Lightweight is the goal pursued by the new energy automotive industry, and plastics can show their power in this regard.
Ⅰ Overview of modified plastics for vehicles
Automotive lightweight is an important direction for the future development of the automotive industry. Whether it is for traditional fuel vehicles or new energy vehicles, lightweight is an effective means to effectively reduce vehicle energy consumption and improve energy efficiency. Studies have shown that the weight of fuel vehicles is reduced by 10%, fuel efficiency can be improved by 6-8%, the corresponding weight is reduced by 100kg, the fuel consumption of the car can be reduced by 0.3-0.6L, and the carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by about 5g. For pure electric vehicles, the weight of the vehicle is reduced by 10kg, and the driving range can be increased by 2.5km.
The need for lightweight electric vehicles is more urgent. For every 1Kwh of electricity consumed by electric vehicles, the main way is to increase the battery charge (increase the energy density or increase the number of batteries) or reduce the weight of the car.
“Made in China 2025″ has taken “energy saving and new energy vehicles” as a key development area, and lightweight as one of the key development directions of the automotive industry, and “energy saving and new energy vehicle technology Roadmap 2.0″ is formulated in 2035 fuel passenger cars and pure electric passenger vehicles to reduce the weight coefficient of 25% and 35%, respectively. Together with new energy vehicles, lightweight is an important way to save energy and reduce emissions in the future.
Automotive lightweight mainly includes lightweight materials, advanced technology, structure optimization three aspects. Among them, the application of lightweight materials is the most direct way to achieve automotive weight reduction. Modified plastics with its better cost advantages, perfect weight reduction effect, excellent comprehensive performance, become an important lightweight material in the automotive field, the amount of modified plastics has become a symbol of the level of automotive design and manufacturing.
At present, the highest use of modified plastics is the German car, the use rate of modified plastics reached 22%, for 300-360 kg, the average level of European and American countries also reached 16%, for 210-260 kg, the use rate of modified plastics in China’s passenger car bicycles is only 8%, for 100-130 kg, there is still a certain gap from the global average.
Divided from the variety, the plastic varieties with more amounts are polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PUR), polyamide (PA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene plastic (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), etc., especially the automotive modification of PP, PA, ABS is the most abundant.
Ⅱ What new opportunities does automotive lightweight bring to modified PP?
Modified PP has long been used in car bumpers and car interiors because of its low cost and excellent comprehensive performance. In recent years, with the rapid development of automotive lightweight, after a lot of research and testing by modified plastic manufacturers and scientific research institutions, the production technology of LGFPP and micro-foamed PP has also made breakthroughs and achieved marketization.
The marketization of LGFPP under the trend of replacing steel with plastic
Recently, Chery launched the internal structure of the eQ1 tailgate panel of electric vehicles to achieve 40% weight reduction. It is reported that behind the successful weight reduction is the use of engineering polyolefin materials from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). Although plastic, the STAMAX resin is made of 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 taildoor panel components, front end modules, door modules, seat structures and dashboards has become an important trend in the automotive industry and is also driving the use of thermoplastics in the automotive sector, where 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 micro-foamed PP
Automotive PP lightweight has two main development trends, on the one hand is to make auto parts thin wall, not only require products thin wall, high strength, but also need to ensure efficient production; On the other hand, the auto parts have lower density under the premise that the original performance is unchanged. In view of these two development directions, modified plastics manufacturers have carried out a lot of research and marketization in PP-LGF and micro-foamed PP respectively.
Ⅲ Polypropylene becomes a modified “seed player”
Modified plastics have the dual advantages of low density and high performance, and the demand for them in the automotive industry has continued to grow in recent years. Taking modified polypropylene, which is the largest proportion of automotive plastics, as an example, it has the advantages of easy processing, easy recycling and high cost performance compared with engineering plastics, as well as excellent chemical corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties, which can help manufacturers to ensure the quality of finished products and reduce costs and energy saving while driving safety.
Polypropylene has a low density in automotive plastics and is one of the lightest varieties of plastics at present. The low density of polypropylene provides an important method and idea in providing lightweight solutions for automobiles. Therefore, polypropylene modified plastics play an important role in the automotive lightweight process. In addition, polypropylene is easier to recycle, and there is a formed recycling industry chain at home and abroad, which is also a great advantage compared to engineering plastics.
Lightweight is not only an effective way to achieve automobile energy saving and emission reduction, but also an important way to enhance the independent innovation capability of the national automobile industry. Modified plastics have become an indispensable lightweight material for automobiles due to their better cost advantage, perfect weight reduction effect and excellent comprehensive performance.
“Three high and one low” PP, high fluidity, high heat resistance, halogen-free flame retardant PA are widely used in automobiles. A large number of achievements have been made in anti-bacterial, anti-static and low noise automotive ABS. The modification and special use of PUR, PC, PE, POM are also fully displayed on the car, and the automotive era of biodegradable plastics is coming.
YIHOO POLYMER is a global supplier of additives for the modification of plastics and coatings, including UV absorbers, antioxidants, light stabilizers and flame retardants, which have been widely used by customers in Europe, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.
Enquiries are welcome at any time: yihoo@yihoopolymer.com
Post time: Jun-29-2023