Materials | technology
Technical compounder Luxus worked closely with Milliken and Nissan to develop a high recycled content PP for Class A interior applications that cuts weight while improving scratch resistance. Chris Smith reports
Recycled PP proves up to scratch
Environmental performance now ranks high on the agenda for the major automotive manufacturers, many of which are seeking material options that can reduce vehicle weight or increase recycled content. The ideal option, however, would be to do both and that was the goal for UK-based technical compounder Luxus, which has developed - together with car maker Renault-Nis- san and chemical group Milliken - a new line of high recycled content, lightweight PP compounds that can replace current talc-fi lled grades in demanding interior applications without sacrifi cing aesthetics. Development of the Luxus Hycolene range of high
recycled content PP polymer compounds was detailed in a joint presentation given at last month’s VDI Automotive Engineering conference in Mannheim in Germany. The compounds, which use the Hyperform HPR-803i synthetic mineral reinforcing fi bre developed by Milliken, have been engineered to provide a weight saving of 10-12% per part while offering improved scratch resistance over current talc-fi lled PP alternatives. The Hycolene compounds have been developed in
cooperation with the Renault-Nissan engineering team based at the Nissan Technical Centre Europe at Cranfi eld in the UK, with the interior door trim mould- ings for the current Nissan Qashqai model selected as the test programme. Materials design and test (DKN) manager Mark Ellis explains that the fi rst appeal of the new compounds was the potential weight savings. “Like all in the auto industry, weight reduction is very
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important to us, particularly with our electric vehicle strategy where we are trying to offset the weight of the batteries and to extend the range. The best available means of doing that is weight reduction at the moment. But also, we are very environmentally focused and recycled plastic has been a continuing theme for us since the days of the Bluebird when we were applying recycled materials from Luxus and other UK recyclers for applications like wheel arch liners, underbody parts,” says Ellis. “When we design or develop any part on a vehicle we
are set a weight target. That may be a percentage weight reduction on the previous model or a benchmark best in class. Every module or assembly on the vehicle has a weight target, as well as a cost target, and we work together with the design engineers to bring in new or alternative material technologies that will meet those targets. The technology we apply will vary from model to model and vehicle to vehicle. On something like a GTR Skyline variant we can spend a lot more money on weight reduction, which is why we apply carbon fi bre materials in a wide number of applications. If we are looking at a more standard
April 2013 | INJECTION WORLD 15
Main image and below: The rear door liner of Nissan’s
Qashqai car was used as the benchmark for the Hycolene
test programme
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