Automobiles Manufacturing industry
Common Materials
ABS
POM
Acrylic sheet
Expanded PVC
Foam tape
GPO3
HDPE
Thermoplastics sheet
PC sheet
NYLON
Phenolic laminate
PU
UHMWPE
Materials Strength
Reduce weight , noise , and vibration
Durable and wear resistant
Bearing grades often eliminate the need for external lubrication
UV resistance (UV grades)
Grades available with good frame , smoke and toxicity characteristics
Adhesives replace welds and rivets
Visually appealing – transparent , colors , textures
Many plastics can be printed and painted
Typical Application
Adhesive and sealants
Assembly tapes
Bearings
Boom pads
Bumpers
Bushings
Covers
Door panels
Electrical insulators
Floor panels
Guards
Rollers
Sheaves
Shelves
Skylights
Wall panels
Wear pads
Wear strips
Windows
Winds shields
Smart lightweight construction reduces cost and weight
Hony Plastic has been developing and producing glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics (GMT) for the automotive industry for many years and is the market leader in this
field. Car construction would be nonsense without special semi-finished lightweight components from Swiss material producers.
Traditional GMT materials consist of glass fiber sheets produced according to the company's own patents and impregnated with polypropylene in a second process. The result is a proven
lightweight composite material with excellent impact resistance and optimal crash performance. Even at low temperatures, GMT ensures high energy absorption before fracture, thus
guaranteeing positive failure behavior without violent fracture lines.
GMT and GMTex use additional fiber reinforcement for the production of semi-structural and structural elements meeting the highest crash safety standards to protect passengers and
other road pedestrians. GMTex can even be used where metals are traditionally used in general.
Lightweight composites are also produced, one of which is a lightweight reinforced thermoplastic (LWRT) called SymaLITE. This material includes fleece blended with glass and polymer
fibers and is available in rolls or sheets. The rough rolling mill heats the material and produces three-dimensional shaped elements by means of low-pressure pressing.
Structural parts
The GMT and GMTex fiber-reinforced composite materials developed by Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials are lighter in weight, making it possible to replace structural and semi-structural vehicle parts made of metal.
These innovative materials are generally accepted for mass production. Among them, bumper beams, battery boxes, and even body parts such as front-end modules can be made of GMT or GMTex.
Because reinforced thermoplastic composites exhibit good material properties such as stiffness, strength, dimensional stability and crash performance, solutions using only composite materials without the additional use of metal reinforcements are possible.
Using GMT and GMTex can reduce weight, reduce production steps, and increase design freedom.
Lightweight Construction Parts (LWRT)
SymaLITE is a high-strength composite material that simultaneously reduces weight significantly and has good mechanical and physical properties. This group of glass fibers mixed with plastic fibers is processed into three-dimensional parts using a low-pressure molding process, and the production cost is low. It is thus SymaLITE, the core material for the trunk floor, roof lining, sunroof and coat rack, which together with the GMT/GMTex junction facilitates the development of new lightweight construction strategies.
SymaLITE applications can also be extended to bottom guards. SymaLITE enables the production of an almost continuously rust- and wear-resistant underbody guard that is, given its material properties, very light in weight, very rigid in nature, and excellent in sound insulation. Also used in wheel arch liners or as engine and transmission guards due to the noise-absorbing properties of its ultra-light composite material.
Designed as a collapsible trunk floor with combined backrest modules, SymaLITE achieves a high-strength, inherently rigid, yet very lightweight solution for adjustable storage spaces. Decorative skins can be processed integrally together during pressing. This saves production steps overall and avoids the use of adhesives.
Internal accessories
Vehicle interiors include many different parts made of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. In particular, the versatile and inexpensively processed SymaLITE is gaining popularity for new applications – not least because SymaLITE is produced with functional or decorative protective layers according to customer requirements.
Here are some examples of GMT/GMTex and SymaLITE parts used in the passenger compartment: headliner, sunroof, rear window frame, seat and back structure, seat covers, doors, pillars and trunk liner.
Metal Plastic Solutions (MPS)
Since 2008, Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Composites Corporation, through its subsidiaries, has been developing special lightweight parts for the automotive industry using long fiber reinforced composite parts and the development of plastic-metal hybrid materials. The research focus of Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Metal Plastic Solutions (MPS) in Chemnitz is new materials and hybrid materials. Through the ingenious fusion of metal and plastic, new part concepts and production methods are realized.
MPS AG is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Composites, a company for high-strength moldable glass fiber sheet-reinforced thermoplastic products, and Blechformwerke Bernsbach AG, a German automotive industry sub-assembly and component metalwork
In close cooperation with the customer, a capable materials team as well as design and production personnel tailor the application of innovative lightweight parts for the customer.
Available services include design and material selection consultation, CAD and FEM calculations, functional testing of prototypes and planning for series production of lightweight parts.
Our comprehensive testing facilities allow for the simulation of all relevant conditions to ensure component testing and its informative recordable results:
Compression test equipment up to 100KN
Climate chambers with temperatures from -40°C to +100°C
High temperature chamber (up to 130°C)
Molding equipment (100t, 600t and 1200t)
Fatigue strength analysis using special tools
30m drop tower
100m slide rail
Vibrator
