What are the new opportunities for new energy lightweighting for modified plastics?

What are the new opportunities for new energy lightweighting for modified plastics?

Automotive lightweighting is an important direction for the future development of the automotive industry, both for traditional fuel cars and new energy vehicles, lightweighting is an effective means to effectively reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency.

A study shows that the fuel efficiency can be increased by 6-8% if the weight of the fuel car is reduced by 10%, and the corresponding weight can be reduced by 0.3-0.6L per 100kg, and the CO2 emission can be reduced by about 5g per 100km; for pure electric vehicles, the range can be increased by 2.5km if the weight of the car is reduced by 10kg.

Automotive lightweighting mainly includes three aspects: lightweight materials, advanced technology and structural optimization, among which the application of lightweight materials is the most direct way to realize the weight reduction of automobiles. With its better cost advantage, perfect weight reduction effect and excellent comprehensive performance, modified plastic has become an important lightweight material in the automotive field, and the amount of modified plastic in a single vehicle has become a symbol of automotive design and manufacturing level.

At present, the highest use of modified plastics is the German car, the use rate of modified plastics reached 22%, 300-360 kg, the average level in Europe and the United States also reached 16%, 210-260 kg, China's passenger car single vehicle use rate of modified plastics is only 8%, 100-130 kg, there is still a gap between the global average level.

From the species division, the use of more plastic varieties are Polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PUR), polyamide (PA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), etc., especially PP, PA, ABS, the most abundant modified automotive

What are the new opportunities for modified PP for automotive lightweighting?

Modified PP has long been used in automotive bumpers and automotive interiors because of its lower cost and excellent overall performance. In recent years, with the rapid development of automotive lightweighting, the production technology of LGFPP and microfoam PP has also made breakthroughs and achieved marketization after a lot of research and testing by modified plastic manufacturers and various research institutions.

●Marketing of LGFPP under the trend of replacing steel with plastic

Recently, Chery launched the internal structure of the tailgate panel of eQ1 electric car to achieve a weight reduction of 40%. It is said that the reason behind the successful weight reduction is the adoption of the engineered polyolefin material from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). Although it is a plastic, this STAMAX resin is long glass fiber filled polypropylene (LGFPP), a low-density material that can achieve the required stiffness while reducing the weight of the inner tailgate panel compared to steel.

Replacing metal with lightweight materials in structural components such as tailgate components, front-end modules, door modules, seat structures and instrument panels has become an important trend in the automotive industry and is also driving the use of thermoplastics in the automotive sector, and the use of STAMAX resin can reduce the weight of these components by up to 50%.

● The need to reduce the weight of automotive PP has promoted the application of LGFPP and microfoam PP

There are two main development trends for automotive PP lightweighting. On the one hand, it is to make automotive parts thin-walled, which not only requires thin-walled and high-strength products, but also needs to ensure high-efficiency production; on the other hand, it is to make automotive parts with lower density while the original performance remains unchanged. For these two development directions, modified plastics manufacturers have conducted a lot of research and marketed PP-LGF and microfoam PP respectively.

●Polypropylene has become the "seed player" for modification

Modified plastics have the dual advantages of low density and high performance, and the demand in the automotive manufacturing industry has continued to grow in recent years. Its advantages over engineering plastics in terms of easy processing, easy recycling and high cost performance, as well as excellent chemical resistance and good mechanical properties, can help manufacturers to ensure the quality of finished products, car safety, while reducing costs and energy.

Polypropylene has a low density among automotive plastics and is one of the lightest plastics available. The low density of polypropylene provides an important approach and idea in providing lightweighting solutions for automobiles. Therefore, polypropylene modified plastics play an important role in the automotive lightweighting process. In addition, polypropylene is easier to recycle, and there are recycling chains at home and abroad, which is a great advantage compared to engineering plastics.

Lightweighting is not only an effective way to achieve energy saving and emission reduction of automobiles, but also an important way to enhance the independent innovation capability of national automobile industry. With its better cost advantage, perfect weight reduction effect and excellent overall performance, modified plastic has become an indispensable lightweight material for automobiles.

"Three high and one low" PP, high fluidity, high heat resistance and halogen-free flame retardant PA are widely used in automobiles. Anti-bacteria, anti-static and low-noise automotive ABS have a lot of results, and the modification and special use of PUR, PC, PE and POM are also fully shown in the automotive, and the era of biodegradable plastics for automotive is coming.