Plastics in Automotive

Plastics for the Mobility of Tomorrow

New Polymers, Efficient Processes, and Advanced Parts for the Automotive Industry

Digitalization, electromobility, energy and resource efficiency are making their mark on future vehicles. These trends were also reflected...   more

Strong Flyweights

Reducing Density and Part Weight via the Material without Altering Existing Processes

Lightweight is no longer just a matter of replacing metal. More and more often, plastics already in use are substituted by lighter weight...   more

Scratch-Resistant and Mirror Bright

A Newly Developed Plastic Film Expands the Field of Applications for Visible Lightweight Components in Vehicle Construction

Weight saving and design are playing an essential part in automobiles. In a joint project, the companies Fehrer Automotive and Senco...   more

Bright Future

With Illuminated Decorative Elements and Functional Properties, PMMA Is Shaping New Automotive Ideas

While car manufacturers are working on electric, autonomous, and connected vehicles, plastics producers are developing the appropriate...   more

Synergies from the Far East

From the Prototype of the First Lithium-Ion Battery to Thermoplastics for Electrification

The change in drive-train technology from the conventional combustion engine to the electric drive poses a big challenge for car...   more

Multi-Material Mix Gets a Carbon Fiber Twist

Vision Becomes Reality for Mass Production of Torsionally-Rigid CFRP Components

Steel, aluminum, magnesium and carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics are combined in the new Audi A8 for a lighter weight, higher performing car...   more

Additional Eyes for Parking

Two-Component Rotary Table Machine Produces Two Million Connectors per Year for BMW Parking Assistance

In the production of an electronic parking aid, 8-pin connectors ensure a reliable connection between the cameras and the electronic...   more

Efficient Heat Dissipation

Silicone-Based Thermal Interface Materials for Electric Vehicles

Efficient thermal management is needed for the drive batteries, electric motors and power electronics in electric vehicles. Due to their...   more

Adhesion Promoter for Unequal Pairs

Primer Joins Metal and Plastic Components with Adhesive Bond

Plastic/metal hybrid structures for industrial applications have been established for years, e. g. for front-end carriers in automotive...   more

Dry Ice Shower for Complex Components

Fully Automated Cleaning of Scooping Components before Painting

Coating companies, who paint interior and exterior parts made of plastic for the automotive industry, have to meet high quality and...   more

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Recycling of Plastic-Metal Composite Materials from Headlights

Rarely does a single material meet all automotive engineering requirements. Yet hybrid materials cannot be disassembled manually with...   more

Illuminated Feel-Good Ambience

Lighting Design for Automobile Interiors at the First Albis Automotive Lounge

Energy efficient, inexpensive LEDs are inspiring designers and engineers to develop new esthetic and functional applications of light....   more

Disquiet before the Storm

Consequences and Opportunities for Plastics Processors Resulting from the Shift to Electromobility

The automotive industry is undergoing radical change and this will not be without consequences for the supply sectors as well. With this in...   more

Lean Material Mix for Lightweight Interiors

Microsandwich Made from a Fiber-Reinforced PP Nonwoven and a PET Foam Core for Vehicle Interior Trim Components

The first series application of the lightweight material microsandwich in 2018 will reduce the weight of vehicle interior trim components...   more

Efficient Suction Blow Molding

Manufacturing 3D Ducts with Heat-Resistant Materials

3D blow molding can look back on a long development history. Today’s high-performance plastics make previously inconceivable automotive...   more

Filler with Lightweight Potential

Recycling of Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymers to Sustainable Pyrolysis Char Filler

Mineral fillers are widely used in the automotive industry to enhance the performance of polymer grades. A recycling concept has now been...   more

Eye-Catchers Under the Hood

Optimizing Properties and Costs in the Production of Designer Engine Covers

Visible components in vehicle engine rooms increasingly have to satisfy not just technical requirements, but design expectations, too. An...   more

Sealing and Thinking

Automotive Subcontractor Eldisy Develops Solutions for an Overlooked Group of Parts

