November 26, 2007
SPE Automotive Division Awards 2007
Thermoplastic body material Triax® DP 3157 wins prize
Online paintable thermoplastic fender in production cars
Tarragona/Spain – The International Plastics Society’s “SPE Automotive Division Awards” competition was recently held for the eleventh time in Dusseldorf, Germany. The competition awards sought-after prizes to outstanding and trendsetting innovations in the automotive industry. In the “body exterior” category, BMW’s fender for the M3 Coupé and Cabrio won the second prize. The body panel is produced from the polyamide+ABS alloy Triax® DP 3157 supplied by INEOS ABS. As well as praising the solution for the attachment of the unit and the tooling, the jury also made special mention of the innovative design of this body part. “Injection moulding of our material makes the production of the so-called “gill” in the fender technically and economically feasible, in sharp contrast to an aluminium solution. Moreover, this plastic alloy resists the high drier temperatures, of up to 200 °C, which take place after the cataphoretic bath, and is thus paintable online”, explains Dr. Frank Eisenträger, Business Development expert from INEOS ABS. As an online painted part the fender can be mounted automatically to the body of the vehicle, in the same way as a steel unit. This in turn means additional investment regarding extraction points and manufacturing stations needed for inline painting or offline painting are not necessary.
As a mineral-filled polyamide+ABS alloy, Triax® DP 3157 offers a large processing window combined with good flow, which is of great advantage for large body parts. The material also offers minimal temperature expansion (CLTE), which allows small gaps between adjacent body parts, therefore achieving a high surface and design quality. Due to the high stiffness of the blend, parts can be designed with minimal thickness, thus reducing weight. “Our material therefore goes along with the current trend of light-weight construction in the automotive industry. In the BMW M3 coupé and cabrio 3 Kg per car are saved compared to an equivalent steel unit”, says Eisenträger. For BMW, it was crucial for this material to have a low and retarded humidity uptake. This assures high dimensional stability of the fender.
INEOS ABS is continuously developing the Triax ® product portfolio for body parts. In the meantime, the company also offers conductive versions, which do not need a conductive primer before painting. These materials allow remarkable cost savings for online painting regarding material, logistics and machinery. Moreover, INEOS ABS works closely with the OEMs to develop material modifications of Triax® with very high impact strength and break resistance in order to improve passive pedestrian protection. The target is to comply with the stringent requirements of the EURO NCAP head impact legislation. “We are close to successfully finishing those developments”, adds Eisenträger.
