MOBILTECH

Textiles for mobile applications

The share of mobile textiles in the total market of technical textiles worldwide is about 25 %. Applications are for instance car industry, ship building, aerospace industry, rail vehicles, motorcycles or bicycles. Important properties for mobile textiles are good sound insulation, UV-resistance, tensile strength, formability and abrasion resistance. Future challenges can be seen in this sector.

Excellent growth prospects worldwide are expected for using textile composites in car production. Thereby, triggers to develop novel products are deriving from aerospace industry or high performance motorsports. In these sectors materials are exposed to extreme stress causing high expenses in development. The transfer of such interdisciplinary developments into mass production is a challenge for textile enterprises.

Ecological aspects and reduction of weight do also play an important role. In dependence on the kind of component, up to 70 % of weight can be saved by application of fibre reinforced composites. Experts estimate that in 5 to 8 years the share of textiles in cars will increase from nowadays 20 kg to more than 30 kg thus delivering a contribution to CO2 minimisation.