The weight reduction trend has driven the development of fiber-reinforced composites in automotive engineering, aerospace and construction, according to German composites industry association AVK.
The association said the quantity of glass-fiber-reinforced plastics produced in Europe will increase by 2.5 percent this year, with the industry set to continue on a growth trajectory in the coming years in the transport and construction sectors.
AVK managing director Elmar Witten, said: “The trend towards the creation and development of multi-material systems and the use of hybrid components will remain one of the central challenges. Joining and combining different materials is a task not just the composites industry should face up to but also players in other materials segments.”
Composites Europe concluded its three-day 2016 show in Düsseldorf on Dec. 1.
Speaking at the show, Iris Gleicke, parliamentary state secretary at the German Federal Ministry for economic affairs and energy, said: “Lightweight construction is a key technology of the future that's making a critical contribution to the modernization of industry. Electro-mobility, for example, is inconceivable without lightweight engineering. Economy and ecology will become linked even more tightly."
The show had 350 exhibitors from 30 nations in Düsseldorf, and 8,622 visitors.
The next Composites Europe, the 12th European Trade Fair and Forum for Composites, Technology and Applications, will take place in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 19-21.