CFRP Torque Tube wins silver at the MATERIALICA Award

Mercedes-AMG GT R CFRP Torque Tube wins silver at the 2016 MATERIALICA Award

The carbon cardan shaft housing (torque tube) in the new Mercedes-AMG GT R weighs just 13.9 kg and is therefore around 40 percent lighter than the already weight-optimized aluminum component used in the Mercedes-AMG GT and GT S. The high-tech carbon-fiber composite component received the MATERIALICA Design+Technology Award in the “Product” category with silver on October 18, 2016.

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‍Flexurally and torque-resistant CFRP cardan shaft housing ensures best performance ‍

The jury was extremely impressed that the tubular base, including the heavy-duty connecting flanges, was produced monolithically in one piece. Without exception, the Torque Tube does not use metal connection flanges, which allows for extremely lightweight construction. In the manufacturing process, ACE GmbH uses its expertise in the area of RTM (resin transfer molding), which is one of the economical processes in lightweight composite construction. For the first time, high-strength and high-stiff carbon fibers from the aerospace sector are also being used in order to be able to confidently absorb the resulting loads.

The innovative CFRP Torque Tube enables the transaxle drive system used in all AMG GT vehicles to achieve optimum driving dynamics, extremely flexible and torsion-resistant connection between the engine and the transmission installed in the rear of the vehicle and at the same time meets all NVH requirements (Noise Vibration Harshness). The monolithic CFRP cardan shaft housing together with the CFRP drive shaft, which is also made of CFRP, can easily handle the enormous torque of 700 Nm in the almost 600 hp Mercedes-AMG GT R.