Development of the One-Step Hybrid Forming Process to Produce an Al-GMT-Hybrid Crash Management System

The newly developed hybrid forming process allows producing steel-long fiber reinforced plastic hybrid components in a single process step. The hybrid components produced in this way exhibit good failsafe behavior and enormous energy absorption potential combined with high structural integrity. They are also cost-efficient and environmentally friendly. To explain the field of application, this process was further investigated to produce hybrid components with aluminum-LFT and –PP-GMT (glass mat thermoplastic). Therefore, it is suitable for developing automotive structural components, e.g., crash management systems (CMS). To develop a lightweight hybrid-CMS with approx. 15% weight reduction compared to a full aluminum (Al) reference, different requirements must be fulfilled by Al and GMT. To achieve this, firstly, tool concept for axial crash and 3-point bending components were developed. Corresponding components were produced and tested for their performance.