Lightweight solutions for external automotive parts

Styron Automotive is participating at this year's international VDI conference "Plastics in Automotive Engineering" with the theme "Engineering the Future", which aptly conveys its commitment to engineering in 2013 and beyond. During the conference, Styron will be showcasing this commitment by exhibiting several new external applications at their stand and will be on-hand to connect further with customers and industry stakeholders.

For Styron Automotive, the VDI Conference is a strong platform to highlight how the processing capabilities of its engineering team can overcome the challenges that the automotive industry is confronted with both today and tomorrow. The on-going trends relating to weight reduction, along with environmental requirements and cost reductions, have opened the door for plastics in external structural parts and thus for a closer collaboration between material supplier and OEM. Accordingly, Styron is focusing on presenting their R&D capabilities in the development of exterior applications and will showcase several new products and applications that illustrate their material science and design engineering capabilities.

Key applications to be exhibited by Styron Automotive are:

• The Integrated bracket for the Ford Fusion: Styron was part of the multi-party collaboration that successfully developed this new Innovative Plastic Bracket which helped Ford win the 2012 SPE Automotive Innovation award for Safety. Styron's INSPIRE long glass fiber polypropylene resin (LGF PP) contributed significantly to absorbing the impact, consequently helping Ford to meet new US Safety regulations.
• The mono-material Thermoplastic Lift-Gate Solution for the New Renault Clio: Styron contributed in the engineering phase, but also brought in its expertise in the material development implementation phase to select and test the materials required to fulfill the specific requirements of this new lift-gate solution. The structural part is produced with long glass fiber polypropylene resin (LGF-PP) concentrate to gain improved stiffness and toughness.
• The spoiler for the New Renault Clio: This part is developed with Styron's MAGNUM 3416 SC, an ABS resin based on Styron's Mass ABS technology, that combines very high heat resistance with excellent processability.
• The spoiler for the Ford Edge: This part is developed with Styron's PULSE B270, a product characterized by its high resistance to heat distortion, its high impact strength as well as its stiffness and good dimensional stability.

"In an industry like ours based on long term stable customer relationships, commitment is an important success factor. Our presence at VDI is centered on the theme of 'Engineering the future' - we want to show our customers how we have continued to invest in our engineering capabilities," says Dagmar van Heur, VP Automotive at Styron. He adds: "Whereas traditionally, plastics was the material of choice for interior parts, today it goes hand in hand with lightweighting, hence the increasing use of plastics for the development of structural parts as well. A key enabling technology for its increased use, are the engineering capabilities for such materials. Whilst OEM engineers are very comfortable working with metal, the use of reinforced plastics requires different engineering skills mainly available at the material supplier's front. We see a clear trend towards partnering of Automotive OEMs with their material supplier for these types of projects. In line with this, one of our main objectives at VDI is to further strengthen customer relationships and help our customers to be more successful with incorporating glass fiber products into their end-products."