Plastics Blaze a Trail for Autonomous Vehicles

AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF SPE SEPTEMBER 2018 Plastics Blaze a Trail for Autonomous Vehicles

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VOLUME 74 ■ NUMBER 8 ■ SEPTEMBER 2018

SPME Focus on: Stephen Johnston 4 University of Massachusetts professor and SPE member Stephen Johnston talks about connecting with students, choosing plastics engineering as a career, and rollerblades

Plastics Make It Possible Why Are We Creating Less Garbage? 6 Waste generation has declined since the late-1990s, despite an 6 By American Chemistry Council increase in plastic usage Despite an increase in plastic usage, America’s waste generation has declined since the late 1990s, according to the American Chemistry Council

Design Notes Student Awards Honor Bill Moggridge’s Legacy While Supporting 10 Young Designers By Robert Grace An award honoring the late British designer Bill Moggridge encourages fledgling designers to seek out new innovations 10 Bill Moggridge pioneered the discipline of interaction design Composites Overmolding Conference Composites Overmolding Expanding Opportunities 16 By Peggy Malnati A new conference, Composites Overmolding, provides molding professionals with a chance to learn about new processes––and network

Automotive Interiors What’s on the Inside? 22 By Jim Romeo 22 Autonomous vehicle technology Auto interiors will be much different in the future as designers reconfigure presents automotive designers and cars to meet the needs of modern drivers and passengers manufacturers with new and innovative designs and functionality Cover Story Easy Riders By Pat Toensmeier AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF SPE SEPTEMBER 2018 28 Plastics Blaze a Trail for Autonomous Vehicles Autonomous vehicles are forcing designers to rethink interiors. Vehicle owners of the future will demand interiors that provide comfort, safety, and entertainment as they shift gears from drivers to passengers

About the cover: The Mercedes Maybach 6 Cabriolet is an all-electric concept car with potential autonomous vehicle cockpit features. The concept car is an example of fresh interior automotive designs as autonomous vehicles become more common. Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 1 CONTENTS

Automotive Lighting Enlightening Possibilities: Plastics Expand Role in Vehicle 38 Lighting Applications By Peggy Malnati Automotive lighting systems have a bright future thanks to polymers and composite materials that offer both safety and comfort to today’s drivers

MD&M East 2018

Micro-Scale Medical Devices Were Big News at MD&M East By Geoff Giordano 28 GM’s Cruise electric car is 46Small-scale micro devices were the big story at MD&M East, held between designed for autonomous driving. June 12 and 14 at the Javits Center in New York City. Microplastics are the The interior is simple yet functional waves of the future as device makers seek out biocompatible parts that are also smaller than ever

Departments

Industry News Events In this issue’s roundup of SPE and Partnered 52 industry news, we explore 64 Conferences, SPE developments from Chevron Phillips Meetings, and Non-SPE Events Chemical, Hard Rock International, PLASTICS, Pilot Chemical, Market Place NatureWorks, Endowment for Clean Oceans, BioLogiQ, and more 38 The long-lasting LED lamps and 68 lenses are designed to last the life Patents of the vehicle Editorial Index Our Regular Roundup of 60 Notable Patents By Dr. Roger Corneliussen 70 Advertisers Index Energy Tips Protect the site against 63 power failure 72 By Robin Kent

46 A variety of micro-connectors and medical and electronic components

2 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Ci Series Weather-Ometers®

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Why Are We Creating Less Garbage? New Study Points to Plastics

By American Chemistry Council

omething odd happened to our garbage a couple decades ago. We started creating less of it. According to a new study by researchers at the Earth Engineering Center at City Col- lege of New York, sometime around the late 1990s we began to see a decrease in the rate Sat which we generate waste compared to economic growth. Typically, as gross domestic product (GDP) increases, the amount of trash increases along with it, at about the same rate. The authors note that both GDP and waste generation tracked each other from 1960 on, as expected—until the late 1990s. Then, as GDP continued to climb, waste generation began to climb more slowly. We were getting richer, but we were creating less waste.

Why? The study’s authors have just one word for you: plastics. Let’s recall what happened during this timeframe. Despite occasional downturns in the economy, since 1960 the U.S. standard of living, GDP, and personal consumption have climbed relentlessly—along with our trash production. In the late 1980s, concerns over our ever- growing garbage boiled over when a barge full of trash from New York wandered all the way to Belize looking for a home for its stinky cargo. (Named The Mobro 4000 and nicknamed the “Gar-barge,” it finally returned to New York where the trash was incinerated.) The wayward barge received national media attention and stoked fears of dwindling landfill space and a “garbage crisis.” During this same time frame, a new-ish material—plastics—was displacing traditional paper, metal, and glass.

