Profile structures for economical hybrid lightweight design

Especially in the transport sector, lightweight design with fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) is of major relevance due to CO2 reduction through mass saving [1]. In sectors like automotive, FRP are mainly used in secondary structures such as seat shells. In order to be able to operate effective FRP lightweight design in load-bearing structural components, pultruded hybrid profiles are to be established as a new tool for engineers. The profile components are characterized by a FRP base structure and a metallic core that increases the ductility. The manufacturing of the components with pultrusion ensures a large scale production. To guarantee a high covalent bond between the metal cores and the FRP, the inserts are provided by using a newly developed powder coating, which acts like a latent reactive adhesive [2]. Three different profile constructions have been verified, which are identical in the external cross-sectional shape and size, but differing in core structure. A glass-FRP-steel-combination was chosen as material and a pure FRP sample was used as a reference. The mechanical properties were investigated by using a 4-point bending test. Depending on the core structure, various failure behavior and mechanical parameters like energy absorption could be determined.