DETROIT - Plastics will be close to center stage when the 1995 SAE International Congress & Exposition opens its doors Feb. 27 for a four-day run in Detroit's Cobo Center. Historically, SAE show exhibitors have included many resin manufacturers, plastics processors and vendors of instruments, equipment and supplies. The conference portion of the annual event normally includes sessions on plastics.
This year plastics exhibitors will be out in force and the program of technical sessions appears to carry more than the usual number of plastics-related topics.
Computer-aided design and manufacturing, solid imaging, rapid prototyping and computer simulation will vie for attention among a host of more mature technologies.
Subjects to be put under the SAE spotlight range from how to measure seat comfort and test seat system fatigue to examination of the effects of sulfuric acid on glass-reinforced composites and how to evaluate damage to semi-rigid polyurethane foam in seats.
Session audiences will hear a description by engineers from Dupont UK Ltd. and the Rouer Group of the development of what they call the first volume-production thermoplastic throttle body.
In other sessions, a new Ford Motor Co. conical air induction system will be described and AlliedSignal Inc. staffers will present a paper on blow moldable glass-reinforced nylon for air induction components.
A paper from GE Plastics presenters will look at predicting the head-impact performance of thermoplastics, and two papers from engineers from the Woodbridge Group will probe occupant-protection materials from temperature and product liability standpoints.
Interior trim applications will be examined in technical papers written by engineers from Ford, ICI Polyurethanes, Colorim Systems and Dow Chemical Co.
Topics to be covered in other sessions include plastic under-the-hood components, bumper systems, electrically conductive engineering plastics, gas injection molding and low-pressure materials for low-pressure molding.
Other technical sessions are scheduled to address plastics recycling, copper-alloy injection molds, window encapsulation, and thermal design considerations for under-the-car composite components.
