Integrated Coating of Recycled Long- Glass Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Carrier Structures with Compo Leather Materials

Abstract

This paper presents the direct strand-deposition process to manufacture long-glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic carrier structures like for instrument board carriers, inside door panels or front-ends. This process is capable to process waste materials out of long- and endless-fiber reinforced thermoplastic components by maintaining the long fibers that the waste materials are providing. A much higher efficiency is obtained compared to recycling methods using the injection molding process where the fibers are degraded through the process. In addition, new recycled compo-leather or bonded leather materials offer the possibility to perform an integrated coating using the direct strand-deposition process for above mentioned applications. Formerly expensive leather interiors within automobiles can be replaced by those cheaper compo-leather materials having the same optics and haptics.