Is everything standardized in the automotive industry? Yes, but … complying with the standards involves a surprising amount of manual input...   more

High Quality Interior Components at Low Unit Cost

DecoJect Process Combines In-Mold Graining with Injection Molding

Decorative films are increasingly replacing painting in order to flexibly combine a high quality surface finish of the vehicle interior...   more

Keeps Its Cool

Study of the Resistance of Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Polyamides to Coolants

Applications under the hood in the automotive industry are characterized by strong temperature fluctuations and involve various media, such...   more

Secondary Carbon Fibers in Large-Scale Production

Sheet Molding Compounds Made with Secondary Carbon Fibers for Luxury Class Cars

Now, with suitable recycling technologies in place, the continuing research focuses mainly on re-using the reinforcement carbon fibers from...   more

Vis-à-vis with the Driver

A Steering Wheel Cover Produced with the DirectCoating Process Illustrates the Varied Design Possibilities for the Automobile Interior

The design versatility of a polyurethane coating on part surfaces, including metallic effects and a fine grain with matt and glossy...   more

Naturally Effective

Air Brake Pipes and Tank Breather Hose Made of Bio-Based Polyamide 6.10

Excellent performance properties combined with low environmental impact were the main requirements made on new polyamide 6.10 grades...   more

The Future of Automotive Interiors

Torn between Economy, Ecology, Design and Legal Requirements

The perceived value of a car’s interior is increasingly informing consumers’ purchase decisions. Another contributory factor is waveguide...   more

The Networked Car Body

Function-Integrated Lightweight Construction with Hybrid Yarn Textile Thermoplastic Composites

Hybrid yarn textile thermoplastic composites offer enormous potentials for highly integrated structural components with additional...   more

Reaching the Desired Weight in just a Few Steps

KraussMaffei Customer Takata Reduces Component Weight from 560 to 275 Grams

The FiberForm process developed by KraussMaffei combines the thermoforming of organic sheets and injection molding into one process. This...   more

From a Niche Product to Standard Series Production

Highly Resilient Lightweight Components Produced from Organo Sheet

The processing of organo sheet into lightweight structural components featuring high strength and rigidity is now ready for standard series...   more

Preventing Runaway Vehicles

Wheel Chocks of Tailor-made Polyamide

Engineering plastics can replace metals in safety items of equipment. A tailor-made polyamide 66 compound for a newly developed wheel chock...   more

Lightweight and Innovative

Components Made from Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Compounds

Edge trim of dry carbon-fiber fabric from automotive production can be spun into a highly engineered product. As a virgin fiber they can be...   more

Lighter and Economical

Slashing the Weight and Costs of Parts Made from Talc-Filled Polypropylene

Combining a chemical blowing agent with special fibers as a highly efficient reinforcing additive for polypropylene enables the...   more

Ideal for the Engine

Cost-Effective, Heat-Resistant Polyamides

The automotive industry is driving innovation in materials development. Performance limits of parts and components are scaling ever greater...   more

Flexible Auto-Glass Framing

Novel Thermoplastic Elastomer with Good Flow Behavior and High Surface Finish

Car windows can be framed more economically and more securely with a novel thermoplastic elastomer based on styrene block copolymers (TPS),...   more

Electronics Set the Pace

Hehnke and Arburg Implement a Fully Automatic Facility with Integrated Stamping, Bending and Injection Molding

Over the past 20 years, Hehnke has developed from a two-man contract manufacturer to a high-volume vehicle component manufacturer. Where...   more

Cockpit Module for the Jaguar F-Type

Outstanding Perceived Quality and High Functional Demands

The cockpit module of the new Jaguar F-Type must meet high demands. In particular, this involves the extreme loads on the dashboard during...   more

Tailor-Made for LEDs

Translucent and Thermally Conductive Compounds for Automotive and E+E

A wide variety of tailor-made compounds are used in LED technology. Appropriately matched plastics and fillers are used to achieve...   more

Fast-Cure Foam Systems for Series Production

Very Short Tack-Free Times Accelerate Processing during Foam Sealing

Newly developed two-component polyurethane foam systems for seals are reacting so fast that the foamed industrial parts can be seamlessly...   more

