Automotive hybrid design production and effective end machining by novel abrasive waterjet technique

Hybrid designs with the combination of metal and long fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFT) offer a great opportunity to reduce component weight for automotive applications. Production costs are typically high due to complex processes and challenging end machining. A complete manufacturing process chain for simultaneous hybrid design production is presented. Hybrid forming, a manufacturing process combining metal sheet forming, LFT compression molding and bonding, was developed to manufacture an automotive lightweight component, finally end machined by innovative waterjet techniques. Besides optimizing waterjet end machining strategies, waterjet controlled-depth machining was used to remove LFT material selectively, resulting in increased hybrid production flexibility.