Note: This article continues the series of updates in Plas- tics Engineering from Plastics Make it Possible®, an initiative sponsored by America’s Plastics Makers® through the American Chemistry Council. Courtesy of Shutterstock

6 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Conventional wisdom at the time said that our garbage crisis was being caused in large part due to the rapid growth of plastics, particularly plastic packaging and “over-packaging.” The conventional wisdom, still assumed today, is that plastic creates more waste than alternatives and results in a glut of new and unnecessary waste. In other words, plastics caused our garbage crisis and continues to exacerbate the problem today. Right? Not according to the study’s authors. In fact, their conclusion is just the opposite. As noted, the researchers look at economic growth and consumption and compare them to the growth in trash. They use data from studies that measure waste generation slightly differently to account for variations in The Mobro 4000. Courtesy of Newsday methodologies. Then they plot the findings on charts, where GDP shows its inexorable march higher… but waste doesn’t keep pace. In fact, the charts show that the waste ventional wisdom. “See? Plastics are causing our garbage generation rate has flattened. It’s no longer growing as crisis!” But remember: economic growth is far outpacing the economy continues to increase its output. waste generation, which is a very positive trend for our Then the researchers look for reasons why. They exam- environment. Something must be “decoupling” the growth ine the makeup of “municipal solid waste” (MSW) from in GDP from the growth in waste, leading to less stress 1960 to the mid 2010s. As a percentage of MSW, every on the environment. traditional material declined over this time while plastics The answer lies in the nature of plastics: lightweight increased. At first this may seem to correspond with con- yet strong. We may be making more products and pack-

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 7 PLASTICS MAKE IT POSSIBLE

aging year after year, but the products and packaging • “… plastic substitution in automobiles reduces the typically are lighter and use less material. Less material overall weight up to 30 percent leading to a com- results in less waste in the first place, which leads to a slow- mensurate reduction in fuel consumption and down in waste generated. As plastics replaced heavier emissions.” materials, we were able produce more stuff without pro- • “Plastic packaging also conserves energy and natu- ducing the same amount of waste. ral resources compared to its alternatives. Specifically, The authors provide numerous examples. For exam- it would require 1.5 times more aluminum, four times ple, they note that plastics used in containers and more steel and 20 times more glass than plastic to packaging weigh a quarter of the materials they replaced. carry the same volume of a beverage.” That’s incredible. While still delivering the same goods, • “… plastic use in building and construction materi- plastics reduce material use by four times. als saved more than 467 trillion BTUs in a year They also develop scenarios in which plastics have not compared to alternative materials, which is equiva- replaced traditional materials over time to see what impact lent to the average annual energy demand of 4.6 that would have on waste generation. million households in the U.S.” And it’s likely that these numbers will continue to “To understand the impact of plastics on MSW, improve as advances in plastics continue, in particular this study quantitatively analyzed hypothetical the ongoing reduction in the weight of plastics needed for scenarios in which plastic was removed from the certain applications. For example, the authors note that waste stream and was substituted with glass, in 2000 the thickness of plastic packaging averaged about metal, and other materials in its product appli- one third the weight of alternatives. That thickness has cations. For U.S. packaging, the combined weight “continuously decreased by about 3 percent per year, fur- of alternative packaging that would be needed ther reducing the weight exchanged until the ratio reached to substitute U.S. plastic packaging is about 4.5 one quarter of the … weight.” In other words, while plas- times more than the weight of the plastic pack- tics use increases, the amount of plastics needed in many aging that is replaced. For all other product applications decreases. “Even with this significant increase applications, the plastics material substitution in plastics, the total MSW generation did not increase sig- ratio is 3.2, meaning that it would require 3.2 nificantly.” times more material by mass for the same prod- These findings do not mean that creating plastic waste uct if plastic was replaced. This analysis is environmentally benign. As the authors note: “Plastics demonstrates that if glass, metal, and other mate- pose environmental challenges for end-of life disposal.” rials were not substituted by plastics. MSW For example, poor or non-existent waste disposal in some generation would remain coupled to (personal parts of the world results in significant amounts of plas- consumption) growth.” tics being released into our waterways and oceans, causing serious problems. Multinational efforts are under way to This obviously runs counter to conventional wisdom. reverse this alarming trend. The authors suggest that “... And what about the environmental impacts of increased recycling and thermal conversion technologies [convert- plastics use, beyond waste? Surely plastics have greater ing plastics into raw materials] can reduce the overall impacts than alternatives? Again, conventional wisdom pollution and carbon footprint of plastics.” is turned on its head, based on the authors’ review of This study builds on previous studies that have found previously published studies. that plastics help reduce our environmental footprint, in particular by enabling us to do more with less material in • Replacing conventional materials used for common the first place. The findings demonstrate that as our econ- containers and packaging with plastics “resulted in omy grows, we don’t need to trade improved living an 80 percent reduced energy demand and a 130 standards that plastics help deliver for increased envi- percent reduced global warming potential impact.” ronmental degradation and waste.

