What is Lamborghini's "Forged Composite"?

Carbon fiber is known throughout the world in countless industries for its incredible strength-to-weight ratio. Typically, carbon fiber composites are interwoven strands of carbon sheets called "per-preg" which is then impregnated with a special resin. Producing carbon fiber is expensive and time consuming but provides incredible strength per weight unit in the direction of the fibers. Automobile Lamborghini created their own internal division, "Advanced Composite Research Center" (ACRC), which handles all facets of Lamborghini's carbon production. ACRC's primary objectives are producing carbon components while simultaneously reducing costs and production time through innovative design and research of carbon fiber elements. After years of testing, research, and production optimization, Lamborghini unveiled their newly developed "Forged Composite" for the world to see.

"Forged Composite" is in many ways different compared to the typical carbon fiber most know and love. For starters, "Forged Composite" is essentially a paste of carbon and resin that can be shaped or molded. To put it simply, it is compression molded in extreme heat. In detail, "Forged Composite" features shorter length carbon fibers and is unidirectional stronger than typical carbon fiber. "Forged Composite" is created when the paste mixture of carbon and resin is pressed with 60 bar of pressure (870 psi) in a mold heated to 130 degrees Celsius. The benefits of this production method are: flexibility of producing complex parts from molds, extremely short curing time, cost reduction, and strength equal to or better than titanium at only 1/3rd the density. Curing time in a typical carbon fiber per-grep production takes 6 hours, "Forged Composite" takes just under 9 minutes. Total production costs for "Forged Composite" are reduced by a staggering 30% compared to the production of the typical carbon fiber sheet. As you can see in the figures above, the benefits in regards to production are extremely enticing on all fronts.