Magna, a leading technology company and an automotive supplier headquartered in Canada, has announced that the firm has opened a new composites centre of excellence in Esslingen, Germany, that aims to help European automakers meet increasingly stringent emissions requirements with lightweight structures and exterior components made of advanced materials.

The centre will primarily focus on developing structural components, such as vehicle sub-frames, and exterior body parts, such as door panels and hoods. Several European automakers are pursuing joint development projects with Magna at the new centre. One is interested in investigating advanced composites for use in structural rear vehicle modules, and another wants to look at composites for vehicle sub-frames. There is also interest in developing “class A” exterior panels using composites.

The centre has a new 2,300-metric-ton Engel V-Due press that is ideally suited for thermoset compression moulding of reinforced plastic or sheet moulding compound materials. It enables development, demonstration, and testing of full-size automotive parts using a wide range of thermoset composite materials and compression moulding process settings. The press also links directly to a testing laboratory where temperature cycles, climatic cycles, various static and dynamic tests, and microscopic examinations are performed.

Magna opened its composites centre of excellence near Toronto in 2010 in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada. Notable projects include a carbon fibre hood developed for the 2016 Cadillac V-Series and a current project with Ford Motor Company to test the feasibility of carbon fibre vehicle sub-frames for possible mass production. (GK)