Lanxess (Cologne / Germany; www.lanxess.com) unit Bond-Laminates (Brilon / Germany; www.bond-laminates.com) has commissioned two production lines in Brilon, raising to eight its processing lines for continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites belonging to the “Tepex” brand. The investment, an amount in the “mid-single-digit millions”, expands by half the manufacturing capacity at the site. An estimated 1,500 m² production hall has been constructed and three cutting machines, including a new four-head waterjet cutting machine for prefabricating component cuts, have been installed.

Tepex is becoming more popular in the automotive industry for the large-scale production of lightweight parts such as front-end and bumper brackets, brake pedals and underbody panelling components. One recent example involves two electrically adjustable single rear seats for a variant of the Audi (Ingolstadt / Germany; www.audi.com) “A8” vehicle, which has seat shells manufactured in a hybrid moulding process using the polyamide 6-based “Tepex dynalite”. The seat shells are around 45% lighter than a comparable metal version.

Lanxess says Tepex can be used to make backrests and armrests as well as seat shells for complex seating concepts in autonomous cars. Electric vehicles also offer potential, particularly in brackets for frontends, doors and bumpers, luggage compartment recesses, battery housings and brackets for E&E modules, structural components in the “greenhouse” section and structural trims in the underbody area to protect the battery. Consumer electronics applications include thin-walled yet strong structural components for mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs. In sports, Tepex can be deployed to produce shoe soles, bicycle components, ski boots, body protectors and helmets.