A Study on SMC Manufacturing Process for Lightweight Parts Development Using CFRP

Abstract

Recent trend of the automobile industry is improving fuel efficiency and decreasing exhaust gas through lightweight parts because of strict environmental regulations. Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) have been studied to reduce the weight of automotive parts because they have higher specific strength and elasticity-to-weight ratio than conventional steel. In the CFRP manufacturing process, the compressive process using Sheet Molding Compound (SMC) has been applied to fender, roof and trunk lid, etc., which are exterior materials of automobile because of its excellent productivity. However, in order to apply CFRP to automotive seat frame, the manufacturing process should be selected considering the shape and material properties. In this study, we conducted about the increase of the material properties and the improvement of SMC process in order to fabricate the automotive seat frame by using CFRP.