Development and investigation of a textile-reinforced thermoplastic leaf spring with integrated sensor networks

Textile-reinforced plastics are of continuously rising interest for industrial applications. Especially textile-reinforced thermoplastics offer benefits for applications in aerospace and automotive engineering. This can be explained mainly by the large-scale production capability, e.g. due to very short cycle times. In addition to studies regarding process technology and simulation, it is necessary to provide continuous methods for the design, development and dimensioning of this new material group. Within the research of the collaborative research centre (SFB) 639 glass fibre polypropylene (GF-PP) hybrid-yarn-textile-thermoplastic (HYTT) composites are investigated. Lightweight design potentials of this novel material group and design methods are examined using a self diagnosing textile-reinforced thermoplastic leaf spring within the framework of a demonstrator vehicle. By that, strains resulting from loading conditions are captured by a material-integrated sensor network. Furthermore, design methods are studied with the intention of the realising of an actively controlled vehicle dynamics and a self monitoring of composite components. The investigations include the validation of sensor networks, a comprehensive characterisation of the textile-reinforced material and the development of adequate multi-body models.