Each car starts with the steel tub of an original Mustang body which is then fitted with all-new carbon fibre body panels. A 3D digital model is made of the car and a five-axis CNC machine cuts the moulds, and then plugs and panels are pulled using aerospace-grade pre-preg carbon fibre.

The moulded carbon fibre body panels are cured using an in-house autoclave. The result is the world’s first officially-licensed Shelby Mustang that is lighter and stronger than an all-steel body and has perfect carbon fibre weave alignment.

Since 1998, Mr Shelby believed that carbon fibre would be the future of American sports car manufacturing. We believe the introduction of a carbon-fibre GT500 Mustang and Cobra is a natural next step in the evolution of these iconic vehicles.

 Neil Cummings, Co-CEO of Carroll Shelby International

GT500CR models are available with several engine options, ranging from a 490-horsepower Ford Performance Gen 3 5.0L Coyote crate engine up to a 900-horsepower, a hand-built 427-cubic-inch engine with an intercooled ProCharger supercharger. All Shelby GT500CR models are equipped with a Tremec five-speed manual transmission and a stainless-steel MagnaFlow performance exhaust.

According to Classic Restorations, SpeedKore has 3D-scanned a complete GT500CR and is currently in production making a prototype with the first vehicle scheduled to be finished in June.

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Along with the engine upgrades, Ford has also introduced the premium Akrapovič titanium exhaust as standard equipment for the GT. The new exhaust setup will provide a 4 kg weight saving over the previous system.

Perhaps the most striking addition is the cars new fully exposed carbon fibre bodywork which uses a special clear-coat finish to achieve that under glass finish. The Liquid Carbon edition also features carbon fibre wheels as standard along with a wide range of internal and external customisable options including titanium lug nuts, six-point racing harness anchors, five interior options and five calliper colours.

The standard GT 2020 will be priced at $500,000 for the basic model while the Liquid Carbon version is reported to be $750,000. Deliveries of the new 2020 GT will continue until Ford ends GT production for good in 2022.

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The additional production supports the recent decision by Ford Performance to race Ford GT in both IMSA and World Endurance Championship (WEC) series events for four years.

Dave Pericak, global director, Ford Performance said;

While we can’t build enough Ford GTs for everyone who has applied, we are going to produce additional vehicles in an effort to satisfy more of our most loyal Ford ambassadors. We want to keep Ford GT exclusive, but at the same time we know how vital this customer is to our brand.

Year three of production will support applicants who were placed on the wait list; previously deferred applicants and those who missed the initial application window will be served by production year four. The application process for fourth-year production will reopen in early 2018. Those who already applied to own the car will only need to update their request.

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Created with the help of Australian manufacture Carbon Revolution, these lightweight wheels reduce the cars unsprung weight which has a significant impact on handling and performance helping the car start, stop and turn faster by reducing wheel rotation.

A common misconception of carbon fibre is that while it’s strong, it’s also a brittle material. Some formulations may have this characteristic, but carbon fibre’s durability is a feature of the type of resin and design intent of the part. The wheels of Shelby GT350R are designed to be stiff, light and resilient.

One of the most severe tests for wheels in the Ford development process involves striking a curb at speed – a test that, without proper design, can cause serious wheel and tire damage. Because of the light weight, advanced construction methods and resins in the wheels, along with the highly developed MagneRide dampers, the suspension response was fast enough to greatly diminish the severity of the impact.

During track testing the performance capabilities of the braking system developed heat which required the maximum technology available from Carbon Revolution. When brake temperature measurements were taken, it was revealed the GT350R’s brakes were creating temperatures in excess of 900 degrees Celsius. As a result, the wheel design was elevated from a road car specification to a thermal standard more suitable for Motorsports.

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For decades aerospace companies have treated turbine blade materials subject to extreme heat with ceramic coatings to help improve durability. The technology is also used in top-tier open-wheel racing environments. A thermal barrier coating system developed by Carbon Revolution uses this same technology.

Created specifically for Motorsports and aerospace applications where extreme temperature conditions are encountered, Carbon Revolution’s thermal barrier coating system uses a multistage, multimaterial coating formulation that provides a thermal barrier. Using a plasma arc gun to liquefy a ceramic material, the wheels are coated at critical points around the inner wheel “barrel” and on the back of the spokes. The result is an incredibly thin, nearly diamond-hard coating that reliably shields the resin from heat, reducing maximum wheel temperatures and allowing continuous track use by even the most aggressive drivers.

