In the process of lightweighting vehicles, the use of plastics to reduce the weight of cars is still an important plan for manufacturers. With the increasing demand for fuel consumption and performance of automobiles, the process of lightweighting of automobiles has become an urgent task. At present, various auto manufacturers are not only Only the plasticization of body parts is limited to the front and rear surrounds, they hope and have begun to use high-performance plastic instead of metal materials in a deeper and wider range.
In order to achieve the goal of lightweight vehicles, major plastics companies are stepping up research and development, and constantly introducing plastic products that can meet the weight of automobiles. For example, Jinsheng New Materials has successfully developed carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite materials, which can improve this material. The disadvantages of poor surface quality of high-performance materials, both performance and aesthetics. It is about 50% lower than the price of similar materials, and can provide more cost-effective material support for customers in the fields of new energy vehicles, electronics and other fields. Gert has also developed a more heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant 'PPS*1 retainer cylindrical bearing', which uses PPS material and has excellent high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance. It can be used in high temperature oil. Used in refrigerant environments such as neutralizing compressors, PPS bearings can achieve about 11% lighter weight than conventional bearings.
Undoubtedly, the new materials continuously developed by plastic enterprises can successfully promote the progress of lightweight vehicles, but this is not the real success of plastic enterprises. Only the new materials developed and applied to the car, and successfully realize the weight reduction of automobiles, can we say that we can The company's new materials have been successful in car weight reduction. To this end, major plastic companies have chosen to cooperate with car companies to directly produce corresponding plastic products for specific models of car companies, and to promote the development of car lightweighting. An important step.
BASF and modern
BASF and Hyundai jointly developed a performance car, the RN30, which is based on the all-new Hyundai i30. It is powered by a 2.0T four-cylinder turbocharged engine with a variety of aerodynamic kits for performance positioning.
Since it is the positioning of the performance car, then lightweighting must be the top priority. The RN30's method of weight reduction is not a large-scale use of carbon fiber materials used in high-end performance cars or super-running, but through the extensive use of hard overall The foam structure and semi-structured sandwich solution (using high performance plastics) achieves weight reduction.
Magna and Ford
The well-known plastics company Magna is working with Ford Motor Co., Ltd. They are working on the use of chopped carbon fiber reinforced composites and secondary compression molding of metals to achieve mass production. In order to achieve mass production, they are focusing on Plastic solutions replace metals, including maintaining the orientation of the fibers during the thermoforming process of sheet molding compounds. The advancement of plastics allows freedom of styling, maintaining or improving performance and structural strength, such as the use of high performance plastics and composites. Create an exterior panel that can be easily replaced.
In addition, Ford has announced plans to use plastics to make automotive parts, in part from captured carbon dioxide waste streams. Ford said that carbon dioxide will be used as a raw material for making foam for seat cushions, seat backs, floor mats and other components such as the side. Board and console.
SABIC and Chery
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is also working with Chery Automobile of China. SABIC has produced a STAMAX resin for long-glass filled polypropylene (LGFPP). Compared with steel, this low-density material can reduce the weight of the inner tailgate. At the same time, to achieve the required rigidity. Chery's electric car eQ1's tailgate is made of this material. It is understood that this material can achieve 40% weight reduction of the tailgate, which is a domestic car enterprise. The first full plastic tailgate.
CSP and Corvette
Despite being acquired by Teijin Group, Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), the industry leader in lightweight composite materials for automobiles, has developed a range of materials that can drive lightweight vehicles. The well-known American sports car Corvette is According to media reports, Corvette will use a lightweight aluminum frame on the frame to reduce the weight of the car body. In addition, Corvette also uses a kind of A low-density sheet molding compound (SMC) called 'TCAUltraLite', which is formulated and responsible for molding by Continental Structural Plastics, is used on the surface of the vehicle body to reduce the weight of the body panel by 9kg (compared to the original SMC parts).