leave what you have a go at it about car suspension : Audi is tearing up the rule Scripture and gain its latest bound from glass fibre - reenforce composite instead of brand . It ’s not gone mad , though ; this is the future .
The young springs , image on the left field , are made of thin drinking glass fibers held together in epoxy resin rosin . A machine — which I would really love to see in military action — twirls fibers around a small key core at plus or minus 45 degrees to the direction of the coil . Its then coated in epoxy and cure at around 100 degrees Celsius .
The resulting spring sport a larger diameter spiral than their steel siblings , and their overall diameter is bigger too . So what ’s the point ?
Weight , my friend . And lot ’s of it . While a sword spring for a mid - sizing elevator car weighs about 6 pounds , these new GFRP coil weigh just 3.5 . That ’s a 40 percentage saving , and adds up to 9.7 pounds across the whole car . Sure , that ’s not a huge overall percent amplification , but it ’s rare a single component can shed so much free weight in one go . Oh , they ’re also corrosion resistant , too , and require less vigor to manufacture .
The raw springs will boast in at least one of Audi ’s mid - sized models before the end of the year . [ Audi ]
Audi
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