8 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

DESIGN NOTES

Student Awards Honor Bill Moggridge’s Legacy While Supporting Young Designers The best and brightest design student winners urged to broaden their horizons

By Robert Grace

f legendary British designer Bill Moggridge were still alive today, he’d likely be a tad sheepish. Chances are he’d wonder what he did to deserve having a student design awards competition in his name––but he would see the value in recognizing and encouraging Ioutstanding young talent.

“He’d go along with it,” his Danish-born & Design in london, drifted away from physical prod- wife, Karin, said in a recent interview in uct design decades ago and embraced the san Francisco, “but he probably then-new concept of interaction design, he rec- wouldn’t promote it much.” ognized the changing landscape. In a 2007 interview the soft-spoken Moggridge was known with design advocate and writer gaylon White, Mog- for his modesty almost as much as for gridge said of the practice: “You need another set of his brilliance. He is credited with creating tools, which is about the whole experience. and that’s in 1982 the ubiquitous hinged, clamshell basically storytelling or narrative.” form factor now used by nearly every and so, it is time to tell the story of laptop computer. He was a founding the annual Bill Moggridge awards principal in 1991 of Palo alto, (BMas), which till now have Calif.-based IDEO, arguably the remained intentionally well world’s biggest and best-known under the radar. the tale begins design and innovation firm. He with the student Design helped pioneer the discipline awards of the royal society of interaction design, which of arts in london—and per- studies how humans interact haps may offer some with computers. He wrote well- inspiration to others in the regarded design books, taught plastics industry to follow at the university level, and served suit. as director of the smithsonian Insti- Moggridge, himself tution’s Cooper-Hewitt national Design the recipient of an rsa Museum in new York City from 2010 student Design award until his death in september 2012 at more than half a cen- the age of 69. Bill Moggridge created the clamshell laptop computer tury ago, credited the as Moggridge, a 1965 graduate of form, and pioneered the discipline of interaction honor with giving Central saint Martin’s College of art design. Courtesy of IDEO him the confidence

