Lotus TURBO ESPRIT Service Manual page 77

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LOTUS COMPOSITE B O D Y FEATURES
(Owners Handbook E x t r a c t )
L o t u s C a r s L i m i t e d a r e a c k n o w l e d g d l e a d e r s i n t h e f i e l d of
c o m p o s i t e moulding d e s i g n and m a n u f a c t u r i n g t e c h n i q u e s ,
h a v i n g d e v e l o p e d methods which a r e now u s e d u n d e r l i c e n s e
t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d .
T h e s e b r i e f n o t e s i n t r o d u c e some f e a t u r e s o f t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n
and s e r v i c e p r o p e r t i e s o f c o m p o s i t e s a s a p p l i e d t o v e h i c l e
b o d i e s .
Composite m a t e r i a l s have major a d v a n t a g e s f o r s p e c i a l i s t
v e h i c l e b o d i e s ; -
Composites w i l l n o t c o r r o d e . The s t r e n g t h of c o m p o s i t e
components i s r e t a i n e d r e g a r d l e s s o f a g e , u n l e s s p h y s i c a l
damage i s s u s t a i n e d .
The M a n u f a c t u r i n g p r o c e s s e n a b l e s t h e t h i c k n e s s o f c o m p o s i t e
mouldings t o be v a r i e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e b o d y s h e l l and components
t o p r o v i d e e f f i c i e n t s t r u c t u r e s , of h i g h s t r e n g t h and low
w e i g h t .
The p a s s e n g e r compartment i n a l l L o t u s models
i s
e n c l o s e d by
p r o t e c t i v e s t r u c t u r a l beams, b u i l t i n t o t h e b o d y s h e l l and
d o o r s which combine t o p r o v i d e maximum o c c u p a n t p r o t e c t i o n .
Composites h a v e t h e a b i l i t y t o a b s o r b h i g h i m p a c t l o a d s by
p r o g r e s s i v e c o l l a p s e and impact damage i s l o c a l i s e d . I n
a c c i d e n t s i t u a t i o n s t h i s p r o t e c t s d c c u p a n t s from i n j u r i o u s
shock l o a d s and g r e a t l y r e d u c e s t h e d a n g e r o f e n t r a p m e n t by
d e f o r m a t i o n o f body p a n e l s , o r jammed d o o r s . T h i s b e h a v i o u r
a l s o f a c i l i t a t e s r e p a i r by i n t e g r a t i n g r e p l a c e m e n t body
s e c t i o n s w i t h t h e undamaged p a r t , u s i n g r e c o g n i s e d approved
methods which w i l l r e s t o r e t h e body t o o r i g i n a l c o n d i t i o n
w i t h o u t r e s i d u a l s t r a i n o r d i s t o r t i o n .
c o n t
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