Quadrant Plastic Composites, voestalpine Polynorm and Bekaert are recipients of the AVK (German Federation of Reinforced Plastics) Innovation Award 2008 in the industrial category, for their development of steel cord-reinforced EASI glass mat reinforced thermoplastic (GMT) material.

The winners of the AVK Innovation Awards, which recognise excellence in the development of reinforced plastics, were announced on the opening evening of the 11th AVK International Conference in Essen, Germany. The jury was particularly impressed by the ability of the new EASI material to meet crash impact requirements for speeds up to 80km/h (50mph).
The new material represents an important addition to the Quadrant product portfolio. Its designation EASI (Energy, Absorption, Safety, Integrity) describes the principal functions of the new material system. The first EASI applications, which will go into serial production in 2009, have been successfully developed by Quadrant Plastic Composites in cooperation with its partners: voestalpine Polynorm Plastics (Roosendaal, Netherlands) and Bekaert (Courtrai, Belgium).
The new composite not only opens up new types of applications in the automotive sector, hitherto reserved for metals, but also permits a higher level of functional integration and freedom of design than steel. Through the targeted use of steel cord-reinforced GMT/GMTex, weight reductions of up to 30 per cent can be achieved when compared with conventional solutions.
EASI is a panel-shaped hybrid semi-finished material, made of steel and glass fibre in a polypropylene matrix, whereby the directional steel cord is further reinforced with additional layers of glass fibre fabrics. Depending on the application demands, the properties of the steel cord-reinforced GMT/GMTex can be varied. Impact resistance, strength or stiffness can be adjusted and combined according to customer specifications, enabling the economic production of high-performance components.
“As the supply of raw materials tightens, and environmental regulations are stepped up, the automotive industry is seeking ever more lightweight and high-performance material alternatives,” says Karl-Heinz Kalmbach, leader business line exterior and structures, Quadrant Plastic Composites. “As with all materials, composite and hybrid materials are also required to deliver a competitive price performance ratio. Thanks to weight reduction and optimal performance in combination with functional integration, composite materials are gaining greater recognition in an increasing number of applications.”
Steel cord-reinforced GMT/GMTex has been developed in order to comply with specific requirements for weight reduction and optimised crash performance. Therefore steel cord-reinforced GMT/GMTex materials can also be used in highly-exposed and crash-relevant structural components. Other possible applications include the underbodies of off-road vehicles as well as bumpers and lateral collision elements in doors. Outside of the automotive industry, applications such as protective enclosures and fall protection mechanisms are conceivable.
Meanwhile, Quadrant Metal Plastic Solutions GmbH (QMPS GmbH), a new joint venture company between Quadrant Plastic Composites and Blechformwerke Bernsbach AG (Germany),is focusing on the development of lightweight components, primarily for the automotive industry, on the basis of long fibre-reinforced plastic composites and other metal-plastic hybrid technologies.
The new company was founded in April 2008 with its seat in Hainichen, near Chemnitz, Germany.
Further metal-plastic hybrid constructions will be based on the high-strength, glass mat-reinforced, compression-mouldable thermoplastics provided by Quadrant Plastic Composites and pressed metal parts supplied by Blechformwerke Bernsbach. The range of services provided to customers by the new company includes design and material selection, prototyping and testing and the serial production planning of lightweight components.
The joint venture draws from the combined know-how of the partner companies: Quadrant Plastic Composites (with a 51 per cent share in the joint venture) as a worldwide leader in thermoplastic composites and material development, and Blechformwerke Bernsbach (49 per cent), which is a specialist in sub-assemblies and components made of sheet metal for the automotive industry.