Plastics Utilization in Automotive

In the automotive field, specific applications of engineering plastics are aimed at lightweighting vehicles to improve fuel efficiency. Developed countries regard the amount of plastics used in automobiles as a key indicator of the level of automobile design and manufacturing, of which Germany is the world’s largest automotive plastics user, with the amount of plastics used accounting for 15% of the overall material.

In recent years, with the rapid development of the automobile industry, the annual global production of automobiles exceeds 4 million units. According to the prediction of the use of foreign plastics, the automotive industry uses more than 500,000 tons of modified plastics every year, of which engineering plastics occupy a considerable proportion. Five major engineering plastics in the car has different performance characteristics, each plays an important role in the car.

Nylon

Nylon is mainly used in automobile engines and engine peripheral parts, the main varieties include GFPA6, GFPA66, enhanced flame retardant PA6 and other products.

1、In the automotive engine peripheral parts, as these parts are mainly affected by heat and vibration, most choose glass fiber reinforced nylon. This is because nylon has a better overall performance, glass fiber modification, its performance is significantly improved, including strength, product precision and dimensional stability.

2、The wide variety of nylon, easy recycling and relatively low price make nylon an ideal choice for engine peripheral parts. Typical application of modified nylon in automobiles is the intake manifold, which has been widely used since 1990, when BMW of Germany first applied the intake manifold made of glass fiber reinforced nylon.

Polyester

PBT is widely used in the automobile manufacturing field to produce bumpers, carburetor components, fenders, spoilers, spark plug terminal boards, oil supply system parts, instrument panels and other components.PBT competes fiercely with reinforced PA, PC, POM in the automobile manufacturing industry.Due to the fact that PA is prone to absorbing water, and that PC’s heat and chemical resistance is not as good as PBT’s, in the automobile application field, PBT has gradually replaced PA.

In the case of high relative humidity, PBT can still be used normally and perform well at 80 ℃, 90% relative humidity. GE’s PBT/PC alloy is widely used in premium cars, with excellent heat resistance, stress cracking resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance and other characteristics.

Pom

POM has a huge market potential in the automotive industry, mainly used in the heat resistance, flame retardancy, electrical properties, impact properties, dimensional stability and mechanical strength of parts requiring high. Modified POM is particularly suitable for the manufacture of automotive pumps, carburetor parts, fuel lines, power valves, universal joint bearings, motor gears, cranks, handles, instrument panels and other parts.

POM manufacture of automotive parts with light weight, low noise, easy molding advantages, so widely used in automotive manufacturing, especially in the manufacture of wear-resistant parts, such as bearings, gears, sliders and so on.

Polycarbonate

Modified PC is mainly used for automotive exterior and interior parts, PC / abdômen alloy and PC / PBT alloy is a common application of materials.

1、automobile interior parts, PC / ABS alloy because of its excellent heat resistance, impact resistance and rigidity, in the manufacture of instrument panels, etc. has a wide range of applications. PC / ABS alloy heat distortion temperature can meet the requirements of high-temperature environment of the car interior parts. 2.

2、automobile exterior parts, PC / PBT alloy and PC / PET alloy both PC’s high heat resistance and high impact, as well as PBT and PET’s chemical resistance, abrasion resistance and molding processability, so in the manufacture of automotive exterior parts outstanding performance.

Polyphenylene ether

Modified PPO is mainly used for parts with high requirements for heat resistance, flame retardancy, electrical properties, impact properties, dimensional stability and mechanical strength.PPO/PS alloys are suitable for humidity, load, high requirements for electrical insulation, high dimensional stability requirements of occasions, such as automotive wheel covers, headlamp glass embedded grooves, taillight housings and so on.

PPO/PA alloy has excellent mechanical properties, dimensional stability, oil resistance, electrical insulation and impact resistance, suitable for the manufacture of automotive exterior parts, such as large fenders, cushion pads, rear spoiler, etc. PPO/PBT alloy due to the high heat distortion temperature, moisture sensitivity is small, become the ideal choice for the manufacture of automotive exterior panels.

Overall, the development trend of automotive industry is high-grade, miniaturization, lightweight and diversification. Research on replacing steel by plastics has become very active. Currently, the average proportion of plastics in total materials used in automobiles in China is 7%, compared with 15% in Germany. Therefore, we need to step up our R&D efforts to promote the structural design of parts and the selection of plastic materials to keep pace with the industry. If you need a specialized factory in automotive plastic parts, Grandshine is your best choice.