10 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org to start his own design firm in london in 1969. He then added a second office 10 years later in Palo alto, in the heart of silicon Valley. In 1991, he joined his company with those of David Kelley and Mike nuttall to create IDEO. British designer David turner— another rsa student Design award winner—did not know Moggridge back then, but shared his enthusi- asm for the value of winning such an honor. after earning his Mas- ter’s degree in design from the royal College of art, turner moved to the United states and worked in the textile and fiber industry, before joining Clinton, tenn.-based plastics compounder and materials design firm techmer PM in 2004. several years ago, while president of the rsa U.s. board of directors, turner spearheaded the launch of a series of rsa student Design awards in the states. the first such Stanford University d.school graduate student Alexa Siu (right) received her honors, which carried a $1,000 $10,000 BMA prize check in person last month from Karin Moggridge and prize, were presented at the Cooper Techmer's John Manuck. Siu's advising professor, Sean Follmer, is second from the right. Union in new York in 2013 and Photo by robert grace 2014; from 2013 through 2015, the rsa U.s. gave out a total of 29 rsa U.s. student Design nered with IDEO to keep the Bill Moggridge awards in the awards. Following the success in the U.s., the royal society United states. that year, the Bill Moggridge awards added of arts expanded the sDas into a global program. three new supporting institutions where Moggridge’s teach- in 2011, turner used the rsa U.s. Fellows’ network to ing and presence had a significant impact: the royal College connect with Moggridge—who by then was a globally of art (rCa) in london where he was a visiting professor renowned designer and heading the Cooper-Hewitt Muse- in interaction design; the stanford University d.school um—to seek his support in expanding the student awards (started by IDEO co-founder and CEO David Kelley), where program. Moggridge readily agreed, but shortly thereafter Moggridge was an associate professor; and the California fell gravely ill with cancer, which claimed his life the fol- College of the arts (CCa) in san Francisco, where he lowing year. received an honorary doctorate. In 2014, with the support of techmer PM founder and there is no judging of nominees, per se; instead, par- chief executive officer John Manuck, the tennessee com- ticipating schools nominate their best students and put pany formally launched the Bill Moggridge awards, in their names forward. the winners have quietly received conjunction with the rsa student Design program, initially the monetary prize, and a huge boost to their confidence with a cash prize of $1,000 for each BMa recipient. the and young careers, with little fanfare. prize money rose to $5,000 each in 2015, and then dou- the only stipulation to the winners has been that they bled to $10,000 per winner in 2016. cannot use the money to pay for tuition. Instead—just as “at techmer, we‘ve always placed an extraordinarily Moggridge would have preferred it—they are to use it high value on the discipline of design, while also seeking however they see fit to further their careers and life expe- ways to both identify and develop new talent,” noted rience, to include traveling abroad. the sponsors then Manuck. “through these awards, we’ve been able to ask only that the winners report back in a year about what advance these principles while simultaneously shining a they have done or accomplished. some of the stories are well-deserved spotlight on one of the pioneers of the truly remarkable and inspiring. industry.” the first BMa recipients, in 2014, were sam Bertain and When the rsa took the sDas global, techmer PM part- leslie greene, students of the California College of the

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | 11 DESIGN NOTES

Hoda Khoja arts. the following year’s winner was Keshav ramaswami of the new York City-based Pratt Institute, a native of libya, Hoda which got involved via the rsa U.s. student Design awards. Khoja graduated from 2016 winners include Hoda Khoja of rsa-global, axel the Winchester school of Bluhme of the royal College of art, and CCa’s stephen art at England’s Univer- Moore. sity of southampton, teagan Daly of stanford’s d.school won the 2017 award, graphic arts, thanks to and this year’s winners—who received their winnings in a government grant person last month from Karin Moggridge, John Manuck from her home country. and David turner—are d.school’s alexa siu and CCa Her winning project, graphic designer Mark andrew Buenafe. called Iro, involved cre- For more about the past recipients, visit the BMa web- ating a new material site’s award Winners page (www.billmoggridgeawards. from reprocessed paint com/award-winners). Meantime, here are some more and ink waste that helps details about a few of the notable winners, the work they produce things like fur- are doing, and how they leveraged the BMa winnings to niture, jewelry and advance their goals. interior finishes. Khoja wants to leverage her she says she may pur- BMA winnings to encourage other young designers in her sue a Master’s degree in home country of Libya. industrial or interdisci- Courtesy of the Bill Moggridge awards plinary design, but also is leveraging her BMa win to further educational opportunities for others in libya. she said she has interest in establishing a partnership to create a “school workshop center” aimed at design training and education for kids who lack opportunities to study abroad. Winning the award, she told the BMa leaders, “showed me that no matter where you came from, no matter the background that you had, no matter if you were able to speak English a few years or not, you are the human able to change, able to develop if you got the chance to do so.” though she began by studying computer science and medicine in her home country, she discovered she had a strong interest in storytelling and thinking creatively, and she was inspired by reading about designers such as Mog- gridge. “Bill Moggridge, as a designer, has been a huge inspiration for me,” she said. “It was insane for me when they told me this award was named after him. I was like, ‘this is not a coincidence.’”