Manufacturing carbon fibre wheels begins with the creation of the preformed internal carbon structure, composed of precisely manufactured carbon strands arrayed into woven fabrics. An RFID chip with a unique tracking number is embedded in this structure, and each wheel is individually entered into a quality assurance system. Once this structure is assembled, it’s infused with resin and cured at high temperatures. This process results in a one-piece wheel that ensures maximum strength, eliminating the need to bond or glue the wheel’s spokes and barrel components together.

As the wheel cures, over 60 individual checks and more than 246,000 data points are logged before it’s released from the machine. To guarantee quality parts, the cured wheels are analysed using a 3D computerised tomography (CT) imaging process in which more than 18,000 X-ray images are taken. If the wheel passes inspection, it undergoes machining for the valve stem and mounting hardware holes before it gets painted, coated, assembled, dimensionally checked and shipped to Flat Rock Assembly Plant for installation on a new Shelby GT350R Mustang.

By cutting the weight of each wheel nearly in half compared to an equivalent aluminium wheel (18 pounds versus 33 pounds), handling and acceleration performance see serious benefits. The wheels also provide a reduction in rotational inertia of more than 40%, which positively impacts acceleration and braking performance.

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The 50/50 joint venture between DowAksa will combine the company’s feedstock capacity, carbon fibre conversion and downstream intermediates production capabilities with Ford’s design, engineering and high-volume manufacturing. The goal is to produce materials that make cost-effective carbon fibre composite parts that are much lighter than steel but meet automotive strength requirements.

,Mike Whitens, director, Vehicle Enterprise Sciences, Ford Research & Advanced Engineering said;

This joint development agreement reinforces Ford’s commitment to our partnership with DowAksa, and our drive to bring carbon fibre components to the broader market. The goal of our work here fits within the company’s Blueprint for Sustainability, where future Ford vehicles will be lighter with optimised performance that would help consumers further improve fuel economy and reduce emissions.

Car makers have been slow to start using carbon fibre composites due to the absence of both high-volume manufacturing methods and affordable material formats. This partnership is one of number going on around the work to try and solve these problems and make using these lightweight materials more viable.

The agreement allows the companies to collaboratively generate new, lower-cost automotive grades of carbon fibre that can be applied to aligned and random fibre formats while maintaining compatibility with both thermoset and thermoplastic matrices. The agreement also includes a pathway for potential extension of development collaboration into a commercial manufacturing partnership.

As announced in January, the companies will also be part of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), announced by President Obama as part of the larger National Network for Manufacturing Innovation supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The JDA will facilitate the companies’ efforts in conjunction with IACMI to overcome the high cost and limited availability of carbon fibre in automotive applications.

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Along with CTAG the project also involves some of the big names in Europe, in all 9 partner companies have signed up and include big names like Arkema, Airbus, Ford and Fraunhofer.

The use of carbon and glass fibre unidirectional continuous tape reinforced composites are one of the most promising options to face new challenges demanded by the transport sector. However, at the moment, the manufacturing methods to obtain composite parts made of this hybrid material are not mature enough for a full industrial implementation.

Main existing barriers are related to the high consumption of resources and lower rates of automation. FORTAPE aims to solve these drawbacks through the development of an efficient and optimised integrated system for the manufacturing of complex parts based on unidirectional fibre tapes for its application in the automotive and aeronautical industry, with the minimum use of material and energy.

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The two companies will be part of the recently announced institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, an organisation created by the U.S. government and part of a larger nationwide network of manufacturing innovation supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The mission of the institute along with Ford and DowAksa is to overcome the high costs and limited availability of carbon fibre, while developing a viable, high volume manufacturing process. The opportunity to be a part of the newly formed manufacturing innovation will hopefully accelerate the timeline to introduce carbon fibre composites into high volume applications.

Ford’s expertise in high-volume manufacturing, design and engineering complements DowAksa’s strength in producing materials that make up carbon composites to create parts much lighter than steel components but with no loss of strength. The company recently launched a new version of the GT supercar, which makes extensive use of lightweight materials, including carbon fibre and aluminium.

Douglas Parks, DowAksa board member and a primary participant in the founding of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation said;

DowAksa’s technology and manufacturing expertise will help effectively overcome barriers to entry for the use of carbon fibre composites in high-volume automotive applications. The new institute provides a collaborative platform to accelerate our progress.

Ford and DowAksa are also working together to reduce the energy needed to produce carbon fibre components, cut the cost of raw materials and develop recycling processes.

The post Ford & DowAksa to Put Foot down on Carbon Fibre Research appeared first on Composites Today.

The all-new GT supercar features rear-wheel drive, a mid-mounted engine, and a sleek, aerodynamic, two-door coupe body shell. It is propelled by the most powerful EcoBoost production engine ever, a next-generation twin-turbocharged V6 producing more than 600 horsepower.

