Far-UK Successfully Develops, Supplies rGF Cab Support Brackets for Mercedes Testing

Why It Matters

The successful demonstration proves that high‑performance, recyclable composites can replace metal parts in demanding truck components, advancing sustainability while maintaining safety and performance standards. This breakthrough could accelerate industry adoption of circular‑material strategies across automotive and transport sectors.

Key Takeaways

• Far-UK supplied rGF cab brackets for Mercedes Trucks fatigue testing.
• Brackets achieved weight reduction while meeting strength requirements.
• Arkema’s Elium thermoplastic resin enabled recyclable composite manufacturing.
• Project leveraged microwave curing and laser welding for fast production.

Pulse Analysis

The automotive and heavy‑vehicle sectors are under pressure to cut emissions and reduce material waste, prompting a shift toward recyclable composites. Recycled glass‑fiber (rGF) offers a compelling balance of stiffness, strength, and lower carbon intensity, but its adoption has been hampered by recycling challenges associated with traditional thermoset matrices. Arkema’s Elium thermoplastic resin sidesteps these issues by providing a thermoplastic backbone that can be remelted and reprocessed, delivering a clear end‑of‑life route while preserving the mechanical performance needed for structural components like cab support brackets.

Technical integration was key to the project’s success. By embedding microwave radiation curing and laser welding into existing resin transfer molding (RTM) and pultrusion lines, Far‑UK achieved rapid, energy‑efficient consolidation of the rGF/Elium laminate. Microwave curing reduces cycle times and energy consumption compared with conventional ovens, while laser welding enables precise, automated joining of hybrid metal‑thermoplastic assemblies. These manufacturing advances not only cut production costs but also support higher throughput, making large‑scale deployment of recyclable composites economically viable for OEMs.

Mercedes Trucks’ adoption of the rGF brackets signals broader market validation for circular‑material solutions in heavy‑duty applications. The brackets delivered measurable weight savings—critical for fuel efficiency—while passing rigorous fatigue tests, proving that sustainability does not require a trade‑off in performance. As the EU’s RECOTRANS project demonstrated, integrating lightweighting, durability, cost, and end‑of‑life considerations from the design stage yields components ready for real‑world deployment. This milestone is likely to spur further collaborations between composite manufacturers, resin suppliers, and vehicle makers, accelerating the transition to greener, more recyclable transport fleets.