It can be said that it is not easy for the automotive industry to implement strict emission regulations. Clearly, a lighter solution is needed. As the process progresses, the realization of lightweighting is being realized step by step, and this has become a good opportunity for the development of the plastics industry.
Winning scheme on the sports car
The American Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Automotive Branch recognizes outstanding plastics technology for vehicles every year through the Automotive Innovation Technology Awards. At the 45th Grand Prix last year, the Ultralight ClassA body panels used on the GM Chevrolet Corvette 2016 sports car were selected for the materials category and won the grand prize.
The product is manufactured using a TCA UltraLite SMC from Continental Structural Plastics (CSP). The new 1.2SGSMC loses 9kg of body panels after replacing a medium-density grade (no need to change the mold).
Automotive lightweight provides new opportunities for the development of the plastics industry
The new composites are suitable for Class A or structural components and are 28% lighter than medium density (1.6SG) grades and 43% lighter than conventional (1.9SG) SMCs. SPE says it offers significant advantages over metals, including light weight, low mold cost, design flexibility, corrosion and dent resistance, and excellent surface quality.
Frank Macher, Chairman and CEO of CSP explained: “TCA UltraLite is an economical aluminum replacement material that provides engineers with the advantages of using SMC instead of metal in body design. For example, mechanical properties are not deteriorated, lightweight components It is not necessary to increase the thickness or to add structural reinforcement to achieve the required performance requirements."
UltraLite technology uses treated glass beads instead of some CaCO3 to allow the resin to adhere to the substrate and increase the interfacial bonding strength between the glass beads and the resin. This is a patented processing technology that allows the resin compound to have higher strength, the molded parts produced are less susceptible to damage during handling, and microcracks that cause rupture of the paint and pits and bubbles are prevented.
Engine weight loss method
Due to emission restrictions, the engine block is getting smaller and smaller. To compensate for the power loss, the car manufacturer developed a turbocharger system. A DSM special grade Stanyl polyamide (PA) 46 with lubricant was selected. Low friction shoe in a new generation of turbocharged gasoline engine timing systems.
Timing system components are manufactured by Quadrant Creative Molding & Systems (QCMS), Belgium, and system components are supplied by Tsubakimoto UK. These new energy-efficient turbocharged petrol engines use Formula One technology to represent the latest technology in engine miniaturization. Despite its large size, it has significantly reduced CO2 emissions.
DSM said the Stanyl PA46 is widely used in engine components. The current industry standard is Stanyl TW341, but for new engines, the company has developed a better friction grade Stanyl TW371. Tests have shown that Stanyl TW371 can reduce friction by 20% and help improve fuel economy.
Stanyl has excellent properties compared to the competitive materials PA6 and PA66 (6 times higher wear resistance), polyphthalamide (PPA), polyacetal and PPS. These materials have their disadvantages, such as being too brittle (PPS and PPA), low stiffness at high temperatures (POM, PPS, PA6, PA66, PPA) or abrasive (PPS). These new grades help meet Euro 6 standard gases (carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides) and particle emissions targets. DSM said that the car also meets the EU's restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.
The railcar is also light
The manufacture of carbon fiber components has problems such as high material cost, complicated process, and long processing cycle time. Toho Tenax Co., Ltd., the core company of the Teijin Carbon Fiber and Composites business unit, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries jointly developed a lightweight blade spring for mass production for rail vehicles. The sheet spring is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), and Toho Tenax hopes that this new high-volume production system will enable efWING to be launched globally.
It is reported that efWING is the world's first design that combines a side frame with a separate coil spring into a simplified solution made by CFRP, which helps to reduce the weight of the rail vehicle frame, which can be reduced by about 900 kg per car. TohoTenax said that in addition to reducing CO2 emissions and reducing operating costs, it also reduces the risk of wheel derailment.
How advanced is the advanced technology?
At this JEC World Composites Show and Conference, KraussMaffei exhibited an innovative wet molding process for the manufacture of CFRP parts from thermoset and thermoplastic matrix systems.
The current application example is the new 7 series BMW and i8 electric vehicles produced in large quantities. KraussMaffei says that the wet molding process is simpler than traditional resin transfer molding (RTM) processes such as high pressure RTM (HP-RTM) and compressed RTM (C-RTM). Preformed parison process. This process is therefore an economical alternative to the manufacture of new lightweight components. In the wet molding process, the mixing head pours the resin (usually epoxy) onto a flat strip of semi-finished fiber continuous strip. The fiber product is then fed into a mold for molding.
The new process has two distinct advantages, one of which is that the molding cycle time can be shortened because the other component is cured in the mold while the resin is poured onto one component. The system can also have higher reactivity. It is no longer necessary to fill the hot mold with the material, and at this time, the reaction does not occur in the mold. These two factors shorten the molding cycle time. The company said it can also use recycled fiber. This makes the wet molding process a competitive method for industrially processing recycled fibers in the RTM process.
New possibilities beyond weight loss
In addition to weight reduction, a recent application by BASF shows that plastics contribute to the automotive industry. Plastics can effectively replace metals even at low temperatures. French anti-woven and rubber company Joubert Productions launched the first snow chain made entirely of plastic.
The snow chain is manufactured by BASF's two Elastollan thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) grades B90A15 and B60A10WH, meets the requirements of the NORM5117 standard (for Europe), can be used in a variety of tires, and is easy to install.
The Austrian standard? NORM5117 is for metal chains. The metal chain covers the entire tire tread. The wheelless wheels must be in contact with the road surface. The all-plastic snow chain is wear-resistant, low-temperature flexible, resistant to breakage and resistant to road salt, thus ensuring that the snow chain has good grip on the snow and ice road and can better control the vehicle.
The traditional metal mesh chain is replaced by two different colors of Elastollan. In the injection molding process, the two color materials are bonded together without the need for assembly. Black Elastollan B90A15 has high hardness, good mechanical properties and excellent flexibility at low temperatures; red Elastollan B60A10WH is soft and easy to flow.
In small injection molding equipment, the black chain is compounded with red Elastollan in a mold to chemically bond the two materials together. Since the adhesion properties of the TPU and the TPU are good, the assembly process required for the metal mesh chain is not required.
Régis Kaelin, head of research and development at Joubert, said: "We not only manufacture products efficiently, but the snow chain also provides drivers with higher winter safety, and there is no problem with the use of snow chains."
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