Most of the molded parts which are currently used in the interior of an automobile consist of a mixture of different synthetic and natural materials. Consequently, recycling these parts according to the new EU Directive on End-of-life Vehicles (2000/53/EC) is very complex. Therefore, cooperation was initiated with the companies Audi, Faurecia, and Sandler, resulting in the necessary know-how for a substitution of these composite materials by pure materials. We have selected PET press nonwovens as an example for application, because they offer enormous possibilities for variation during the production process, e. g., with respect to fiber diameters, layering of the nonwovens, and molding degree.

The simulation software AdOpt, which has been developed within this project, allows an extensive automated examination of variants, simultaneously reducing the necessity for the construction of prototypes, which is time-consuming and expensive. First steps are the development of an adequate computer model for the microstructure of the PET nonwovens and the direct computation of the material properties. Knowledge about the acoustic efficiency of the examined materials allows their correct integration into the acoustic model of the entire automobile. The acoustics of the automobile interior in the medium and high frequency range is simulated at the ITWM by the software package AutoSEA®.

The development, production, and assembly of system components during automobile construction are usually divided between several partners. Therefore, the new simulation tool has been implemented as a Web solution, which guarantees common access of all participating partners across company boundaries.