Munich. On 7 March 2018, BMW Motorrad was presented
with the 2018 JEC Innovation Award in the Leisure Sports
category for the development and manufacture of a rear swinging arm
made of carbon fibre. The award ceremony was held at JEC World in
Paris Nord Villepinte. As the person at BMW with overall
responsibility for funding projects in the area of lightweight
composite fibre,
Dr. Joachim Starke was there to receive the
award on behalf of the team as a whole.
Established in 1996, the JEC Group is the world’s
leading specialist organisation for the development, manufacture and
processing of composite materials. The JEC Innovation Award is
conferred by a jury of international experts and goes to 30 companies
in ten categories.
The BMW Group uses lightweight construction in both
automobiles and motorcycles, applying an intelligent combination of
different materials including carbon fibre as a particularly important
element. The latest example from BMW Motorrad was the HP4 RACE, where
the entire main frame was made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic
produced by means of an industrial RTM process. In 2017 the carbon
fibre frame of the HP4 RACE opened a whole new chapter in motorcycle
chassis construction, combining optimum technical qualities, uniform
manufacturing quality and cost efficiency for the first time.
BMW Motorrad has now taken a further step towards
consistent lightweight construction and excellent technical properties
in motorcycles with a rear swinging arm likewise produced by means of
an industrial process. The project MAI hiras+handle was sponsored by
the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the
leading-edge cluster MAI Carbon. The aim of this cooperative venture
bringing together seven partners from industry and research was to
develop a process that enabled the cost-effective volume-production
use of carbon fibre composite materials (CFP) in structural components
subject to high levels of continuous stress. In the case of this
particular part, it was also possible to establish a cost-efficient
manufacturing process suitable for the large-scale production of
injection mould components made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic
with CFP tape reinforcements using thermoplastic material.
Project manager Elmar Jäger explains the development
of the concept as follows: “We opted for chassis components under
continuous load since the requirements involved are especially
demanding. While car chassis parts are concealed, the visible
motorcycle rear swinging arm was ideal for our project since the
forces at work are immediately evident. Our production technique uses
CFP in the form of high-strength endless fibres where this is required
by the stress pattern, while an injection mould part with short CFP
recycling fibres is used where the stress levels are not as high. In
this way, we developed a cost-efficient design that can be scaled
according to requirements by inserting endless fibres with varying
levels of strength in the same tool. These were the points that
impressed the international jury. The insights we gained from this
motorcycle component are equally valuable from the point of view of
car development and can be applied accordingly.”
Joachim Starke explains the new production process
and its advantages: “In addition to achieving weight benefits and
cutting costs significantly, we also managed to develop a technology
that allows precise configuration of component properties by using a
variety of composite and metal inserts.” This scalability means
that a single tool can be used to produce a wide range of different
components at cycle times of less than a minute. The maximum strength
can be adjusted by means of additional CFP panels which can be
thermoplastically joined. The project also involved successful testing
with welding robots. “All this impacts significantly on cost
efficiency (component costs) as well as part properties (strength and
stiffness),” adds Starke.
“With this example of the rear swinging arm,
the project has allowed
BMW Motorrad to take on a pioneering
role within the motor vehicle industry. The insights gained
consistently build on the BMW i3 as the basis for the use of CFP in
serial production and include interesting aspects in terms of the
future development of new BMW motorcycles and automobiles.
You will find press material on BMW motorcycles and
BMW Motorrad rider equipment in the BMW Group PressClub at www.press.bmwgroup.com.
In case of queries please contact:
Internet: www.press.bmw.de
E-mail: presse@bmw.de
The BMW Group
With its four brands BMW, MINI,
Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading
premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides
premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production
network comprises 30 production and assembly facilities in 14
countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140
countries.
In 2017, the BMW Group sold over 2,463,500 passenger
vehicles and more than 164,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit
before tax in the financial year 2017 was € 10.655 billion on revenues
amounting to € 98.678 billion. As of 31 December 2017, the BMW Group
had a workforce of 129,932 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been based
on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has
therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout
the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear
commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its
strategy.
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