automotive | SPE Awards
Material solutions First place in the Materials category was awarded to the IP with injection moulded TPV skin used on the 2013 Nissan Sentra car. The part is produced by Calsonic Kansei using Asahi Kasei Chemical’s super high flow Sun- vieo A7171 TPV, which offers a melt flow rate of 250g/10min to allow a 1mm thick skin to be moulded over the carrier. The TPV delivers the visual appeal and soft finish that appeals to consumers without compromising air bag deployment. Compared to PVC slush moulded alternatives, the TPV solution is said to be 10% less costly and 25% lighter. Tooling is also less costly, while reduced energy content cuts processing emissions by 58%. Turkish automotive lighting company Ayfar Otomotiv
featured among the finalists in the Materials category for its aftermarket high intensity LED lighting solutions, which use injection moulded heat sinks produced in thermally conductive Therma-Tech TT6600-5100EC PA6,6 from PolyOne. Heat sinks play a key role in LED lighting as performance and lifetime both deteriorate rapidly if the electronic components overheat. Ayfar
The best of Europe
The SPE’s US Automotive Innovation award is open to entrants from around the world. However, Europe-based companies get a second opportunity to make the headlines by entering the sister competition run by the SPE Automotive Division – Central Europe. Winners of the 15th
annual
competition were announced in October in Dusseldorf, Germany, and included several injection moulded examples. Pride of place in the European competi-
tion went to the polymer-metal hybrid front end support module developed by Daimler for the 2012 model Mercedes Benz B Class car. The part is produced using a process developed by Daimler’s light weight manufacturing division called Internal High Pressure Forming /Injection Moulding(IHF/IM). This involves the use of hollow aluminium sections which are hydrostatically formed and simultaneously overmoulded using a glass reinforced PA6 from Lanxess. Tooling for the B-Class project is by Christian Karl Siebenwurst and the part is produced in an Engel moulding machine.
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The front end support module for the Mercedes B Class includes a hydrostatically- formed aluminium beam which is overmoulded with glass reinforced PA6
used the PolyOne material to replace a traditional die-cast aluminium sink, reducing weight by 39% and cost by 20%. The switch of material also allowed the company to take production in-house to its own moulding shop. Given Ford’s focus on the use of renewable content in
its vehicles in recent years it is little surprise that one of those applications should have made it through to the Materials category shortlist – a rice hull-filled PP cowl bracket. Produced by A Raymond Tinnerman for Tier One supplier Yazaki North America, the part is produced in a Rhevision RH10P325-00 grade of PP from Rhe Tech and used on the 2014 Ford F-Series pick-up. Aside from the use of the rice hull filler in place of talc, this grade also contains 25% post-consumer recycled polymer. It is a drop-in replacement for the previous talc-filled grade and is cost neutral. In the Process category, first place went to a carbon
fibre reinforced composite processing technology developed by Plasan Carbon Composites and used on the hood of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. However,
Other injection moulded parts among the winners included the LED optics used in the latest Audi A3 with optional LED lighting pack, the in-mould decorated (IMD) bezel used on the Sony entertain- ment module fitted to the current Ford C-Max, and the outer body skin mould- ings used on the BMWi3 electric car. The Audi LED optics are used in the headlamps and rearlamps of the A3 models and are produced by Truck-Lite Europe in a tool made by Premec. They are moulded on an Arburg machine using Makrolon LED2445HC 551056 polycar-
INJECTION WORLD | November/December 2013
bonate from Bayer MaterialScience. The Ford C-Max entertainment bezel is injection moulded by Kunststoff Helm- brechts using a MacDermid Autotype IMK film and Bayblend resin from Bayer MaterialScience. The BMW i3 body panels are produced by BMW itself in a combination of polymers supplied by Basell, Total, Bayer MaterialScience, Kraiburg and BASF. l More information about the SPE Automotive Division Central Europe awards can be found here (in German)
http://bit.ly/18SOZSY
www.injectionworld.com
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