The ninth BMA winner—Oman-born Filipino Mark Axel Bluhme Andrew Buenafe, who became a naturalized U.S. citi- zen last year—earned the honor for his excellent For axel Bluhme, a swedish interaction design student, graphic design work at the California College of the winning the Bill Moggridge award was like music to his Arts, where he is about to start his senior year. He is ears. Bluhme, who studied at london’s royal College of pictured here Karin Moggridge and CCA President art, won for his project called the XOXX Composer. Stephen Beal. Courtesy of techmer PM He has described it as a “sound sample instrument that

12 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org uses magnets to create divisions. this means the user is able to make polyrhythmic digital music in a playful compositions, something that can become complex and and visual way.” It is a experimental. plug-and-play hardware “the award has been very helpful in establishing contact and desktop app that with companies I am particularly interested in,” said helps compose everything Bluhme, who got hired by google in the U.K. after receiving from 1980s to hip-hop his award. at google, he worked full time on a project beats by snapping mag- called nsynth super, which is part of an ongoing exper- nets into place on eight iment by Magenta: a research project within google that rotating discs. those explores how machine learning tools can help artists discs enable sound sam- create art and music in new ways. ples to be played But even though he very much liked google, and they “dynamically” with one wanted to keep him, Bluhme since has chosen to push another at the same time, Axel Bluhme's creative work himself to new extremes by moving back to sweden, Bluhme has ex plained on with digital music landed him where he his goal is to establish his own design firm. his website. Each disc is a job with Google UK. But he like Khoja, Bluhme said he was heavily influenced by quantized into 16 steps, has since returned to his Bill Moggridge after reading his influential 2007 book (of with potential to create native Sweden to chart his 766 pages with accompanying DVD featuring 37 designer complex rhythmical pat- own course. interviews) called “Designing Interactions”. While Bluhme’s terns. Below each disc is Courtesy of the Bill Moggridge awards background is in classic industrial design, he felt compelled an interface for pitch tun- to pursue interaction design at rCa. Bill Moggridge would ing and volume output. be proud. Bluhme told BMa leaders upon winning that the award Alexa Fay Siu money would enable him to fund and further the XOXX Composer’s capabilities. He’s experimenting with making a third-year Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering (ME) discs that have different types of “quantizations,” or step in the shape lab at stanford University, alexa siu is of Chi-

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE ®) is announcing a “Call for Nominations” for its 48th-annual Automotive Innovation Awards CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Gala, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics • MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF industries. This year’s Awards Gala will be held Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at the Burton Manor in Livonia, Mich. Winning part nominations (due by PLASTICS AWARDS September, 15, 2018) in 10 different categories, and the teams that developed them, will be honored with a Most Innovative Use of Plastics award. A Grand For more info and to submit Award will be presented to the winning team from all category award winners. nominations, go to: www.http://speautomotive.com/ SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES innovation-awards-gala. This annual event currently draws over 800 OEM engineers, automotive and plastics industry executives, and media. A variety of sponsorship packages - including tables at the banquet, networking receptions, advertising in the program book, signage at the event and more are available. Contact Teri Chouinard of Intuit Group at [email protected].

INNOVATIVE PART COMPETITION CATEGORIES: • Additive Manufacturing • Materials • Aftermarket • Process, Assembly & • Body Exterior Enabling Technologies • Body Interior • Powertrain • Chassis/Hardware • Safety • Environmental & Hall of Fame

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | 13 DESIGN NOTES

nese descent but was born in the U.s. and action and platform motion both raised in Panama. she moved back to the tracked using either in infrared U.s. in 2011, at age 17, to earn a Bachelor motion capture system or an HtC of science degree at georgia tech, with a Vive-based Vr tracking system. minor in computer science focused on arti- In an april review, gizmodo con- ficial intelligence, followed by a Master of tributing editor andrew liszewski science degree in ME at stanford. stated: “shapeshift looks like a small now 25, she has worked on some mind- desktop PC augmented with a dense bending projects—from a medical device grid of rectangular ‘pins’ on top. capable of making an incision in the When it’s moved around on a flat eardrum and delivering an ear tube all in surface like a table, a tracking mark- one step, to developing an autonomous er syncs the location of the mobile robot—to her current labor of love, shapeshift box to the location of dubbed shapeshift. the user’s hands in a virtual reality Working with colleagues in stanford’s world. When the user’s virtual Known as a gentle and modest but shape lab, and being advised by Prof. sean brilliant man, Bill Moggridge has hands reach out to touch a virtual Follmer, siu has developed shapeshift, a inspired countless designers with his object, the pins atop the shapeshift compact, high-resolution, mobile table- designs, teachings and writings. extend and retract to form a crude top shape display. shapeshift (see it in Courtesy of IDEO representation of that object in the action at bit.ly/shapeshift) is an open- real world, allowing it to be felt and source platform that works in conjunction touched. with a user who is wearing a virtual reality (Vr) headset. “While it’s fascinating research even at this small scale,” It renders physical shapes using 288 actuated square pins liszewski concluded, “imagine an entire room with wall- (4.85mm width, 7mm pitch). Passive and active mobile to-wall undulating rods instead of a floor: the terrain inside tabletop platforms enable lateral motion, with user inter- a Vr experience could be perfectly recreated under foot, allowing someone to physically climb over hills, debris, or other objects, enhancing the overall experience.” and in an aug. 9 interview in the stanford shape lab, siu and Follmer said they are working with a small team at Volkswagen ag headquarters in Wolfsburg, germany, to explore how this technology—which combines virtual