Novel Material Concepts: Sustainability and Design

Efficient material concepts are essential for the automobile of tomorrow. This requires closer cooperation of the entire plastics industry...   more

Forecast: The Future of Energy and Drive Concepts

Plastics constitute important design elements in vehicle manufacturing and are increasingly taking over the functions of other materials....   more

BMW i3: Innovative and Environmentally Friendly

The electric car BMW i3 opens diverse application possibilities and perspectives to tailored plastics in the automotive industry. They...   more

Door Panels with Natural Fiber Content: Every Ounce Counts

The use of natural fibers for interior components in the automotive industry is becoming increasingly important. In addition to sustainable...   more

Pigments: Cool Surfaces

Exterior and interior automotive components become extremely hot in strong sunlight. To prevent this, plastic parts can be colored with...   more

Seat Cushion Manufacturing: And Everything Fits

The design and construction of production facilities for manufacturing foam parts for vehicle seating has long been one of the more...   more

Quality Assurance: Scratch-Resistant

High-grade plastic surfaces, e. g. of polypropylene, should exhibit the highest scratch resistance possible. This can be achieved by means...   more

Vehicle Interior: Customized Soft-Touch thanks to Threefold Process Integration

Progress in the so-called “Varysoft” process gives manufacturers and users of soft-touch components new horizons thanks to the swivel-plate...   more

Automated Mass Production: Eight Million Brake Light Switches per Year

The production of eight million brake light switches annually is subject to its own set of priorities. Flexibility is less important here...   more

Composite Materials (Part 2): Self-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

Based on research results from the Transregio 30 special research area, it is illustrated how composites of self-reinforced semicrystalline...   more

Thermoplastic Resin Transfer Molding (T-RTM): Tailored to Reactive Polyamide 6

The T-RTM process has been successfully applied as a B-pillar reinforcement made from a continuous fiber-reinforced plastic, utilizing a...   more

Surface-RTM Process: Ready for Painting

The newly developed surface RTM process allows fiberreinforced visible parts with paintable surfaces for automotive construction to be...   more

RTM Production: Permeability as the Key Parameter for Short Cycle Times

To provide targeted support for the development of parts and molds, process simulation should be deployed at a very early stage in product...   more

Composites: Materials for the Future of Lightweight Construction

Continuous fiber reinforced composites allow the automotive industry to achieve weight savings that were previously not possible. In...   more

Biopolyamides: Durable and Eco-Friendly

They are not disposable products, there are no restrictions on their service life and they do not give rise to any technical weaknesses at...   more

Sequential Injection Molding: From a Cascade to a Flow

Sequential Injection Molding with valve pin systems can be difficult to master in applications which entail long, narrow flow paths but...   more

IAA 2011: Focus on Energy Efficiency

This year’s IAA held from 15 thru 25 September in Frankfurt, Germany, reflected the paradigm shift in drive technology. Apart from the...   more

Metal Replacement: Truck Oil Pan Made from Polyamide

Thanks especially to sophisticated methods of calculation, such as integrative simulation, large oil pans for trucks can now be produced...   more

PU Structural Foam: Designing Lighter Cars

Future generations of vehicles are going to need new innovative solutions in order to ensure efficient performance improvements. With the...   more

3-D Surface Inspection: Structured Light Exposes Surface Defects

Structured light projection permits surfaces to be inspected for waviness. The focus is on matt to moderately glossy surfaces, such as...   more

Refinement: Flood Coatings

Coating systems applied by the RIM process provide protection for premium real wood trim parts and give plastic surfaces that individual...   more

HP-RTM Process: With Networked Competence to High-Performance Parts

Almost unnoticed, the high-pressure resin transfer molding (HPRTM) process is gradually gaining in importance for the production of...   more

Sustainable Mobility: From the Green Tire to Lightweight Construction

Since 1998, Michelin, a French tire manufacturer, has organized the “Challenge Bibendum”, a forum devoted to sustainable road mobility....   more

