°C

)

Time (min)

Oven Staging

70°C

80°C

90°C

100°C

Too much

Target

Identify an optimized staging process 14

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

15

Production Video

16

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

17

Press Moulding Conditions – Lab versus “in the field”

DEA Cure Monitoring in the lab

DEA allows linking lab data to customer scenario

Process Step In the lab In the field

Pre-heating within the mould Pre-heat time + transfer time + radiation from mould

Curing 140°C ±0.5K Temperature tolerance over the mould +-3K

Pressure 5s ramp rate to max. pressure 15s ramp rate to max. pressure

Lo

g (

Ion

Vis

co

sit

y)

Time (min)

DEA Cure Monitoring “in the field”

Time (min)

Lo

g (

ion

vis

co

sit

y)

Pre-heating Transfer Press Cure

blank on

lower plate

mold fully

closed blank on

lower mold

18

DoE to optimize the process in the field

Factors: Pre-heat time

Pre-heat temperature

Mold temperature

Stops position

Measurements: Part thickness

Pressure in the mold

Visual appearance

Porosity level

19

bad parts

good parts

pre

ssure

time

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Double Diaphragm Forming Technology

3. Development of a matching Resin System

4. Production Video

5. Process Optimization in the field

6. Summary

20

The team… Developed a novel bespoke resin suitable for class-A surface

Developed a new impregnation process together with C-CON

Gained interest from Automotive and Aerospace OEM's

Summary

Challenges: ! Time (6 months for resin development / 1.5 years to serial part)

! Three different companies and their approaches

! Making composite parts in a metal press shop

! Using partner facilities

What’s Next: … Improve engineering understanding

… Next generation resins

… High-volume programs

21

25/08/2016

PRESENTATION TITLE - Entity

22