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News Release from: Smithers Rapra | Subject: An Introduction to Automotive Composites
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 September 2002
Updated book gives introduction to
composites
Use of composites by high volume car manufacturers is growing, and an updated version of an introductory book to composites in design and manufacture is now available.
The first use of composites by a high volume car manufacturer was probably the 1954 Singer Hunter with Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) bonnet and side valences For years the automotive industry had established practices in design and manufacture with metal and plastics whereas working with so called 'advanced materials', in particular polymer matrix composites was not yet widespread
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Apr 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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An Introduction to Automotive Composites, edited by Nick Tucker and Kevin Lindsey, is an updated and expanded version of the orginal course 'sourcebook', written and compiled by a group of engineers, scientists and technologists working for the WMG of the University of Warwick, and various car manufacturers.
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This book is aimed at people who need to be innovative in the use of materials in car manufacture, providing them with an appreciation of composites, materials properties, manufacturing technologies, and the wider implications of composites use.
The choice of materials in any industry is never merely a technical matter; cost of materials, manufacture and end-of-life disposal must also be considered.
An Introduction to Automotive Composites should enable the reader to appreciate some of the benefits and difficulties of working with composites in the mass market.
Some of the areas discussed in the eleven chapters include the properties of composites and the types commonly used in automotive applications, polymer chemistry and physics, differences between thermosets and thermoplastics, manufacturing methods, economics of composite manufacture, and how can we use composites in car manufacture? The authors discuss what to do with composites at the end of vehicle life including mechanical and chemical recycling, thermal conversion and energy recovery.
The future of composites in vehicle manufacturing is discussed looking at the advantages that composites can supply.
Examples of possible future uses of composites in automotive vehicles are also provided.
The final chapter covers design guidelines for composites providing an insight into some of the factors that should be considered when specifying composites for an engineering application.
Nick Tucker's first involvement in composites was as a teenager, making canoes and motorcycle parts, after several adventures in further and higher education he started his industrial career in minerals processing.
After reading for a PhD at the University of Bradford, he worked as a contract researcher at PERA before moving to the Warwick Manufacturing Group, where he is now the Faraday research fellow.
He is now working to provide research and development facilities for small to medium sized enterprises and researching into the manufacture of composites from sustainable origin materials.
Kevin Lindsey studied at Brunel University, where he gained a first class degree in materials science.
Kevin took up a position at ICI in the acrylics business group and gained a PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham.
He then joined the Rover Group where he collaborated with the Warwick Manufacturing Group on research projects including the SALVO projects.
He is now a Principal Engineer with Gibbs Technologies, working on the development of a novel niche vehicle.
The book retails at GBP80 / US$124 / 128 Euro (plus postage and packaging) and is available, along with further details, from www.polymer-books.com.
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