KTP Funding for High-volume Automotive Composites Fastener Integration

BigHead Bonding Fasteners has been awarded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funding with Cranfield University that it says will strengthen and expand its capabilities for fastening solutions related to the emerging demand in high-volume manufacture of lightweight composite components for the automotive industry.

With significant investment by automotive OEMs and Tiers for the adoption of lightweight materials at the high-end sector of the industry, and with the potential to extend lightweighting towards mass-market vehicle volumes, the need for rapid and efficient fastener integration is growing. BigHead has developed assembly techniques to precision-fix bigHeads to CFRP panels and other types of high volume composite material components for the automotive industry.

The knowledge and solutions provided to bighead and Cranfield by the KTP are expected to assist automotive manufacturers looking to maximise production throughput when integrating fastening components into their composite panels and components, especially carbon composite materials.