Pages - AutomotiveLightWeightVehicle

Automotive Light Weight Vehicle

Exterior:-

1.Bumper

Bumpers play a key role in a car's appearance. As consumer quality demands steadily rise, expectations regarding surface aesthetics, dimensional stability and low gap tolerance also increase.

In addition, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are faced with cost competitiveness issues and seek ways to reduce development times and boost productivity, while maintaining performance.

These manufacturers also want their vehicles to be lighter and more energy efficient to add to the allure of the vehicle on the consumer market.

Apart from the design challenges, OEMs are increasing their focus on pedestrian safety to raise their vehicles' pedestrian safety performance to new levels without affecting design or functionality.

Borouge and Borealis have created a range of application-specific Daplen™ thermoplastic polyolefin compounds (TPO compounds) for automotive bumper systems, that meet even the toughest aesthetic, processing and performance requirements, including:

•Good paintability and aesthetic surfaces

•Very low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE)

•Narrowest gap tolerances.

•Excellent impact/stiffness ratio.

In addition, we work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art engineering support for bumpers.

2.Body panels

To maximize its appeal to consumers, the visual appearance and exterior design of a car are crucial. A smooth, high quality Class A surface appearance is required to satisfy consumer demands.

In addition, the exterior fascia should maintain a smooth, high quality surface appearance.

Automotive manufacturers want an optimized design that impacts the ease of production and associated costs without affecting design or functionality. Today, there is a drive towards more complex, light-weight, integrated parts with modular design and assembly of off-line painted body panels.

By offering a range of plastic materials for automotive body panels, Borouge and Borealis respond not only to the trend towards modular design and assembly of off-line painted body panels, but also make a contribution to making vehicles lighter, by providing an alternative to traditional steel components.

Our Daplen™ range for body panels offers:

•Class A-surface and excellent paint adhesion

•High dimensional stability

•Specified colours in narrow tolerances

•Excellent impact/stiffness balance

•Weight reduction

•System cost reduction

•Improved functionality

In addition, we work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art engineering support for body panels.

3. Exterior Trims

Various applications like side protection trims, cowl grills, wheel arch liners and covering parts like rocker panels, body side mouldings or fender liners demand specific properties in combination with good surface appearance.

Materials used for exterior trims need to deliver on the flexibility required, often combining properties like narrow gap tolerances, superior scratch resistance and good paint adhesion.

Borouge and Borealis offer a variety of polypropylene (PP) resins which offer benefits such as:

• Excellent processability

•Outstanding paint adhesion

•Aesthetic surfaces

•Long-term weathering resistance

In addition, we work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art CAED support.

Interior:-

1. Dashboards

Dashboards are key components of a vehicle's interior design, influencing a consumer's experience in the car. In turn, this consumer experience plays a vital role in customer satisfaction and brand profiling. The interior needs to visually appeal to the consumer, reflecting the use of high quality materials.

In order to meet the quality perception demands of consumers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) require materials with high aesthetic performance, including:

•Haptics

•Low gloss

•Scratch resistance

•Colours

Added to these aesthetic requirements, OEMs must also deliver on performance, designing interiors that have low thermal expansion and no emissions, fogging or odour.

As production costs are another key consideration in choosing interior materials, OEMs typically select materials that provide ease of processability and reduced scrap rates.

Our Daplen™ range of polypropylene (PP) resins for dashboards offers:

•Excellent scratch resistance

•Low gloss

•High quality perception of the surfaces

•Good processability and low scrap rate

•Good impact behaviour

In addition, we work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art CAED engineering support.

2. Door Claddings

Door claddings are key components of a vehicle's interior design, influencing a consumer's experience in the car. In turn, this consumer experience plays a vital role in customer satisfaction and brand profiling. The interior needs to visually appeal to the consumer, reflecting the use of high quality materials.

In order to meet the quality perception demands of consumers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) require materials with high aesthetic performance, including:

•Haptics

•Low gloss

•Scratch resistance

•Colours

Moreover, the door panel plays a crucial role in protecting occupants in the event of frontal and side impact incidents. Side door claddings must resist splintering upon impact or side impact from airbags. This necessitates excellent mechanical properties which also help meet the demands of crash tests.

For the comfort of passengers, very low values regarding emission, fogging and odour are required.

To cope with cost pressure, the automotive industry needs to find ways to increase productivity at reduced scrap rates, as well as reducing development times.

Our Daplen™ range for door systems offers:

•Excellent scratch resistance

•Low density - lower material costs and less weight<

•Good haptic (surface feel)

•Excellent mechanical properties

Low emission and fogging

•High productivity, low scrap rate

•Less diversity in materials for the entire door cladding system

In addition to our polypropylene (PP) resins, we also work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art CAED engineering support.

3.Interior trims

Interior trims include centre consoles, pillar trims, trunk tailgates, and seat claddings.

To enhance the appeal of a car's interior trim, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) select materials that provide the same gloss, scratch resistance and colour effect for all visible components in the interior.

The main materials requirements for interior trims include:

•Excellent scratch resistance (MAR nail scratch test)

•Low gloss

•High dimensional stability

•Wide processing window

These material properties will enable OEMs to produce components and parts for their interior trims, which are consistent in surface quality, ensuring an excellent overall optical effect and a high standard of performance.

In addition to aesthetic performance, these applications must be able to resist different mechanical stresses. From a safety perspective, the material's balance of impact resistance and stiffness helps parts to achieve industry crash test requirements.

