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Gelcoat only: A product for the perfect look and durability

Prototype-class race cars have to be particularly light and at the same time very stable. But the appearance also plays an important role. Read the story behind the suitable coating system for the company CCS in our Success Story.

The CCS Carbon Composite Solutions GmbH

The company CCS Carbon Composite Solutions GmbH has specialized in the production of carbon components. It all started with the passion of the managing director for motorsports. First as a member of a drift sports team and later additionally as a supplier with suitable carbon components for the racing car, the so-called prototype car.

The expertise for the construction of composites comes from his many years of work in rotor blade construction in the wind power industry. This knowledge helped the company to further develop the manufacturing process in race car construction. Compared to competitors, who mostly manufacture their components using the prepreg process, CCS uses the infusion process. In particular, this allows weight and cost savings to be realized and ensures a consistently high quality of the composites during production.

Is one product enough to meet all requirements?

For optimum appearance and durability, however, an additional coating is necessary. But which coating is best suited for this application and the production process at hand? To answer this question, Bergolin stood by CCS right from the start. First, the production process was analyzed in detail and the requirements for the coating were jointly determined. The focus was particularly on the processing of the material as well as the UV resistance and appearance of the component.

After determining the requirements, various tests were carried out at Bergolin, both in the laboratory and in application technology, in order to spare the customer unnecessary experiments on site.

In the end, production with just one product turned out to be the best solution. Here, a gelcoat from Bergolin is applied to the mold by spray application, which only needs to be polished after demolding. The end result was a very streamlined process, with a perfect appearance and very good resistance to UV radiation and mechanical stresses.

The signs point to expansion

Initially, this solution was used to produce the front and rear spoilers of the car, but now the complete mono cockpit is also manufactured in this way. The quality is convincing, so that the company's sales are steadily increasing. So much so that a new production hall is already being planned.