Audi uses polyamide composites to reduce infotainment carrier weight

Audi AG, a German automobile manufacturer, is for the first time using an infotainment carrier of hybrid design, made from a continuous fibre-reinforced polyamide composite and a polyamide 6 overmoulding material in its Audi A6 model. Fabricated with Tepex and Durethan from Lanxess, this mass-produced component weighs only just over half as much as its steel counterpart. “This application underlines the enormous weight-saving potential of hybrid technology and continuous fibre-reinforced polyamide composites for the lightweight design of structural components. We are confident that this hybrid design also is suitable for other support components in motor vehicles, such as carriers for pre-installed electrical and electronic modules,” said Martin Klocke, lightweight design specialist at Lanxess.
 
The series component was preceded by a production-ready prototype developed through close cooperation between Audi's Control Device Package Development and Fiber Reinforced Plastics Technology Development departments, Lanxess, KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH and Christian Karl Siebenwurst GmbH & Co KG Modellbau und Formenbau. For the manufacture of the prototype, KraussMaffei developed a fully automated manufacturing cell with a specially adjusted handling system and a heating unit directly positioned above the mould platen.
 
Based on this work, Reinert Kunststofftechnik GmbH und Co KG built an optimised manufacturing cell for the fully automated and reproducible series production of the infotainment carrier.