BMW 2010 Annual Report Download - page 201

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in synthetic resin, the material is left to harden in a
closed furnace at temperatures of over 100 degrees
Celsius for several hours. This elaborate procedure
isthe main reason why the material costs so much
more than steel.
Things are done di erently at the BMW Group,
which has been making CFRP components in
pro-
gressively larger quantities in a high-volume
indus-
trialised production process since 2003. At the plant
in Landshut – the next stop in the CFRP produc-
tion process – roofs are already been built for the
BMW M3 and M6 models. To accomplish this, the
BMW Group has, in recent years, refi ned processes,
systems, materials and tools to the point where an
economical, high-quality volume production of CFRP
car body parts is now possible. One example is the
specially developed press tools used at the Landshut
plant: instead of “baking” at over 100 degrees Celsius,
the resin-soaked carbon fabrics harden at no more
than 100 degrees Celsius within just a few minutes.
Another example is the BMW Group’s one-of-a-kind
recycling concept, which allows CFRP waste to be
reused in the production process.
“We control and optimise every stage of the
manufacturing process, from textile fi bres to the
fi nished body,” explains Jochen Töpker, CFRP expert
at the BMW Group. “Applied to conventional automo-
tive engineering, it’s almost like a carmaker getting
involved in making and recycling steel, besides build-
ing cars. But that’s how we are gaining such a strong
lead in the volume production of CFRP.”
1 Changing rolls during CFRP production.
2 Carbon fi bre fabrics are combined to make highly integrated car body
parts with totally diff erent strengths and thicknesses.
3 Innovative press tools harden the resin-soaked carbon fabrics within
minutes at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius.
CFRP is considered to be a high-tech
material of the future. Here in Landshut
we’ve been working with it for years.