Thermo-ductile composites: new materials for 21st Century manufacturing — micro-perforated thermoplastic composites

Affordable lightweight structures will acquire increasing importance in the 21st Century as improved performance and energy saving become mandatory requirements for all manufacturers of products with moving parts. Highly aligned fibre reinforced composites are capable of providing adequate specific stiffness, but existing fabrication techniques are unsuitable and too costly for volume manufacturing. A central problem is the lack of composite ductility, which reduces their value as semi-finished materials. Previous material developments aimed at enhancing composite formability are reviewed and compared with new novel micro-perforated thermoplastic composites, which exhibit significant temperature-dependent ductility. The potential of these materials for cost-effective, volume manufacturing of lightweight structures is briefly outlined.