Todays automotive designers think in plastics
Interview with George Hamilton, President of Dow Automotive

At the “Internationale Automobil-ausstellung IAA” 2003 in Frankfurt Polymotive spoke with George Hamilton, recently named President of Dow Automotive, about his view on current market trends and more. In the new Golf Dow Automotive is represented with long glass fiber filled polypropylene for new applications such as a structural part in the instrument panel and a new underbody-sealer to protect the car against dust and moisture intrusion.
Dow Automotive is a leading supplier in engineering plastics like ABS, PC/ABS for interior applications, in urethanes for seating foam, in polypropylenes and urethane products for exterior applications, sealing and dampening products, and in adhesives, especially glass bonding adhesives. In 50% of its sales Dow Automotive is a tier one supplier and in the remaining 50%, is a tier 2 and tier 3 supplier to the automotive industry. ....read more!

A few extra kilograms of plastic per vehicle per year
Laurent Burelle is President and Chairman of the Board of the Industrial and Service Group Plastic Omnium. Polymotive met him at the IAA in Frankfurt.

Polymotive: Let’s start with bumpers. Normally you finish off the bumpers and supply them to the customer. Do you supply ready-painted bumpers only? Or can the customer also paint them himself?
Burelle: Of course the customer can also do the painting himself. One example of this is Volkswagen Mexico. For the new Beatle we make pre-painted, high temperature resistant parts for the customer to fit into the vehicle and which he can paint in his own paint-shop using the final colour. ....read more!

Warmer winter motoring
An end to cold morning misery

The story is the same every year. It’s cold and miserable, the thermometer is showing minus 5, the car is like a fridge, and your feet feel like blocks of ice. The windscreen is covered with a thick layer of ice, and the motor seems to take an age to flicker into life. But the misery doesn’t end when the car finally gets underway, because those first few warm up miles are consuming fuel (and money) at a prodigious rate. ....read more!

Beat the heat
Flame Retardant Grade PPA Selected for New Engine Coolant Heater

A grade of Amodel polyphthalamide (PPA), one of a new generation of flame-retardant PPA resins, has been selected by engineers at Kim Hotstart, a company specialising in the design and manufacture of electric heaters for engines and related applications such as fuel tanks and hydraulic power units, for use in the newest addition to its line of engine coolant heaters. This application is the first commercial use in North America of Amodel FR-4133 material, one of a new generation of flame retardant PPA resins introduced by Solvay Advanced Polymers L.L.C., part of the international chemical and pharmaceutical Solvay Group. ....read more!

No More Nitrogen
Engel introduces water injection technology

Ideal for moulding larger diameter, hollow-core, rod-like, geometric shapes, Engel’s Watermelt technology is suitable for parts not economically feasible using gas-assist, and can also be adapted to work with existing Gasmelt applications. Watermelt takes advantage of two outstanding properties of water, in comparison to a gas: the ability to remove 40 times more heat out of the part than gas and being incompressible. ....read more!

Side door opens up new opportunity for hot runner systems
Mold-Masters offer complete hot runner system for large parts

Mold-Masters Limited, the Germany based specialist in hot runner systems has just delivered their Flex-Series to Grupo Antolin Irausa SA. The Spanish company will produce a complex door trim panel for the right front door for Renault Mégane. The part, made of PP, weighs in at around 1500g. ....read more!

A plastic share of almost 100 percent
World’s first all-plastic oil module

Mann + Hummel,
Ludwigsburg/Germany
has taken the world’s first oil module with a complete plastic housing to series production in cooperation with Audi AG, Ingolstadt/Germany. The module will be used in the new 2.0 litre four-cylinder FSI direct-injection petrol engine of Volkswagen and Audi. Compared with oil modules known up to now, the share of plastic has been increased from a maximum of 30 to almost 100 percent. ....read more!

Advanced Pedestrian Impact Protection Systems
Concepts Can Meet Proposed European Requirements

Based on existing materials, new engineering designs and enhanced finite element analysis (FEA) data, GE Plastics unveiled comprehensive material and design ideas that may help automotive manufacturers and tier suppliers develop front-end safety systems to meet proposed European Union pedestrian protection legislation. The company is developing remedial measures that include energy absorbers and crash cans to improve both the pedestrian safety and Allianz test performance of new and existing vehicles. ....read more!

Fully Automated Press Line for Car Body Parts
Production to start on underbody parts for VW PQ 35 platform vehicles

Production is shortly to begin on underbody parts for Volkswagen’s PQ 35 platform vehicles on the press line Dieffenbacher, Eppingen/Germany supplied to Menzolit-Fibron. The “PQ 35 platform“ includes a number of different models produced by the Volkswagen Group, for instance, the Golf, Audi A3 and other vehicles manufactured by Seat and Skoda. ....read more!

Joined for Life
Adhesives provide the link between plastic sections on the “smart”

Nowadays it is possible to bond modern compound plastics such as polyethylene (PE) or Polypropylene (PP) quickly, easily and reliably with other materials without the need for any expensive preliminary treatments. In the case of the “Outdoor” smart model crossblade, a structural adhesive manufactured by 3M of Neuss/Germany, is used to ensure that polyurethane (PU) water run-off channels adhere to the PP instrument panel. ....read more!

Watertight joint
Screw clip system completely made out of plastic

By developing the screw clip Unitec - P-in-P Böllhoff, Bielefeld/Germany have made extremely tight joints possible, even on thin-walled components. Components joined using this system are also considerably lighter and easier to recycle than similar components fastened together using conventional methods. This is because both the screw clip and the screw are made completely out of plastic (P-in-P). ....read more!

Read more about several products for the automotive industry
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