The automotive supplier Fehrer has developed a new lightweight roof in a sandwich-type design for the new smart fortwo. The component is currently the lightest roof construction for passenger cars on the market.
The newly developed component from Fehrer Composite Components is made from a material mix consisting of polyurethane, glass fiber and paper honeycomb, covered with a thermoplastic outer skin. The standard version of the smart fortwo is equipped with this roof, which equates to around 40 percent of all models. It is around 30 percent lighter than the standard roof in the predecessor model –but is equally strong.
This is achieved by means of an intelligent combination of decorative foil, structural PUR fiber-composite layers and a core honeycomb structure in a sandwich-type design. In contrast to standard composite components, this construction does not involve the individual layers being bonded in a complex, multi-stage process, but is produced instead in a single workstep. This means that the component can be produced considerably more efficiently.
The lightweight roof for the smart sees Fehrer, the vehicle interior specialist, supplying an exterior vehicle body component for the first time. The component is produced at the Fehrer plant in Großlangheim and supplied directly to the smart production plant in Hambach, where it is mounted on the vehicles.