The GT makes extensive use of lightweight materials, including carbon fibre and aluminium enabling outstanding acceleration and handling with improved efficiency.

The car features advanced lightweight composites, which will help serve Ford’s entire product lineup moving forward. With the broad application of structural carbon fibre elements, the GT will exhibit one of the best power-to-weight ratios of any production car.

Anchored by a carbon fibre passenger cell, the car features aluminium front and rear subframes encapsulated in structural carbon fibre body panels.

Ford and DowAksa are accelerating joint research to develop high-volume manufacturing techniques for automotive-grade carbon fibre, aiming to make vehicles lighter for greater fuel efficiency, performance and capability. The companies will be part of the newly formed Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, announced by the U.S. government earlier in the month. The institute is part of the larger National Network for Manufacturing Innovation supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The post Ford Unveils All-New Carbon Fibre GT Supercar appeared first on Composites Today.

The new concept represents the latest phase of Ford’s research into developing sustainable technology solutions that are affordable for consumers and can be produced in large volumes across the product lineup. This research has also led to dramatic weight reductions of up to 700 pounds in the all-new F–150. The 2015 F–150 sheds weight through the use of high-strength steel and aluminium.

Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development said;

Consumers today want better fuel efficiency, but they also want more technology and features in the car, which usually adds weight to the vehicle. A focus on light-weighting will be fundamental to our industry for years to come, and we are investigating many advanced materials applications as possible solutions for weight reduction in our vehicles.

Ford see light-weighting as a key component in their blueprint for sustainability, the introduction and use of lightweight materials into vehicle construction helps meet the goal of reducing weight to achieve better fuel economy for consumers while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Ford engineers incorporated advanced materials into the entire design of the vehicle, including powertrain, chassis, body, battery and interior features such as seats. This Lightweight Concept vehicle represents its most comprehensive blend of advanced materials yet in one vehicle, including strategic application of aluminium, ultra-high-strength steels, magnesium and carbon fibre.

The research vehicle was developed with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program, together with Cosma International – a subsidiary of Magna International – to illustrate long-term potential light-weighting solutions. Magna’s design and development of the multi-material body-in-white, closures and chassis components are a significant contribution in light-weighting the concept vehicle.

The post Ford Creates New Lightweight F-150 Concept Car Using Advanced Materials appeared first on Composites Today.

The carbon fibre reinforced plastic Ford Focus bonnet displayed at the Composites Europe event in Dusseldorf, Germany is constructed from the super-strong material usually associated with bespoke racing vehicles or high-performance sports cars.

The prototype weighs more than 50 percent less than a standard steel version. As a result of progress made during an on-going research project involving engineers from the Ford European Research Centre, production time for an individual carbon fibre bonnet is fast enough to be employed on a production line – a significant step towards increased usage of lightweight materials in Ford vehicles.

Inga Wehmeyer, advanced materials and processes research engineer, Ford European Research Centre said;

It’s no secret that reducing a vehicle’s weight can deliver major benefits for fuel consumption, but a process for fast and affordable production of carbon fibre automotive parts in large numbers has never been available, by partnering with materials experts through the Hightech.NRW research project, Ford is working to develop a solution that supports cost efficient manufacturing of carbon fibre components.”

The involvement of Ford European Research Centre in the Hightech.NRW research project follows Ford’s partnership with Dow Automotive Systems; a collaboration announced earlier this year that will investigate new materials, design processes and manufacturing techniques.

Dow Automotive Systems and Ford will focus on establishing an economical source of automotive-grade carbon fibre, as well as high-volume manufacturing methods: both critical to increasing the range of future Ford battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Carbon fibre offers a very high strength-to-weight ratio. It is up to five times as strong as steel, twice as stiff, and one-third the weight. Advanced materials such as carbon fibre are key to Ford’s plans to reduce the weight of its cars by up to 340kg by the end of the decade.

Ford has partnered with specialists from the Institute of Automotive Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, Henkel, Evonik, IKV (Institute of Plastics Processing), Composite Impulse and Toho Tenax for the course of the Hightech.NRW research project.

Funded by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the project began in 2010 and, despite being set to continue until September 2013, has already made significant progress towards some if its targets.

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The refined gap-impregnation process works by introducing resin to pre-formed carbon fibre textile material in a fast, stable and adaptable manner. Initial testing suggests that CFRP components such as the prototype Ford Focus bonnet will meet the high standards for stiffness, dent resistance and crash performance. The component has also performed well in pedestrian protection head-impact tests, thanks to its innovative construction of a special foam core sandwiched between two layers of CFRP.

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