While using a Vive VR headset to view virtual objects in front of you, you can reach out and run your hand over those "objects" and feel, via the undulating metal pins on Alexa Siu's shapeShift device, the approximate shape of those objects. This is still very much a research project, but companies such as Volkswagen are taking notice and seeking to leverage its potential for product development. Courtesy of techmer PM

14 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org reality with haptic technology to simulate the feeling of a program had been established in Bill’s name. now living physical object—could be leveraged to help speed the in Portland, Ore., and a well-regarded artist and textile design and development of vehicles. designer in her own right, Karin is still adjusting to life the Wall Street Journal reported on VW’s interest this without her partner of nearly 50 years. But seeing the good past april, and said the automaker’s aim is “to identify that is happening to other young designers because of potentially costly design problems earlier in the develop- the awards is giving her strength. ment cycle.” she would like to see the BMas evolve by adding more “they want to use more virtual reality than just foam participating colleges, and she believes firmly in the winners and clay models, to get more of a sense of touch,” explained using the prize money to travel abroad. “that mission is Follmer, who once took a course from Moggridge, and is so important,” she says, “to go out and see the world.” thrilled that a student awards program has been established in the late designer’s name to help extend his legacy. Meanwhile, siu, who is considering teaching full-time ABOUT THE AUTHOR once she earns her Ph.D., is excited to use her recent BMa robert grace is a writer, editor and marketing prize money to further her work in this area. communications professional who has been active in B2B journalism since 1980. He was founding editor of and worked for 25 years Making a difference at Plastics News, serving as editorial director, associate publisher and conference director. Fittingly, like Moggridge, Hoda Khoja says: “I want to be He was managing editor of Plastics remembered as a designer who can really make a change.” Engineering from July 2016 through October Ironically, indirectly because of Bill Moggridge, for her 2017, and now is both editor of sPE’s Journal of Blow Molding and directing content and other BMa winners, that is more likely than not. strategy for sPE. He runs his own firm, rC For her part, Karin Moggridge recalled recently being grace llC, in Daytona Beach, Fla., and can be “shocked” at learning nearly five years ago that an awards contacted at [email protected] .

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www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | PlastICs EngInEErIng | 15 COMPOSITES OVERMOLDING CONFERENCE

Composites Overmolding Expanding Opportunities New conference charts work to extend overmolding technologies to more composites, applications, and markets

By Peggy Malnati

vermolding—the technique of sequentially covering all or part of a plastic or composite part with another layer of a related plastic or composite from the same chemical family—is not new. However, there is both renewed interest in the technique and active Owork in the technology area based on a new, day-and-a-half-long technical conference in the Detroit suburbs that attracted 170 people to see 18 presentations and visit the displays of seven sponsors.

