Review of plastics present in automotive parts manufactured in modern times

1. PLASTIC MATERIALS IN AUTOMOTIVE PARTS TODAY
presented by
DIVINE SHARON M

2. Abstract:
❖The aim of this article is to give a overview about the
plastic materials used in modern automotive industry.
❖The first part of the article tells about very short history of
automobiles and the basics of plastics and their necessity.
❖The next part lists the exact types of plastics that have
already replaced metal components in our cars already.
❖The conclusion of this article provides hints and recent
trends the world is working on.

3. Introduction:
❖Today, the automotive industry is on the brink of a
revolution, and the plastics industry is poised to play a
major role.
❖ The real plastics revolution in automotive industry began
in 1950 when thermoplastics made their debut, starting
with ABS (Acrilo nitryl Butadiene Styrene).
❖It extended with polyamide, polyacetal and polycarbonate
together with introduction of blends of various polymers
and alloys.

4. What are plastics?
❖Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi synthetic
organic compounds materials that are malleable and
molded into solid objects.
❖There are two major types of plastics they are
thermoplastics and thermoset plastics.
❖Thermoplastics are recyclable plastics.
❖Thermoset plastics are single use plastics.

5. Why plastics?
❖Originally plastics were used because they offered good
mechanical properties combined with excellent
appearance, including the possibility of self-coloring.
❖Nowadays, plastics are used mainly to make automobiles
more energy efficient by reducing weight, together with
providing durability, corrosion resistance and toughness.
❖Their design flexibility, resilience, ease of manufacturing
complicated geometries and high performance at low cost
are also important factors for their selection.

6. Plastics in automotive:
❖The average vehicle uses nearly about 150 kg of plastics
and plastic composites versus 1163 kg of iron and steel.
❖ Plastics find their way up to 10-15 % of total weight of the
car.
❖Up to 13 different plastics may be used in a single car
model, just three types of plastics make up nearly 66 % of
the total plastics used in a car: polypropylene (32 %),
polyurethane (17 %) and PVC (16 %).

7. Applications:
Component name Types of plastics used Weight in an average car (kg)
Bumpers PS, ABS, PBT 14
Seating PUR, PP, PVC, ABS, PA 18
Dashboard PP, ABS 8
Fuel Systems HDPE, POM, PA, PP, PBT 6
Body (Incl. Panels) PP 6
Under Bonnet components PA, PP, PBT 9
Interior Trims PP, ABS, POM, PVC 20
Electrical Components PP, PBT, PA, PVC 8
Liquid Reservoirs PP, PE, PA 1

8. Polyethylene (PE):
❖Polyethylene has good chemical resistance. Two types
are used, low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high
density polyethylene (HDPE).They can be manufactured
in wide range of densities.
❖Application: glass reinforcement for car bodies, electrical
insulation, packaging, where strength and aesthetics are
important.
❖Melting Point: range between 115 to 135 ℃.

9. Polypropylene (PP):
❖Polypropylene is extremely chemically resistant and
almost completely impervious to water.
❖It is the second most widely used plastic after
polyethylene.
❖Application: automotive bumpers, chemical tanks, cable
insulation, battery boxes, petrol cans, indoor carpets and
carpet fibers.
❖Melting Point: range between 131 to 171 ℃.

10. Polyamide (PA):
❖Polyamide is known as nylon 6,6 or nylon 6. Both these
nylons have high resistance to abrasion, low friction
characteristics and good chemical resistance.
❖They also absorb water easily and the components
exposed to wet or humid conditions will expand.
❖Application: glass - fibre reinforced accelerator foot pedal
in modern cars.
❖Melting point: 220 ℃ (nylon 6,6).

11. Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT):
❖It has good chemical resistance, hard and tough material
with very good resistance to dynamic stress, thermal and
provides good dimensional stability.
❖Easy to manufacture and fast cooling.
❖Application: foglamp housings and bezels, sun-roof front
parts, locking system housings, door handles, bumpers,
carburetor components.
❖Melting Point : 223 ℃.

12. Polystyrene (PS):
❖Polystyrene is very popular, easy to manufacture, but has
poor resistance to UV light.
❖It may be rigid or foamed.
❖It is very cheap and naturally transparent but, it can be
colored using pigments.
❖Application: equipment housings, display bases.
❖Melting Point: 240 ℃.

13. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS):
❖Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene is a durable thermoplastic,
resistant to weather and some chemicals.
❖It is a rigid plastic with rubber like characteristics, which
gives it good impact resistance.
❖Application: car dashboards
❖It can be printed using 3D printers.

14. Poly-vinyl-chloride PVC:
❖Poly-vinyl-chloride has good resistance to chemical and
solvent attack. Its vinyl content gives it good tensile
strength and some grades are flexible.
❖Colored or clear material is available.
❖It is the third widely used plastic.
❖Application: automobile instruments panels, sheathing of
electrical cables, pipes, doors, waterproof clothing and
chemical tanks
❖Melting Point:100 to 260 ℃.

15. Polyoxymethylene (POM):
❖Polyoxymethylene also know as polyformaldehyde has
high stiffness, rigidity and excellent yield strength, which
are stable in low temperatures.
❖ Very good chemical and fuel resistance.
❖ Application: interior and exterior trims, fuel systems,
small gears ( wipers).
❖Melting point: 175 ℃.

16. Polyurethane (PUR):
❖Polyurethane materials are widely used in high resiliency
flexible foam seating, rigid foam insulation panels,
microcellular foam seals and gaskets.
❖Melting Point is very low.

17. Technological advances:
❖Toyota is a pioneer in introducing environment friendly
bioplastics into automobiles such as bio polycarbonate,
bio polyethylene terephthalate.
❖ Increase in custom production of goods rather than
mass production and technologies to use plastics in 3D
printing are going to set a new trend in the market.
❖Plastic recycling often uses water to clean and cool
plastics.

18. Technological advances:
❖Some recycling technologies are on the development
which could clean, cool and recycle plastics without
water.
❖There by reducing recycling costs.

19. Conclusion:
❖The automotive industry today is a very competitive
industry.
❖Motorists want high performance cars with greater
comfort, safety, fuel efficiency, style and lower prices.
❖Society demands lower pollution levels and increased
recovery at end of life.
❖Plastics meet the challenges of an industry whose
demands are greater than ever.

20. Conclusion:
❖Continual innovation is a key feature in the use of plastics
in cars.
❖Plastics will continue in the next decade to help designers
and engineers to innovate and take car performance
further.
Thank You