AUTOMOTIVE PROCESS

HIGH-VOLUME CFRP PRODUCTION: CARBON REAR WALL MODULE

Audi AG (Germany) and partners Voith Composites GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Dow Automotive (Switzerland), Zoltek Corp (USA)

For the first time, the full potential of CFRP can be used in high-volume production thanks to a newly developed rear wall module and cost-efficient production technologies.

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​The new Audi A8 carbon rear wall structure was successfully developed in a very short time and produced by fully-automated serial production with capacity for more than 300 parts per day. The ultra-high-strength, torsionally-rigid rear wall made of CFRP is the largest component in the occupant cell of the new Audi A8. It contributes 33% to the torsional rigidity of the total vehicle and is still 50% lighter than before. Between 6 and 19 fibre layers with individual orientations are stacked one on top of the other. This ensures a load-optimized layout to optimally absorb longitudinal and transverse loads as well as shear forces. With this carbon rear wall structure, Audi took full advantage of the design freedom that fibre-reinforced plastics offer, also for high-volume production. There is no other comparable part with this complexity made using high-volume production of CFRP.