The Composites Overmolding Conference was held the most successful launches were pushed by the Tier 1 between June 13 and 14 at the Suburban Collection Show- and also reminded the audience of how critical accurate place in Novi, Mich., and was organized by Gardner Business simulation tools are. He also challenged the composites Media, Inc., which publishes plastics molding, additive man- community to develop standardized automated materials ufacturing, and composites magazines plus several handling and placement equipment and provide extended metalworking publications. The program was held in con- materials cards for use analyzing nonlinear load cases. junction with and adjacent to the Amerimold Expo, an Next up, Nuno Helder, owner and principal consultant annual show dedicated to the molding and moldmaking for the Bracara Group of St. Gallen, Switzerland, spoke industry and that also hosted technical presentations. about Composite Overmoulding Opportunities in Aero- space—A Helicopter View. He described interesting work One-Minute Cycle-Time Initiative in aerospace to combine composites with additive manu- Since this was Detroit—where production speed and cost facturing—which he called overprinting—and reminded the of composite parts are always of concern—the single-track predominantly auto-industry audience that since fuel rep- overmolding program had a strong focus on rapid-cycling resents 50 percent of operating costs in aviation, original materials, processes, and equipment that can deliver one- equipment manufacturers have great interest in reducing minute or faster effective cycle times. costs and weight and increasing productivity and are looking The first day began with a keynote address by Patrick to automotive for help with that. He also spoke about the Blanchard, global technical leader of the Composites, need for the supply chain to drive the value chain. Research & Innovation Center for Ford Motor Co., titled Mark Bouwman, business development and lab operations Opportunities for Hybrid Composite Design and Challenges for ThermoPlastic composites Research Center (TPRC) head- to Implementation. He outlined some of Ford’s own chal- quartered in Enschede, The Netherlands, gave a speech lenges and successes bringing composite components to titled Overmoulding—An Integrated Design Approach for passenger vehicles. Blanchard acknowledged that some of Dimensional Accuracy and Strength of Structural Parts.

16 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org While composites overmold- This talk focused on bilateral projects that the TPRC con- ing is not new, there is still sortium has been doing to increase productivity, including a lot of work going on in a comparison of a carbon fiber/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) this technology area based and carbon/polyaryletherketone (PAEK) co-molded test part on the wide variety of mate- produced in one- versus two-step processes. rials, processes, equipment, After a coffee break, which provided opportunities to and applications discussed at the conference. Rien van network and visit exhibitors at either Composites Over- den Aker, director of Van molding or next door at the Ameritech Expo, Vanja Ugresic, Wees UD and Crossply operations manager for the Fraunhofer Project Centre @ Technology B.V., gave a talk Western University in london, Ontario, stepped in for her about recycling scrap from thermoplastic as well as colleagues in Germany to discuss ongoing research on uncured thermoset prepreg and tapes. Structural Thermoplastic Lightweight Design for Automotive Photo courtesy of Rien van den Aker Mass Production—Overmoulding of UD Tapes with LFT in Compression Molding. She outlined the team’s latest work with consolidated tailored blanks laid up using unidirectional Composites’ Manufacturing Solutions. He discussed new (UD) thermoplastic tapes of fiberglass and polyamide 6 work on design optimization for sheet-molding compound (PA6) on a fourth-generation thermoplastic tape layup sys- (SMC) composites via closed-loop integrated workflows. tem from press manufacturer Dieffenbacher GmbH Next, Alex Walk, manager of new products and technology Maschinen-und Anlagenbau of Eppingen, Germany. for SGl Group—The Carbon Co., headquartered in Park It was back to aerospace applications again when Mike City, Utah, gave a presentation on Pre-Impregnated Material Favaloro, president of CompositeTechs, llC, based in Ames- Systems for High-Volume Production. He described a fas- bury, Mass., spoke about A Process for Injection/Compression Overmolding of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites featuring a continuous fiber strut bar compression molded in carbon/PEEK towpregs with an integral injection molded boss of discontinuous carbon/PEEK. This was followed by Rien van den Aker, director for Van Wees UD and Crossply Technology B.V. of Tilburg, The Netherlands, who gave a talk about recycling scrap from thermoplastic as well as uncured thermoset prepreg and tapes in a talk entitled Tailored Blanks for Overmoulding— Zero Waste, Made from UD Tapes. He described work in PA6 organosheet to form an 11-ply automotive door crash beam that he described as good looking with good forma- bility. After lunch, the program picked up again with Daniel Flagg, senior process engineer for PolyOne Corp., who spoke on the subject of Concept to Component: Continuous Fiber Reinforcement for Advanced Thermoplastic Design. He spoke about how compression-overmolded continuous- fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) combined the best attributes of injection molding and continuous-fiber composites. He compared the performance of CFRTP to The new Composites Overmolding Conference held long-fiber thermoplastic (lFT) materials, saying the former June 13 to 14 in the Detroit suburbs had a strong was 325 percent stiffer, reduced thickness by 68 percent, focus on materials, processes, and equipment that and increased impact strength by 79 percent while simul- could deliver one-minute or faster effective cycle taneously cutting weight in half. He also noted that should times in deference to the largely automotive-industry damage occur, it can be repaired by reheating and reworking audience. The program began with a keynote by Patrick Blanchard, global technical leader of the the damaged section of the part. Composites, Research & Innovation Center of Ford New Work on Design Optimization Motor Co., who outlined the automaker’s own challenges and successes bringing composite components Srikar Vallury, engineering/account manager of Moldex3D to passenger vehicles and challenged the composites from CoreTech System Co., ltd. of Chupei City, Taiwan, industry to help make that process easier. followed with a discussion of CAE Approach to Advanced Courtesy of Peggy Malnati

