SGL Group - The Carbon Company
SGL Group was founded in 1992 as a merger between SIGRI (Germany) and Great Lakes Carbon (USA), listed in Germany on the MDAX since 1995 and on the NYSE since 1996.
SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of products made of carbon, graphite and composite materials for industrial, aerospace and automotive applications. The company is comprised of three main business areas: Performance Products (PP), Graphite Materials & Systems (GMS), and Carbon Fibres & Composites (CFC) which further encompasses Hitco Carbon Composites and Hitco Racing.
Carbon Ceramic Road Car Brakes
Whilst Hitco leads the development of carbon/carbon (C/C) racing brakes, the (CFC) business unit oversees the development of carbon/ceramic brakes for road car applications. Combining low weight with exceptional strength and hardness, carbon/ceramic is a ceramic composite material, composed of carbon fiber within a silicon carbide matrix (C/SiC).
C/SiC brake performance is revolutionary; the ceramic brake disc achieves not only very high, but also consistent frictional coefficients, maintaining them independent of temperature and weather conditions. Like C/C, C/SiC brakes offer a tremendous weight advantage over conventional steel brakes (about 65%) and this provides consequential improvements in vehicle handling, performance and fuel economy.
The SGL Group is leading the development of carbon ceramic brakes for not just road car applications, but also racing where all track versions of the Porsche 911 GT3 are equipped with SGL C/SiC brakes.
On the road, the SGL Group manufactures brakes for Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini; equipping cars such as the Veyron, 911 Carrera, S8 and RS4 to name but a few.
SGL Group Receives Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize
On June 15th 2007, the SGL Group was awarded the "Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize" for its carbon/ceramic brake disc in a ceremony at the Vienna University of Technology. Created in 1976, the award is granted every two years for "pioneering inventions in the field of automotive technology". The prize had previously been awarded for automotive innovations such as ABS in 1981, the airbag in 1987 and turbocharged diesel direct injection in 1991; now the carbon/ceramic brake disc is also regarded as an outstanding innovation in the field of automotive engineering.
In his address, Professor Bernhard Geringer of the Vienna University of Technology described it as a "significant milestone in braking technology". Robert Koehler, CEO of the SGL Group said, "In trying to reduce the weight of a chassis, development engineers at automotive manufacturers have to fight for every gram. We provide a brake disc that is several kilograms lighter than a conventional steel disc. This is a revolutionary milestone in automotive engineering."
SGL Group - The Carbon Company // Performance Products | Graphite Materials & Systems | Carbon Fibres & Composites
