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BMW develops process for fast, cheap carbon composite chassis manufacture

13 Apr 2018

If there's one thing motorcyclists want more of in their lives, it's carbon fibre. Such is our fascination with the lightness of carbon that people will unironically bolt non-functional bits of it onto their bikes in order to make them look lighter.

The carbon frame from 2017's BMW HP4 Race - hopefully new production techniques will bring lots more of these lightweight carbon chassis components (Credit: BMW)

More's the better if we can get stuff that actually does make things lighter, like carbon bodywork or full carbon frames like those on the BMW HP4 Race and the Ducati 1299 Superleggera.

Best of all, though, is when judicious use of carbon can give us lightweight components where it counts most: south of the suspension springs. Carbon fibre rims, brakes and swingarms make a huge difference to unsprung weight, helping suspension react quicker and improving a motorcycle's handling to a degree even a novice can notice and benefit from.

And that's why this is such a good news story. BMW has just taken out the 2018 JEC Innovation Award in the Leisure and Sports category, for the carbon fibre swingarm it built for the HP4 Race in 2017. And the company has used that win to announce that it has already got another swingarm done up in carbon composites (CFP), which it has been able to manufacture cheaply using a "cost-efficient manufacturing process."

The new technique puts all kinds of structural parts on the menu in lightweight carbon composites, and BMW claims components can be made with a single tool in under a minute, then strengthened with additional CFP panels if necessary, or thermoplastically joined using welding robots.

Continue reading the full article on New Atlas.

Source: New Atlas

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About Loz Blain

Loz has been one of our most versatile contributors since 2007. Joining the team as a motorcycle specialist, he has since covered everything from medical and military technology to aeronautics, music gear and historical artefacts. Since 2010 he's branched out into photography, video and audio production, and he remains the only New Atlas contributor willing to put his name to a sex toy review. A singer by night, he's often on the road with his a cappella band Suade.