Surface Technology: Scratchproof Depth Effect in One Step

Particularly in motor vehicle interiors, designers can give free rein to their creativity in order to serve the emotions of the car buyer....   more

Plastic Concepts: Electric Cars: Lightweight Construction and More

It is well known that engineering plastics today have vital functions to fulfill, especially in the areas of weight reduction, performance...   more

Polycarbonate Film: Custom Interior Design

New tasks lie ahead for polycarbonate films inside vehicles. The latest design ideas aim to create in the car interior a personalized,...   more

Slush Skin Surfaces: Two Colors with One Stroke

The trend toward using slush skins in vehicle interiors continues apace. Advantages include a contourspecific reproduction of leather...   more

Surface Quality: Making Sure that Looks Are not Deceiving

Contrary to classical surface properties such as scratch resistance or glossiness, it is far more difficult to quantify haptic...   more

Process Integration: Lightweight Parts with a Thermoplastic Matrix

Fabric-reinforced plastic parts are characterized by low weight, good mechanical properties and favorable crash behavior. A new...   more

FIT-Hybrid: Hollow Composite Structures One-a-Minute

FIT-Hybrid is an efficient method for cost-effective production of lightweight fiber composite plastic parts with high-strength solid and...   more

Ultrasonic Welding: Welds instead of Clips

A cable duct running between the inside rearview mirror and the headliner of a car needed to be produced so as to ensure improved...   more

Functional Filler: Better Filling of Polyamides

The newly developed surface-treated calcined siliceous earth shows an outstanding performance profile in polyamide 66. Tests showed that,...   more

Hybrid Parts from Organic Composite Sheet: Lightweight and Highly Resilient

Organic composite sheet can be used instead of steel or aluminum to make hybrid composites that yield structural components which are even...   more

PP-LGF Compounds: Less Odor and Emissions

Low odor and emission long glass-fiber-reinforced PP compounds with excellent mechanical and processing properties are ideal materials for...   more

In-Mold Labeling: Three Films, One Part – and a Quartered Mold

In-Mold Labeling with three three-dimensionally molded films and two plastic components for a part measuring 380 x 250 x 50 mm: A project...   more

Polycarbonate: The Long View

Polycarbonate glazing can be produced in a combined process of injection molding and compression molding – a challenge for parts developers...   more

Process Chain: Integrated Solution for an Instrument Panel

Production of the instrument panel of the new Audi A4 necessitated combining numerous processing techniques into a highly complex...   more

Plastic Surfaces: More Inside Value

Car interiors must have high-quality surfaces, because for many drivers the interior is the car’s living room. At the same time, high...   more

Trend Report: Engines in 10 to 20 Years

In the past 50 years, numerous metal parts in the engine compartment have been replaced with thermoplastic counterparts. The result is that...   more

Adhesion Promoters: A Permanent Bond

Building ever lighter automobiles requires innovative solutions, such as the increasing use of hybrid components made from steel and...   more

Trend Report: Plastic Surfaces Take on a New Luster

The market for surface technology has been very active for many years. Almost every six months new developments are presented in the areas...   more

Injection Compression Molding: Complex 2-Component Process Hits the Roof

Plastic glazing and large decorative parts with high-gloss optics are one of the most attractive growth markets for plastics in the...   more

Intake Manifold: Light, Inexpensive, and Good for the Environment

A new glassfiber-reinforced polypropylene is on the verge of raising the bars to unprecedented heights in the areas of savings in...   more

Epoxy Resin Foams: Lighter, Stiffer, Stronger

Structural foams, for example epoxy resin-based foams, used either alone or in combination with polyamide or light alloys, offer a...   more

Fatigue Strength: Components also Suffer from Fatigue

Choosing the right material and component design is particularly critical for plastics destined for use under the hood. Materials in this...   more

Glazing: Investing for Future Technology

At a customer symposium in Leverkusen, Germany, experts from Bayer MaterialScience and other companies provided information on the latest...   more

