Vehicle Body Materials

Vehicle Body Materials - Plastics &

Composites

Department of Automobile Engineering

T.Veeramahantesh Swamy
Professor & HOD

Plastics

Polymerization

Thermoplastics and Thermosetting
Plastics

Amorphous and Crystalline Plastics

Future of Plastics in the automotive
industry

GRP (Composite materials)

Plastics - polymerization

Term plastics in the broadest sense
encompasses

Organic materials, which are based on

Polymers, which are produced by

The conversion of natural products or by synthesis from
primary chemicals coming from oil, natural gas and coal.

Basic building blocks of plastics are

monomers/polymers.

To get advantage two different plastics, two
different monomers can be combined in a
copolymer. Different property plastics can be
achieved.

Plastics.

The properties of plastics can also be
enhanced by mixing in other
materials, such as graphite or
molybdenum disulphide (for
lubrication), glass fiber or carbon
fiber (for stiffness), plasticizers (to
increase flexibility) and a range of
other additives (to make them
resistant to heat and light).

Few Plastics Properties

Density
kg/
cu.m.

Melting Mod. of
Point
Elasticit
y
MN/sq.
m

Tensile
strength
MN/sq.
m

Comp.
Strength
MN/sq.m

.Elongation
%

Polypropelene

0.9

100120

9001400

32-35

35

20-300

Nylon 11

1.04

185

12501300

52-54

55-56

180-400

ABS

0.991.10

85

13803400

17-58

17-85

10-140

PVC

1.161.35

56-85

35004800

10-25

7-12

200-450

Thermoplastics and Thermosetting

Plastics

The simplest way of classifying plastics is by their
reaction to heat.

Thermoplastics: materials soften to become plastic
when heated, no chemical change taking place during
the process. When cooled they again become hard
and will assume any shape into which they were
moulded when soft.

Thermosetting: materials, as the name implies, will
soften only once. During heating a chemical change
takes place and the material cures; thereafter the
only effect of heating is to char or burn the material.

Classification based on
performance
General Purpose
thermoplastics

Engineering
thermoplastics

Thermosetting
plastics

Polyethylene

Polyesters
(thermoplastics)

Phenolic

Polypropylene

Polyamides

Epoxy resins

Polystyrene

Polyacetals

Unsaturated
polyesters

SAN

Polyphenylene
sulphide

Alkyd resins

ABS (acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene)

Polycarbonates

Diallyl phthalate

Polyvinyl chloride

Polyurethane foam

Amino resins

(styrene/ acrylonitrile
copolymer)

Amorphous Plastics

Amorphous plastics basically are of three major types;

ABS: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

PC: polycarbonate
ABS/PC blend

Following are the mechanical properties.

High stiffness
Good impact strength
Temperature resistance
Excellent dimensional stability
Good surface finish
Electrical properties
Flame retardance (when required)
Excellent transparency (polycarbonates only)

Amorphous Plastics

In the automotive industry use is made of
the good mechanical properties, the thermal
resistance and the surface finish. The
applications are:
1. Body embellishment
2. Interior cladding
3. Lighting where, apart from existing
applications of back lamp clusters,
polycarbonate is expected to replace glass
for head lamp lenses.

Semi-crystalline Plastics
There are two types:

Polyamide 6 to 66 types

Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)
Semi-crystalline plastics have the following
properties:

High rigidity

Hardness

High heat resistance

Impact resistance

Abrasion, chemical and stress crack
resistance.

Semi-crystalline Plastics

Major applications in automotive
sector are:
1. Under bonnet components
2. Mechanical applications
3. Bumpers, using elastomeric PBT for
paint online
4. Body embellishment (wheel trims,
handles, mirrors)
5. Lighting, headlamp reflectors.

Blended Plastics

Blended plastics have been developed to overcome
inherent specific disadvantages of individual plastics.
For large area body panels the automotive industry
demands the following properties:

Temperature resistance

Low-temperature impact resistance

Toughness (no splintering)

Petrol resistance

Stiffness
Polycarbonate plus Polybutylene terephthalate to form
Macroblend PC/PBT which is used for injection moulded
bumpers

Plastic applications
Following properties of thermo plastics and
thermo setting resins make them find useful
applications in automobiles:

Tough and resistant to occupational impact

Withstand attack by weather and hazards
that reduce older forms of body
embellishments to pitted, rusted, dull,
crumbling metal.

Have low tensile strength or flexural strength

They can be pressed, stamped, blow
moulded, vacuum formed and injection
moulded.

Plastic applications
Following are applications:

Plastic products can be decorated by vacuum
metallizing and electroplating. They have replaced
metals in a lot of automotive applications such as,
control knobs and winder handles as well as decorative
metallic trim.

Mechanical properties of acrylic resins are highest
among the thermo plastics. Typical values are a tensile
strength of 35 75 MN/ sq.m. and a modulus of
elasticity of 1550 3250 MN/ sq.m. These properties
apply to relatively short loadings and when long term
service is expected tensile strength of acrylics must be
limited to 10MN/sq.m. to avoid surface cracking.

