Case Study - Elemental Motor Company and SHAPE Group

Case Study – Elemental Motor Company and Shape Group

New carbon composite technique provides robust structural lightweighting solution for Elemental RP1 sports car

Elemental Motor Company was founded in 2012 with the aim to develop the Rp1 sportscar and bring it into production. The company is part of Elemental Group Ltd, and its manufacturing facility is based in Hambledon in rural Hampshire, UK.

With core specialisms in high performance automotive and racecar engineering, vehicle dynamics and systems, advanced composites technology, advanced manufacturing, vehicle design and styling, the team at Elemental Group has over 120 man-years of experience at the cutting edge of British Automotive Design.

Limitations of traditional composites are overcome by Tailored Fibre Placement technique

The designers at Elemental Motor Company have chosen a carbon composite made using Tailored Fibre Placement (TFP) for the inner rear wheelarch component on their RP1 track-focussed road car. The composite technique, incorporating innovations by ZSK, Germany, manufactures a cost-effective material that provides a light, strong and tough solution where carbon fibre had previously been ruled out on a cost and fragility basis.

TFP allows Elemental to design a complex 3D shape with compound curves

 “TFP completely changed our view of how carbon composites could help to achieve weight and cost targets,” says Elemental’s composites manager, Peter Kent. “The resulting rear wheelarches on the Elemental RP1 are manufactured in carbon fibre using TFP, are tough enough to withstand all that the wheels can throw at them and have a complex 3D shape with compound curves. This at odds with the traditional qualities of carbon fibre components.”

ZSK has developed TFP using techniques proven in the embroidery industry. It involves the laying down of carbon fibre threads or rovings onto a substrate to make a 2 dimensional preform that is “net shape”. Wastage, handling, and complexity are all reduced over traditional methods, which gradually build up layers of carbon fibre mat by hand as part of a labour-intensive process. TFP has the added advantage of allowing complex 3D shapes to emerge in the mould through clever fibre laying and stitching whilst making the preform.