Lightweight Construction: Cold Plasma Opens Up New Dimensions

In Thueringen, Germany, a manufacturer of sandwich panels celebrated a world premier. A new technique makes it possible to treat large...   more

Polypropylene: PP Compound with New Properties

Thanks to its structure, customizable content of glass fibers and low density, a highly crystalline polypropylene compound possesses...   more

Slide-Table Technique: Soft-Touch where It Is Desired

Injection molders will soon be able to freely define the thickness and geometry of a soft-touch foam layer. The technique is applied in a...   more

Polyphthalamide: From 0 to 100 in Three Seconds

The example of a charge-air duct produced from newly developed polyphthalamide shows that suitable components can be manufactured and...   more

E-LFT: Plastic Bodies

The high load-bearing capacity of E-LFT parts which have already been realized and a material behavior which can be readily numerically...   more

Metal Replacement: Plastics in the Fast Lane

The way to cars of the future is paved with engineering plastics. Already, some 15 % of a new car in Europe is produced from polymers and...   more

Multi-layer ABS/PMMA: Custom Design

Specially developed ABS/PMMA multi-layer composites can be more easily and cost effectively processed to the required shape with less...   more

Elastomers and Polyurethanes: Producing Better Surface Quality Economically

There is now a growing trend towards the use of high-quality interior trim for small and mid-size vehicles as well. Newly developed...   more

Potential for Innovation in the Cars of Tomorrow

Which innovations in plastics will make automobiles fit for the future? Gudrun Klein, Kunststoffe’s editor in charge of plastics and...   more

Functional Polyamides: Lightweight Design Using Customized Engine Concepts

Automakers and suppliers are already working on new drive technologies such as fuel cells and electric drives. In the near future though...   more

Media Resistance: Real-World Test Passed

Investigations of special polyamide 6 and 66 grades under near-real-world test conditions have shown that they exhibit good resistance to...   more

Plastic Surfaces: Trends in Automobile Interiors

Approximately half of the plastics employed in a vehicle are installed in automobile interiors. Innovative developments in materials and...   more

Polyamide: Greater Cost-Efficiency in Airbag Production

A glass fiber-reinforced polyamide 6, optimized especially for airbag housings, offers balanced properties over the whole range of...   more

Polycarbonate-Siloxane: For Steering Wheels with More Inner Functionality

A new glassfiber-reinforced polycarbonatesiloxane copolymer is revolutionizing the production and design of automotive steering wheels....   more

Combined Process: Injection Molded and Decorated All in One Go

A relatively new process performs injection molding and reaction processing in one machine, and produces high-quality surfaces with...   more

Metal Substitution: The First Plastic Oil Pan for Production Car Engines

Car engine oil pans were one of the last big domains that were still the preserve of metals. Now, the first ever plastic oil pan module is...   more

Polyamide and PBT: Increased Requirements

In automotive engineering, application of plastics for electrics and electronics applications is growing above average. This particularly...   more

Rising Demand: Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS)

Classic metal replacement continues to be a main driving force behind PPS. In combination with greater design creativity, the resulting...   more

Thermosets in Automotive Construction: Cross-Linked Precision

BMC has great potential to replace metal parts. Its application advantages and favorable price make it the material of choice for...   more

High-tech Polymers: Sensor-Equipped Automobile "Thinks" Along with Driver

It's like squaring the circle: Modern automobiles are expected to provide greater safety, comfort or performance, but at the same time cost...   more

Metal Substitution: Easy Flowing, Highly Filled Polyamide

Semi-crystalline thermoplastics are finding increasing use as the material of choice in applications that were previously reserved for...   more

Ignacio Fitta: The Right Symbiosis

Advanced features and more design freedom are currently the strongest trends in vehicle lighting systems. Newly developed thermoplastic...   more

Polyamide Films in the Engine Compartment: Design under the Hood

Not only the interest of tuning experts has recently focused on design in the engine compartment. Previously, the most conspicuous element...   more

Engine Acoustics: Noise under the Hood

Add-on plastic parts, such as cylinder-head covers, are used in the engine compartment that frequently have to be viewed as a critical...   more