Our Daplen™ range of polypropylene (PP) resins for interior trims offers:

•Excellent scratch resistance

•Low density (weight saving)

•Good haptic (surface feel)

•Excellent mechanical properties

•Low emission and fogging

Borouge and Borealis also work in close co-operation with OEMs to provide state-of-the-art CAED engineering support.

Under The Bonnet:-

1.Climate Control Unit

The highly integrated, extremely complicated housings for heaters and air conditioning systems must withstand shock and vibration at operating temperatures up to 70 degrees celsius in continuous service. With temperature peaks up to 120 degrees, parts must remain dimensionally stable for sealing and should resist fuel and lubricants.

Additionally, odourless, low emission resins have to ensure that the heated air from the engine does not carry an unpleasant odour into the vehicle's interior, even in a new car.

Our Borcom™ line of polypropylene resins addresses the demanding performance requirements for heating and climate control units. Although traditional talc reinforced materials provide excellent sound barrier properties which allows the heater housing unit to reduce the transmission of sound between the engine and passenger compartments, our Borcom polypropylene materials achieve weight reduction with equal mechanical properties.

In fact, Borcom outperforms benchmark materials such as PPT20/PPT40, offering:

•Replacement of PPT20/ PPT40 with equal mechanics

•Similar shrinkage as PPT20/ PPT40 (fit into existing tools)

•Better impact performance

•Lower density

•Lower weight

•Better fogging and odour

•Superb flowability

•Lower cycle times and processing costs

•Outperforms Overall System Cost vs PPT20/ HCPP

2. Fan shroud

Fans and shrouds used for the main engine cooling system are complex in their function and therefore have to meet different requirements.

All fans in this application field today are made in glass fibre reinforced polyamide (PA) grades because dimensional stability at high speed and reduced warpage are extremely important for ventilator wheels.

The chosen material for shrouds depends on the specific function which the part has to fulfill. Here, glass fibre/mineral-filled PA is currently the material of choice, although recycled PA (from fibre production), glass fibre PP and even talc-filled PP are also used.

As producers are under extreme cost pressures, easy processing is vital for such demanding mouldings. Based on some recent injection moulding trials done with our Xmod materials for shrouds, the material provides a viable alternative to PA66 glass fibre/mineral filled with our Xmod PP – GF.

Our Xmod High Performance Glass Fibre (HPGF) reinforced polypropylene for shrouds offers:

•Outperforms Overall System Cost vs PPT20/ HCPP

•Lower density weight saving

•Mechanical properties not dependent on humid environment

•Easier/cheaper processing

Borouge and Borealis also work in close co-operation with the OEM and Tier 1 and can offer state-of-the-art CAED engineering support.

3. Air intake manifold

Plastic air intake manifolds (AIM) have had much success for the past 20 years, steadily replacing metal parts. Today, almost 50% of cars are equipped with plastic AIM, about 80% in Europe and the US. The only plastic material currently used for this application are glass fibre reinforced polyamides (mainly PA66 GF35 and PA6 GF30).

Some of the key factors driving the uptake in use of plastic AIMs are:

•Better technical functionality (optimised air flow)

•Greater design freedom (integration of functions)

•Reduction in weight

•Lower cost

Equally important to the challenges facing Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) is the fact that the overall working and peak temperatures have increased under the bonnet over the last decades, resulting in performance limitations offered by standard polyamides.

In the future, OEMs will need materials that can handle even tougher requirements, such as increased integration of functions and modularity, optimised acoustic behaviour and better cost efficiency for the whole system.

Other criteria which OEMs will need to meet include:

•Lower system cost than existing solution with PA6 GF30/td>

•Better acoustic behaviour

•No significant change in tool and part design

•Meet the relevant part tests in real life usage without changing any specifications.

Moreover, this criteria for OEM parties is not always pertinent to Tier 1 manufacturers. Tier 1 producers will require strong technical support from raw material suppliers concerning:

•Optimisation of material (long term high heat stabilisation)

•After moulding processes (vibration welding, inserting, direct screwing, pressure tests)

•CAED support for filling analyses and structural optimisation.

We are the only supplier offering high performance polypropylenes (PP) for air intake manifolds.

We are far ahead of potential PP competitors both in material development and application know-how. Our PP compound composition is unique and has been patented.

Our Xmod High Performance Glass Fibre (HPGF) reinforced polypropylene for air intake manifolds offers:

Benefits for Tier 1

Overall lower production cost resulting from:

- Material price and lower density,
- Less energy consumption (no pre-drying necessary, lower processing temperatures),
- Image increase as an innovator (first AIM produced in Polypropylene worldwide).

Benefits for OEM

- Cheaper system solution which fulfils 100% of the required specifications like before with PA,
- 15% weight reduction,
- Significant better acoustic behaviour,
- First OEM with an AIM made of High Performance PP.

Benefits for end user

- Better acoustic behaviour and noise reduction,
-Weight reduction, lowering fuel consumption and contributing to environment protection.

4. Battery cases

Borouge and Borealis have developed a tailor-made polyproplyene (PP) grade for injection moulded battery cases. This material has been designed specifically for high-end battery segments where the use of conventional polypropylenes is not acceptable.

Our BC545MO is ideally suited for injection moulded battery cases, providing an optimum combination of mechanical properties, such as durability and surface appearance. This polypropylene plastic solution delivers the following benefits:

•Excellent impact-stiffness ratio

•Very good heat stability due to tailor-made additivation

•Very good surface appearance, due to low stress whitening