The future development of the hottest automotive p

Future development of automotive plastics

characteristics of plastics

Plastics is a mixture composed of synthetic resin (polymer resin or polycondensation resin) as the main component and different additives added according to different needs. It has unique properties:

● low density: every 100kg of plastic can replace 200 ~ 300kg of other materials, which can reduce the self weight of cars and increase the payload

● good physical properties: good flexibility, wear resistance, shock absorption. The impact resistance of plastic per unit mass is no less than that of metal, and some engineering plastics and carbon fiber reinforced plastics are even much higher than metal

● chemical corrosion resistance: plastics have strong resistance to the corrosion of acids, alkalis, salts and other chemical substances. Among them, polytetrafluoroethylene is the material with the most stable chemical properties, and UPVC is the most commonly used corrosion-resistant material. It can withstand concentrated sulfuric acid with a concentration of 90% and hydrochloric acid and lye with various concentrations

● large degree of design freedom: it can be made into transparent, translucent or opaque products, with a variety of appearances, and the surface can be made into distinctive patterns

● good colorability: it can be made into various colors as required

● good processing performance: complex products can be formed at one time, and can be produced in large quantities, with high production efficiency, low cost and significant economic benefits. If calculated by unit volume, the cost of producing plastic parts is only 1/10 of that of non-ferrous metals

● environmental protection and energy conservation: vehicles that can be recycled and use a lot of plastics can save more than 0.5L per 100km

but relatively speaking, plastics also have some disadvantages, such as large shrinkage, strong water absorption, poor dimensional stability, difficult to make high-precision products, flammable, burning produces a large number of black smoke and toxic gases, easy to aging and deformation after long-term use, but its defects can be reduced through modification

future development of automotive plastics

plastic products can not only reduce the number of parts, but also play a good role in reducing noise. Manufacturers should take advantage of the molding characteristics of plastic products, try to integrate multiple parts, reduce the number, and try to achieve the purpose of forming complex parts at one time. The use of plastics in cars continues to grow, and this trend will continue in the future. In the future, automotive materials will have the trend of transition from metal to plastic

1. The market dominated by PP and ABS

according to the UK application information (AMI) report, the consumption of thermoplastics for car parts is increasing at an average annual rate of more than 6%. Due to the low price and superior performance of PP, according to the national standard, the development of automotive interior and exterior trim will be dominated by pp. PP parts used in the market now account for 42% of the market share, and are expected to grow at an annual rate of 8%, especially in automotive interior trim

2. The scope of application is expanding

the scope of application of plastics in automobiles is expanding from interior parts to exterior parts, body parts and structural parts. In the future, the key development direction is to develop structural parts and exterior parts

3. Develop composite materials

the application of composite materials in auto parts is also increasingly showing strong vitality. The components of composite materials used in automobiles are mainly dashboard, door guard, inner guard of top cover, carpet, seat and wrapping frame guard. They are basically composed of skin (plastic, fabric, carpet), sound insulation and vibration damping part (foam or fiber) and skeleton part. In addition to meeting certain use functions, this shape of components makes people feel comfortable and beautiful, so as to measure the output. Moreover, due to the simple production process of these materials, Low cost, strong applicability and rapid development, it will be the main development direction of automotive interior materials in the future

4. The demand for engineering plastics will increase year by year

engineering plastics, especially high-performance engineering plastics, are more and more widely used in the automotive industry because of their good mechanical properties, comprehensive mechanical properties, heat resistance, acid resistance, long service life, good reliability and other characteristics. Their prospects are very good, such as some parts on the engine, such as speed regulating valve, motorized disc, air flow disc, water pump, oil delivery pipe, pulley cover Cooling fans, accelerator pedals, etc. have begun to use PA, PPS, PBT and other injection molding or blow molding

5. The application of glass fiber reinforced plastics also has a further expansion trend

glass fiber reinforced plastics, commonly known as "glass fiber reinforced plastics", has the advantages of light weight, high strength, corrosion resistance, insulation, resistance to instantaneous high temperature, slow heat transfer, sound insulation, waterproof, easy coloring, electromagnetic wave transmission, convenient molding, designability and so on. It is widely used in the production of bumpers, roof covers, deflectors, battery brackets, mudguards, front face parts Skirt parts and body shell, etc

6. Safety of plastic parts

with the continuous traffic accidents and the threat of passenger safety, the safety inspection of some interior parts has been put on the agenda under the situation of how the power lithium battery material industry seizes investment opportunities. For example, the head impact test on the upper surface of the instrument panel, the knee impact test on the lower edge of the instrument panel, and the body impact test on the seat back are all required to be tested. However, the test results of the testing machine sometimes have some errors. The decorative plastic cannot be broken, let alone the debris splashing or showing edges and corners to hurt people. Therefore, automotive interior parts should not only be comfortable and beautiful, but also protect the safety of passengers

7. Versatility of materials

in order to make effective and reasonable use of energy and raw materials and reduce automobile costs, the materials used in the interior trim parts of different types of cars can be attributed to the unified use of several materials. In this way, the production scale of these raw materials will be expanded, which is the most economical in terms of material quality and cost

8. Recycling of waste plastics

with the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection and the global energy and raw material crisis, how to deal with and make good use of these waste plastics will be a major problem in front of the world. Whether from the perspective of making full use of the earth's resources or from the standpoint of environmental protection, we must actively carry out research on the recycling technology of automotive waste plastics. The technical work of material recycling should also cooperate with the formulation of environmental protection regulations and the establishment of waste material recycling system, so it is also a systematic project. The treatment and recycling of plastic waste must adhere to the "4R" principle, namely: reduction at the source, reuse, recycling, recovery

with the development of automobiles towards lightweight and environmental protection, nanotechnology is gradually applied in production, and the research on plastics and composite materials is further deepened. It can be expected that plastics will be more and more widely used in the automotive industry. The development and use of all plastic automobiles is no longer a dream, and a plasticized automotive industry era is coming. (end)