Made of flax fiber and bio-based polyamide, the brake disc shield saves nearly 70% CO2 and improves recycling performance.
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) award in the "Body Appearance" category has been presented to KTM Technologies (Niederalm, Austria) for the development of a hybrid composite brake shield solution.
"With this innovation, we prove that sustainability and performance are not mutually exclusive," said Stefan Czarnecki, director of sales and business development at KTM Technologies, at the award ceremony in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Oct. 17.
The composite layers of Conexus technology include a combination of thermoset and thermoplastic materials.
Hans Lochner, head of the materials and applications team at KTM Technologies, explains, "On the one hand, we achieve an efficient use of the material, and on the other hand, the components can be sorted and recycled by thermal separation of the material. The positive damping properties of flax fibers were effectively utilized in combination with bio-based polyamides to create new motorcycle components."
The sustainable material mix of the brake disc shield reduces CO2 emissions by approximately 70 percent compared to the series model.
KTM Technologies says the technology platform is an integral part of the group's sustainability process to assess potential and enable the development of sustainable products.
Stefan Czarnecki added: "It is great that our work has won an important award and congratulates the other winners. The nominees include well-known companies such as BMW, Lucid and Magna. We have successfully brought the technology into volume production and are now ready to support our partners and other industries to implement it. This award is both a recognition and an incentive for us to continue our commitment to sustainable product solutions."
