Press release

These days, some of the world’s premium racing bike wheels have rims made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) and a special ROHACELL^® foam core, that is a polymethacrylimide rigid foam manufactured by Essen, Germany-based Evonik Industries. Because it is not only extremely rigid and solid, but also possesses very low density, ROHACELL^® is an ideal material for lightweight, yet durable sandwich components.

ROHACELL^® has particularly high thermal stability and compressive creep resistance; and it can be durably combined with all conventional plastics by applying heat (up to 190°C) and pressure (up to 7 bar) to manufacture extremely robust composite materials. Together with the rim’s CFRP shell, this results in a high-strength rigid, minimum-weight structure: The front and rear wheels together weigh less than a kilogram. Thanks to the remarkable characteristics of the material, the wheels are both light and aerodynamic and highly rigid. As a result, only a small fraction of the rider’s pedal power distorts the wheels and is thus lost; most of it is transmitted efficiently to the road surface. More details about this and other ROHACELL^® applications are available at Evonik's Booth, F12 in Hall 4, at the Composite Europe.

Contact:
Dr. M. Alexander Roth
Head of New Technologies - ROHACELL^®
Performance Polymers
Evonik Röhm GmbH
Kirschenallee
64293 Darmstadt
Germany