Evonik develops technology to mass-produce complex moulded parts

Particularly impressive aspects of the new manufacturing process include its design flexibility and cost efficiency, and the crash behaviour of the resulting composite parts - parts that are around 75 percent lighter than traditional steel structures. Plus, the PulPress method also reduces costs by up to 60 percent compared to composite parts manufactured using established methods such as resin injection. “These advantages have already won over a large number of customers in the European automotive industry. Moulded parts made using PulPress will soon be going into mass production,” said Dr Sivakumara Krishnamoorthy, manager for new applications in Evonik’s Resource Efficiency Segment.

The process is also of interest to manufacturers outside of the auto industry. It could conceivably be applied in aircraft construction as a cost-effective method for producing large numbers of carry-over parts. Finally, lightweight sandwich cores are also becoming more and more important in sports equipment.