The following items were reported by Bruce Vernyi and John Couretas from the SAE show, held Feb. 27-March 2 in Detroit. SMC use in cars to rise 10% this year
Consumption of sheet molding compound in the automotive industry will total 200 million pounds this year, an increase of 10 percent, according to SMC Automotive Alliance.
The alliance, a group of 29 processors and raw material suppliers, said SMC will be used for more than 300 applications on 110 domestic and imported car and truck models.
The group also made a short presentation on the 1995 Lincoln Continental, which uses a hood, decklid and fenders made of SMC. The body panels were molded by Budd Co.'s plastics division for Ford Motor Co. The SMC hood weighs about 25 percent less than it would if made of steel, the alliance said.
BASF ASA/PC alloy aimed at auto uses
BASF Corp. is selling an acrylonitrile styrene acrylonitrile/polycarbonate alloy in North America that it is targeting at automotive exterior applications.
Reinhard Katz, group vice president for the Mount Olive, N.J.-based company, said Terblend S will be targeted at mirror housings and other exterior automotive products because of its resistance to weathering and ultraviolet degradation. The alloy also can be used for electrical and consumer products.
The resin is being made in Europe. Depending on its acceptance in the North American market, BASF may decide to produce the alloy at its Wyandotte, Mich., plant, Katz said. The alloy has high heat and impact resistance, he said, and colors can be molded into the resin.
Separately, Katz said BASF is working on 47 projects to make automotive engine intake manifolds from reinforced nylon resins. Katz said BASF has 12 intake manifold projects in commercial production, and 35 under development. While those projects feature reinforced nylon 6/6, Katz said BASF is working on several projects in Europe that would use reinforced nylon 6.
Katz said he expects the North American automotive market to use 40 million pounds of nylon to make air intake manifolds, while 100 million pounds of nylon will be used outside of North America by 2000.
Briefly...
Custom compounder DSM Engineering Plastics Inc. of Evansville, Ind., introduced a new line of thermoplastic vulcanizates that combine the properties of TP resins with vulcanized rubbers for automotive uses. The products are targeted at injection molded applications such as cable grommets and cable and hose covers, and blow molded applications, such as boots for rack-and-pinion steering gears, struts, and air ducts.
