2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Now Features IAC FiberFrame Natural Fiber Sun Roof Frame

Mercedes-Benz’s new E-Class now features FiberFrame, a natural fiber sun roof frame developed by International Automotive Components. The product is a proprietary innovation made from renewable raw material content and offers 50 percent weight savings compared to metal-reinforced steel sun roof frames.

According to Fritz Schweindl, IAC director of advanced engineering, which is located at the company’s Ebersberg, Bavaria, technology center, sun and panoramic roofs are increasingly becoming well-known across all vehicle sizes and segments. He noted that this market trend inspired them to develop stiff and lightweight concepts, which help realize various fixation concepts on the sun roof, the car body or the panoramic roof module.

“Within its strategy of viable innovation, IAC leveraged its integrated material and process know-how to provide our OEM customers with significant weight savings, a lower carbon footprint for their vehicles and a more efficient production process.”

IAC’s FiberFrame substitutes the sun roof’s metal reinforcement frame with a lighter frame using robust, natural fibers utilizing a new raw material consisting of 70 percent renewable content. This exceptional lightweight solution is strengthened utilizing IAC’s EcoMatHot natural fiber-based semi-finished material, which was exclusively developed for this application. Molded with a thermoset, the fiber mat is produced in-house by IAC in a hot molding process.

Schweindl continued that in the specification of the IAC EcoMatHot fiber mat, as well as in terms of tooling technology and production process of this innovation, they were able to take advantage of over 2 years of experience working with natural-fiber-reinforced materials in automotive interiors.

He said that by manufacturing this product in-house in their headliner plant, they follow their strategy and expansion of vertical integration of their interior systems. Schweindl also claimed that their global production footprint and standardized processes enable them to adapt IAC FiberFrame to customer needs and supply it worldwide.

The new product features high stiffness for enhanced structural rigidity and enables up to 50 percent in weight saving compared with traditional steel frames. Meanwhile, compared to traditional thermoplastic frames, FiberFrame also inhibits warpage after climate testing. Moreover, molding tooling concept for IAC’s FiberFrame have much shorter lead times than traditional steel molding tools.

FiberFrame kicked off production in November last year at IAC’s Center of Excellence for overhead products in Prestice, Czech Republic, in order to support the launch of Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The firm also manufactures the rear seat cover, headliner, inner wheel house cover, and outer-rear wheel house liner for the vehicle.