Composites for the motorsport industry
Composites materials are excellent for the motorsport market thanks to these 3 main features:
- lightness to obtain performance vehicles
- high-temperature resistance
- structural integrity during a collision.
The history of composite materials in the motorsport market
The aluminium steel – used at the beginning – was replaced by fiberglass (less manpower needed).
Since the motorsport industry has continuously been a primary adopter of innovative technology (motivated by the desire to decrease weight) in the 80’s McLaren begun to use the carbon fiber for the body of its Formula 1 vehicles (which was previously used in the aerospace industry).
In the same years, many Italian companies begun to prefer composite materials. Dallara chose them for its Formula 3 vehicles and Ferrari created F50: the first supercar in the world with a carbon chassis.
Nowadays composite materials are a must in the motorsport market and in all competition fields, such as rally and rallycross.
Which are the most important aspects in the motorsport industry?
R&D activities for both bodywork and non-structural parts (e.g. breaking systems, chassis, exhausts) as well as production technologies such as optimization algorithms for shape, steel numbers and structures lamination sequence.
The R&D dept. of Microtex Composites has developed X1-120, E3-150 and E4-123: thermosetting epoxy prepregs with excellent structural and/or cosmetic applications. They are suitable to motorsport as well as automotive and sports markets.
Why X1-120, E3-150, E4-123 are so wow
- Good mechanical and cosmetic performances
- Good UV resistance
Technical sheets
X1-120 here
E3-150 here
E4-123 here
Take a look at all our matrices here
