Composites bring design, performance flexibility to new Corvette

Novi, Mich. — General Motors Co.'s use of composites on the new Chevrolet Corvette equals a "winning equation" for the automaker, according to Edward Moss, GM's engineering group manager for Corvette body structures.

The mixed materials — ranging from structural carbon fiber and sheet molding compound, among others — give the eighth-generation Corvette a lightweight advantage, performance for a value and "a lot of flexibility," Moss said.

"We think the proof is in the value of the car," he said during a morning keynote at the Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition, held Sept. 4-6 in Novi. ACCE is jointly sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers' automotive and composites divisions.

While the 2020 Stingray maintains Corvette's use of an aluminum frame, the midengine sports car has SMC and carbon fiber underbody components and exterior SMC body panels. The new model also boasts what GM says is the automotive industry's first curved, multihollow pultruded carbon fiber bumper beam.

The lightweight component is engineered and manufactured by Shape Corp., a Tier 1 automotive supplier of plastic, composite and metallic parts based in Grand Haven, Mich.

Shape engineers started prototyping pultruded profiles in 2013 and later developed the bumper with Thomas Technik & Innovation, a German pultrusion company. GM engineers also worked directly with Shape during the development process for the structural carbon fiber component.

"It's amazing the flexibility that composites offer," Moss said.

The new Corvette also features front and rear storage units that are molded from fiberglass and a proprietary resin. GM calls the lightweight sheet molding compound "float" because it can float in water. The material also works with carbon fiber and can reduce noise and vibration in the vehicle, according to the automaker.

Molded Fiber Glass Cos. of Ashtabula, Ohio, developed the SMC with GM.

"Why do we have SMC here? Why do we have thermoplastic here?" Moss said. "Every part has a purpose, and that's the flexibility you can get with the composites."