- Ultra-lightweight race car made with Evonik materials
- From PMMA glazing to structural foams
- Collaboration with low-volume manufacturer Roding
Evonik Industries has collaborated with Roding, a low-volume car manufacturer from Germany, to design an ultra lightweight sports car. The vehicle will be driven in this year’s DMV Touring Car Championship (DMV TCC). It premiered at a racing event in mid-June at the Hockenheimring race track.
Powered by a 360 hp turbocharged V6 engine, the new race car has a lightweight carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) chassis, and weighs approximately 1,050 kg. Crosslinker Vestamin, a diamine from isophorone chemistry, is used to produce the CFRP parts. Vestamin is especially suitable for fast curing thermosetting systems like for RTM processes. The car is also equipped with Rohacell, a PMI-based structural foam, that is able to increase the stiffness of the composite structure. The foam features good mechanical properties over a wide temperature range, even at low densities, high temperature resistance up to 220°C and a good compressive creep behavior for processing up to 180°C and 0.7 MPa. The windows of the vehicle are made of PMMA (Plexiglas) and weigh around 50 percent less than customary window materials.
Evonik is using the car as a technology platform, and the first step in the process has been to equip the car with materials from the company’s areas of expertise in lightweight construction. Other Evonik materials will be used over the course of the season and tested under extreme racing conditions. Evonik is hoping that these tests will generate additional insight into the performance of its products.
Picture: New ultra-lightweight race car made with Evonik materials (Photo: Evonik Industries AG)
