Huge potential plastic enters into the light weight field of automobile
Huge potential plastic enters into the light weight field of automobile
Why should cars be lightweight? The reason is simple, but it is not easy to do. As energy conservation and environmental regulations tighten and consumers become increasingly sensitive to car fuel consumption, lightweight vehicles have become the primary means of solving these problems. The total weight of the vehicle is calculated to be equivalent to less than 0.35l per 100 km of fuel consumption, equivalent to a reduction of 9g per kilometre of CO2 per kilometre. In addition to improving the production process and optimizing the body structure, the application of new materials has become the most mainstream lightweight scheme.
So-called ultralight is based on the premise of without sacrificing safety, high strength steel, ultra-high strength steel and other traditional we heard of lightweight materials, also heard of higher-end materials such as magnesium, aluminum alloy, carbon fiber. However, it has not yet been able to see which car companies, apart from BMW, use carbon fiber in the mass production. On one side are costs and security, and carmakers have opened a new path in this "dilemma" - plastic. Safety is important to the car, however, one of the biggest defects in the steel/aluminum trim is that the thickness of the part material cannot be changed. The safety standard of each part of the car is different, and this characteristic of steel/aluminum can cause excessive design in some areas, and it unnecessarily increases the cost of building a car. In addition, considering the collision between the car and the pedestrian, the contact area of the pedestrian and body should be more flexible and flexible, which gives a lot of room for plastic.
Plastic, though small in density and in its own strength, has the advantage of being flexible. When subjected to shock, plastic products will be elastic deformation, can absorb a large amount of impact energy. Now the interior trim of the car is basically the use of plastic to enhance the cushioning of the cabin crew. Another benefit of flexibility is that it can absorb and reduce the vibration of the vehicle, and also improve comfort. In addition, the corrosion resistance of plastic is far greater than that of steel, even if the surface coating is damaged, there will be no corrosion.
The most important reason why plastics are so popular is plasticity. Plastic can with other materials to form composite material, and can according to different components of the composition such as adding different packing and plasticizer to change material part of the performance, such as strength and heat resistance, etc., to adapt to the different requirements of different body parts.
As the inventor of the car, Benz has a heavier responsibility and mission in the lightweight area. In 2012, Mercedes released a hydrogen-powered concept sports car called F125. The car is mainly made of carbon fiber, aluminum alloy and plastic, which can be used to achieve the ultimate in light weight while ensuring the rigidity of the body. In addition, Cadillac and ford are also an excellent representative of lightweight, Cadillac on the hood have been used for fiber reinforced plastics, while ford is studying how to reduce the cost of production of carbon fiber parts. Exhibited in the same year the Beijing auto show, Great Wall harvard E concept car seven Windows components, from the mold of a materials science and technology company in Germany cloning of polycarbonate, and equipped with large size panoramic sunroof. This is the first time that China's domestic carmakers have been using polycarbonate Windows for the first time.
Recently, the author test-drove a domestic 2015 Volvo XC60, the tail gate of the new car adopts the technology of "plastic substitute steel", the supplier is yanfeng peo automotive exterior decoration system co., LTD. According to understand, yanfeng he champions since 1995, Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai gm, changan ford respectively, Beijing Benz Daimler Chrysler, Shanghai automotive, changan Mazda, changan suzuki, dpca-psa, guangzhou automobile, faw Volkswagen, brilliance BMW as main models such as bumper substandard products and solutions. The company's latest brands include Volvo (XC60), chery jaguar land rover, chang 'an Peugeot Citroen (DS6), saic roewe (e50), dongfeng shenlong and dongfeng Renault.
