Abstract:

This paper describe, how automotive industry has been affected by aluminium price fluctuation, and how fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) has been started to be used more and more in nowadays, despite the price. In the past decades, prices for the raw materials used by car manufacturer, has changed significantly [1]. Not only the prices suffered major changes, but also the amount and type of the material/ t used in vehicle manufacturing, suffered some major transformation as well.

Last 2 decades vehicle makers used to build cars by using more steel and aluminium in the process, where today all manufacturers are looking for smart materials to be used in this process, for creating lighter, smarter and safer vehicles.

Aluminium represent 8% from the Earth’s crust and it is the third most abundant element; it is remarkable for the low density and a good resistance for corrosion [2].

This work explore the potential for a novel type of composite material, incorporating intelligent materials.