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November 12, 2015 01:00 AM

Glass bubbles lift Corvette body panels to top SPE award

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    General Motors Co.
    General Motors Co. won the top award from the Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Innovation awards for its use of hollow glass microsphers in body panels for the 2016 Corvette.

    The Society of Plastics Engineers' automotive division announced the category winners for its 2015 Automotive Innovation Awards. SPE honored the winners at its annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala Nov. 11 in Livonia, Mich.

    The top prize went to General Motors Co. for its materials category entry, class A body panels made using TCA Ultra Lite composite material from Continental Structural Plastics. The toolmakers are Century Tool & Gage and Paragon Die & Engineering Co.

    CSP replaced calcium carbonate with hollow glass microspheres from 3M Co. and a proprietary surface treatment to achieve 43 percent mass reduction compared to conventional SMC, and 28 percent mass reduction over mid-density grades.

    Read more about the process.

    The vacuum compression molded parts appear on the 2016 Chevrolet Corvette, and CSP is also the Tier 1 supplier.

    Other category winners are as follows:

    Aftermarket

    General Motors for the self-mounted, transparent, frameless wind deflector on the 2016 Corvette Stingray convertible. Polytec FOHA Inc. supplies the system, which is made with Sabic's Lexan polycarbonate sheet. Pace Machine Tool Inc. supplies the tooling.

    Body Exterior

    Ford Motor Co. for the push-to-release exterior fastener on the 2015 Mustang. The two-piece, injection molded fastener is supplied by ITW Deltar Fasteners, the nylon 6/6 material from Ascend Performance Materials LLC, and the tooling from A&P Tool Inc. and M&M Tool and Mold LLC.

    Body Interior

    Ford for the rear seat folding head restraint on the 2015 F-150. Windsor Machine Group and Hawk Plastics Ltd. supply the injection molded part, using polypropylene copolymer material from ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and tooling from IRC Engineering.

    Chassis/Hardware

    Audi AG for the glass fiber epoxy composite coil spring on the 2015 A6 Avant 2.0-L TDI Ultra. Hexion Inc. supplies the material and S. Ara Composite S.A.S. is the Tier 1.

    Environmental

    Ford for the Repreve seat fabric made from 100 percent recycled PET used in the 2015 F-150. Johnson Controls Inc. and Sage Automotive Interiors supplies the system, and the fiber comes from Unifi Manufacturing Inc.

    Powertrain

    Honda Motor Co. Ltd. for the heated fuel tip injector on the 2015 Honda Fit and Honda City. The system is supplied by Delphi Powertrain using high-temperature nylon from DuPont and tooling from Coltelleria Baldi.

    Process/Assembly/Enabling Technologies

    Hyundai Motor Co. for the instrument panel on the 2014 i20 Supermini. Back-foamed foil, substrate and passenger-side airbag door are made in a single mold. Hyundai Mobis supplies the system, and Hanhwa L&C supplies the TPO material.

    Safety

    Fiat Chrysler for the mixed-material floor rocker reinforcement on the 2015 Jeep Renegade. The Tier 1 is Proma Group, the processor is Redstamp, and Sabic supplies the material.

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