Textile based car parts.

[mrbrian200]

Knitted textile fabrics encased in a hard coating.
I could envision a tight weave carbon fiber textile coated/stiffened with a lighter material such as fiberglass, or as this manufacturer says, various resins. Rigid, durable and light, however the coated woven fabric 'base' wouldn't shatter/split/cave like many other lightweight/composite/plastic materials, but remain cohesive, bend, distribute loads, and behave more like steel during a collision. Interesting.

I would imagine Volvo design engineers have already caught wind of this. If not...here ya go!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -car-parts

This is sort of in line with a comment I made in another thread some time ago talking about fuel economy and curb weight with regard to the new S90s - granted being a little bigger than my '06 S60, shouldn't be substantially heavier-- Volvo should be able to find a way to get the S90 at least 200 or so lbs lighter without sacrificing safety. This might be the ticket if it can be produced cost effectively to compete with high grade steel fabrication. In a mass production scenario? probably.

[crlande]

Sounds like the Royalex material my canoe is made out of.

[mrbrian200]

Sounds like the Royalex material my canoe is made out of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalex

The 'finished product' suitable for motor vehicle body panels might be fairly similar, but with a seamless carbon fiber textile as the center layer instead of ABS foam. I think all the pieces and materials/engineering 'know how' to do this are already out there. It's just a matter of putting it together. Article states several vehicle OEs are already working with them for development. I betcha Toyota/Lexus is one of them--they've been using some sort of sandwich composite for exterior body panels on Lexus models for several years now. I don't know off hand what it's made of. I'm pretty sure it still has a steel layer(s), lighter than an all steel panel, but still fairly heavy.

[mrbrian200]

With the right mix of materials and some engineering prowess, this might even be potentially suitable for structural reinforcement in some areas where lower strength steel or aluminum is presently used. I don't see it replacing UHSS or Boron Steel for critical safety reinforcement though. But you never know what they might be able to do with it 10-20 years down the road.
Toyota/Lexus has been developing advanced composites and incorporating them into 'regular' mid price lux models already, but so far it seems Euro Lux makers are sort of 'clinging' to steel except on the very high end (Polestar 1 for example is a carbon fiber body). That has to change.

[crlande]

Technology has come a long way since my 1977 Old Town!!

[93Regina]

Technology has come a long way since my 1977 Old Town!!

??? Redux ???

Soybean car - The soybean car, more recently referred to as the hemp body car, was a prototype car built with agricultural plastic. Although the formula used to create the plasticized panels has been lost, it is conjectured that the first iteration of the body was made partially from soybeans and hemp.[2][A][4] The body was lighter and therefore more fuel efficient than a normal metal body.[5] It was made in Dearborn, Michigan, through the work of scientist/botanist George Washington Carver and was introduced to public view on August 13, 1941.[2] It was made, in part, as a hedge against the rationing of steel during World War II.[6][7] It was designed to run on hemp fuel.[8]


[youtube][/youtube]

[mrbrian200]

Hemp + soy would be cellulose (same as wood or paper), and the soy component, likely oil, would have been a resin/ organic plastic like binder. This would be the sort of material that fiberglass would be used for now. Carbon fiber, which has different properties than cellulose or glass fiber woven into a tight seamless fabric would have properties more like chain link fencing, meaning it can absorb stress/bend like steel and even stretch while maintaining a resistance to shattering/tearing. Cellulose or fiberglass doesn't behave like that.