GMT mold advantages and applications

Glass Mat Reinforced Thermorplastic composite (GMT) is a novel, energy-saving and lightweight composite material with thermoplastic resin as the matrix and Glass fiber felt as the Reinforced skeleton. It is a very active composite material development variety in the world at present. Considered one of the new materials of the century. GMT mold can generally produce semi-finished sheet, and then directly processed into the desired shape of the product. GMT molds have sophisticated design features and excellent impact resistance, while being easy to assemble and rework, and are prized for their strength and lightness, making them ideal structural components to replace steel and reduce mass.

Advantages of GMT mold materials

1.high specific strength: the strength of THE GMT mold is similar to that of hand pasted polyester glass fiber reinforced plastic products, and its density is 1.01-1.19g/cm, smaller than thermosetting glass fiber reinforced plastic (1.8-2.0g/cm), therefore, it has higher specific strength.

2.lightweight, energy saving: the weight of the car door made of GMT mold material can be reduced from 26Kg to 15Kg, and can reduce the thickness of the back, so that the car space increases, the energy consumption is only 60-80% of steel products, 35-50% of aluminum products.

3.Compared with thermosetting SMC (sheet molding plastic) mold, GMT mold material has the advantages of short molding cycle, good impact performance, long renewable utilization and storage cycle.

4. Impact performance: the impact absorption capacity of THE GMT mold is 2.5-3 times higher than that of the SMC mold. Under the impact force, the SMC mold, steel and aluminum all appear dents or cracks, while the GMT mold is safe and sound.

5.high rigidity: THE GMT mold contains GF fabric, even if there is 10mph impact impact, can still maintain the shape.

The application of GMT mold materials in the automotive field

GMT mold has high specific strength of sheet material and can produce lightweight parts. Meanwhile, it has high design freedom, strong collision energy absorption and good processing performance. It has been widely used in the automobile industry abroad since the 1990s. With the increasing requirements of fuel economy, recyclability and ease of processing, the GMT mold material market for the automotive industry will continue to grow steadily. At present, GMT mold materials are widely used in the automotive industry, mainly including seat frame, bumper, instrument panel, engine cover, battery bracket, pedal, front end, floor, guard plate, rear lead door, roof, luggage bracket, sunshade, spare tire rack and other components.

Take the rear anti-collision beam for example. The GMT mold material is adopted for the anti-collision beam, which has lighter weight and better cushioning performance compared with the steel material. It can not only reduce the weight of the car and reduce fuel consumption, but also ensure the safety performance.

MDC Mould is a GMT mold supplier, engaged in the design and manufacture of COMPOSITE MATERIAL GMT mold, has carried out GMT mold development for Benz C series, E series, AMG and other models. For example, GMT composite material mold for bottom guard plate developed for MDC for Mercedes-benz E300 model.