The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread? Venture's Innovative, Lightweight Composite Sandwiform is Simple to Manufacture, Cost-effective, Recyclable and Offers Unique Styling Flexibility

    FRASER, Mich.--March 1, 2001--Venture Industries (Fraser, MI), a top-100 automotive supplier, announces that use of its lightweight, high-strength Sandwiform(TM) material is on the rise as automakers seek innovative ways to reduce vehicle weight and cut production costs.
    Sandwiform's high-performance capabilities make it ideal for a wide range of vehicle-wide applications including cargo load floors, engine shields, trunk panels, backrests, aerodynamic skid plates, spare wheel pans, and front and rear bumpers.
    Venture's patented Sandwiform is a recyclable, composite material consisting of a "honeycombed" cellular core positioned between two thermoplastic skins reinforced with glass and polypropylene. Polypropylene is highly regarded for its heat and chemical resistance as well as for its ability to withstand wear and tear. The thermoplastic skins, tough and meltable for reuse, have a degree of elasticity between 5 and 20GPa, depending on fiber content and orientation. In contrast to more conventional thermoset resin composites, thermoplastics used in Sandwiform provide greater compound robustness due to their tougher matrix. They also offer enhanced formability and functional integration, consist of less expensive raw materials and can be processed faster. And, the ability to create living hinges and form deep draw shapes with structural integrity makes Sandwiform unique.
    "The strength of Sandwiform lies in its simplicity," says Frank Bradish, Venture's Director of Advanced Composite Systems Development. "It's proven to be a robust and versatile material but the real advantages lie in its short lead time (4 to 8 weeks for a prototype) and its simple, inexpensive manufacturing process."
    Sandwiform is produced at a high rate of speed which is key to its success as a cost-effective material. Via thermocompression, production is a one-step process that takes approximately one minute, button to button. Simultaneous exposure to heat and pressure changes the "sandwich" to a thermoplastic composite, yielding high-strength-to-weight and high-stiffness-to-weight properties as well as a finished product that is highly resistant to heat, impact and corrosion.
    Sandwiform ranges in thickness between 5 and 30mm. Its weight ranges from 1700 to 6000 g/m2, depending on skin and core materials.
    Sandwiform is offering customers such as Nissan, Renault and VW proven results. A Sandwiform cargo load floor is 50% lighter and can be produced twice as fast as its plywood counterpart. Plus, it demonstrates a greater strength-to-density ratio. Other development projects are being discussed, including one with a North American OEM looking to use Sandwiform in underbody load floor applications. "This material has passed the load test, dimensioning test and impact test requirements of five OEM's," continues Bradish. "Sandwiform may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but we're confident it's a material you'll see used increasingly in various vehicle applications."
    Venture, headquartered in Fraser, Michigan, is a $2.4 billion global automotive supplier providing interior systems, cockpit modules, front-end systems, exterior trim as well as composite closure and body panels. The company delivers services that encompass advanced engineering, tooling, manufacturing and assembly and sequencing and logistics. Venture has more than 60 strategic facilities and alliances on five continents, forming the world's largest integrated automotive supply enterprise. Key customers include automakers in North America, Europe and Asia.
    For additional information about Venture, please visit the company's website at: www.ventureindustries.com.

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