Composite materials in automotive engineering
The use of composite materials for the manufacturing of racing cars was a significant milestone of achievement in the automotive industry, as the earliest racing cars were made mostly with a single aluminum chassis, which was prone to major fractures. In the late 1980s, the use of advanced composite material in the racing industry caused a revolution of sorts in the world of automobile engineering. Such composites provided an apt solution for racing car chassis, as these were not only lightweight, but also sturdy and robust, offering the driver much more security, if the car were to crash.
Slowly and steadily, of such materials were being used in production sports cars as well because they increasingly became cost effective, and today; in the 21st century, the use of composite materials in a car/automotive manufacturing is more or less the norm.
The earliest composite materials included fiberglass, developed in the 1940s; however, this material did not make its way through to the automotive industry at that point of time, due to limitations in the then automotive engineering techniques. Today, fiberglass is used extensively for just about everything, including surfboards, building panels, boat hulls, and of course a car chassis.
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