Particular advantage of plastics is they are completely
stable with petroleum products and salts.

Plastic applications

Acetal resins are mostly used for mechanical parts like cams,
sprockets and small leaf springs but also find application for
housings, cover plates, knobs and levers.
Have highest fatigue endurance, coupled with reduced friction
and noise admirably qualify (acetal resins) for small gearing
applications within the vehicle.
Plastics can be self-coloured so that painting costs are
eliminated and accidental scrataching remains inconspicuous
and they can be given a simulated metal finish.
Plastics can be chrome plated either over a special under
coating which helps to protect and fix the finish or by metal
spraying or by vacuum deposition. Coating can be thin and
saves cost.
Polymer materials are joined by adhesives. But now thermo
plastics can now be welded by hot gas welding.


COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Glass Reinforced Plastics (GRP)

Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), also known as glass

fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP),is a composite material
made of a plastic (resin) matrix reinforced by fine fibers
made of glass.
Reinforcement can range between almost particle shaped
chopped-stands to woven mats akin to those used in
laminates.
The plastic matrix may be epoxy, a thermosetting plastic
(most often polyester or vinylester) or thermoplastic
The glass reinforcement can be extremely strong ,
depending on conditions; for example a single filament
drawn to about 12 microns has an ultimate tensile stress of
3.5GN/sq.m.
GRP is a lightweight, strong material with very many uses,
including boats, automobiles, water tanks, roofing, pipes
and cladding.

Typical GRP mix

A typical GRP mix for heavy duty automotive use is:

Glass fibre 40.0

Resin 40.0

Monomer 0.41

Filler 16.5

Lubricant 0.08 and

Preform binder 2.0 in %.
Mechanical properties for such a mix are

Tensile strength 165kN/sq.m.

Elastic modulus 9.6 MN/sq.m.

Shear strength 110kN/sq.m.

Production

The manufacturing process for GRP fiber glass uses large

furnaces to gradually melt the sand/chemical mix to liquid
form, then extrude it through bundles of very small orifices
(typically 17-25 micrometres in diameter for E-Glass, 9
micrometres for S-Glass). These filaments are then sized
with a chemical solution. The individual filaments are now
bundled together in large numbers to provide a roving. The
diameter of the filaments, as well as the number of
filaments in the roving determine its weight.
This is typically expressed in yield-yards per pound (how
many yards of fiber in one pound of material, thus a smaller
number means a heavier roving, example of standard yields
are 225yield, 450yield, 675yield) or in tex-grams per km
(how many grams 1 km of roving weighs, this is inverted
from yield, thus a smaller number means a lighter roving,
examples of standard tex are 750tex, 1100tex, 2200tex).

Manufacturing techniques

Pultrusion Process (Continuous manufacturing)

1 Continuous roll of reinforced fibers/woven fiber

mat
2 - Tension roller
3 - Resin bath
4 - Resin soaked fiber
5 - Die and heat source
6 - Pull mechanism
7 - Finished hardened fiber reinforced polymer

Hand / Spray lay up

Design considerations

Thin walls are desirable in press moulding for
reducing cure time. Thickness should be in the range
of 7.6<t<6.35mm for sheet.

Design approach is to integrate parts into as small a
number of individual moldings as possible so as to
save fabrication cost and avoid stress concentration.

Double curvature should be used wherever possible to
increase stiffness.

Local strength and stiffness to be increased by
molding in ribs.

Recommended safety factors in design are:

Short term static 2, Long term static 2, Variable
unidirectional 4, Repeated 5, Reversed & alternating
5, Impact loads 10.

GRP Properties
Material
Steel

Sp.Gr Tensile
Tensile
Strength GPa Modulus GPa
7.8
1.0
210

Aluminium

2.8

0.47

76

A-S/epoxy

1.5

1.59

113

S-glass/epoxy

7.0

1.79

55

E-glass/epoxy

2.0

1.0

82

1747 VW Lupo Rear bumper X-Type

VOLKSWAGEN LUPO Rear
Bumper Version RS1.

Designed exclusively for
Volkswagen Lupo model.
Made to the Highest UK
standards of GRP Glass fibre
Reinforced Plastic known for
its flexibility, strength and
light weight. Easy to fit.

Modulus of Elasticity (E).

An important property of many structural materials is their ability

to regain their original shape after a load is removed. These
materials are called elastic. Steel, glass and rubber are elastic;
putty or modeling clay are not elastic. Each of these materials is
elastic to varying degrees; steel and glass are both more elastic
than rubber.
The degree of elasticity, or "stiffness" of a material is called its
Modulus of Elasticity (E). Given the modulus of elasticity,
possible deformations can be calculated for any material and
loading.
The Modulus of Elasticity is represented by E = Stress / Strain.
This relationship is found as the slope of the curve of the stressstrain curve from initial loading to the proportional limit.
A higher value of the modulus indicates a more brittle material
(i.e. glass, ceramics). A very low value represents a ductile
material (i.e. rubber).