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | 17 COMPOSITES OVERMOLDING CONFERENCE

cinating research project to stiffen an electric car without He was followed by Dustin Davis, director of technology a central tunnel that involved 13 separate components, and business development for Norplex-Micarta, who dis- five joining techniques, and 10 consecutive joining oper- cussed Utilization of Continuous and Discontinuous Fiber ations in a multi-material assembly produced with both Reinforced Thermoset Materials in Compression Molding thermoplastics and thermosets via multiple processes. Processes. This involved two studies on co-molding dis- After another coffee break, the program picked up again continuous-fiber bulk-molding compound (BMC) and with a brief on a research project for the China market continuous-fiber prepreg in a hybrid compression molding involving a very-thin, injection-molded tablet frame in a process to form two parts: a dome and a bridge. By lever- talk entitled Thin and Light Hybrid Composite Overmolded aging the benefits of both continuous and discontinuous Solutions for Portable Consumer Electronics Products by materials, not only did parts weigh less and process faster, Scott Davis, project engineer of performance materials at but they also were less costly. SABIC of Houston. The 3 to 4 mm hybrid overmolded solu- The conference’s first day ended with a presentation tion used both UD thermoplastic tapes and discontinuous from Uday Vaidya, professor and governor’s chair in fiber polycarbonate (both fiberglass and carbon fiber were advanced composites manufacturing at University of Ten- evaluated) and molds in under 30 seconds. nessee at Knoxville and chief technology officer of the Next up was Frank Ferfecki, technical leader for Victrex Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innova- plc, which is based in lancashire, England, whose talk tion, both in Knoxville, Tenn., whose topic was Compression focused on Shaping Future Performance: Thermoplastic Overmolding of SMC and LFT Composites. Vaidya described Composite Hybrid Overmolding. He described interface- work with what he called E-lFT (lFT plus endless (contin- evaluation work done using lower-melting UD carbon/PAEK uous-fiber) tapes) produced via extrusion/compression tapes injection overmolded with discontinuous carbon/PEEK molding as well as a combination of continuous fiberglass that was used to replace a machined aluminum bracket in plus SMC with discontinuous glass reinforcement. An inter- an aerospace application. esting side study involved comparing thermoplastic tape

Seven sponsors helped underwrite the cost of Composites Overmolding and presented their technologies at booths in the presentation area. Most sponsors also participated in the technical talks. One display came from Roctool of Le Bourget du Lac, France, that featured a wide variety of intricately molded textures and fabric or wood overlays (left). These were produced using the company’s inductive mold heating/cooling technology. The most colorful part was a polycarbonate test plaque whose intricate design (right) was molded––not etched––via Roctool’s new Inductive Dual Heating (IDH) technology. The resin’s inherent birefringence creates natural rainbow effects on the part’s surface in sections where the design was molded. Photos courtesy of Peggy Malnati

18 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org thickness versus part performance. developed by the Innovate U.K. consortium of Swindon, On day two, the conference began with two back-to-back Wiltshire, England, involving a C-pillar reinforcing panel in presentations on competitive methods to rapidly heat and continuous carbon/PA6 prepreg overmolded with discon- cool molds. Steve Verschaeve, vice president of North Amer- tinuous carbon/PA6 compound produced with a variety of ican business development for Roctool S.A., headquartered fiber forms and processes. The final—and best—combina- in le Bourget du lac, France, discussed Lightweighting with tion lowered mass 40 percent versus the benchmark metallic Roctool IDH—Inductive Dual Heating. IDH is a new hybrid structure and reduced capital expenditures since the part technology combining compression molding and injection was able to be molded on a 300 instead of a 900 ton/tonne overmolding in a single step using a tool with a rotary table press. that indexes between cavities where first a cold continu- Continuing the machinery focus in this segment, Jürgen ous-fiber composite is heated and formed via Giesow, regional manager for Arburg GmbH + Co KG of thermoforming, then is back injected with discontinuous- loßburg, Germany, gave a talk entitled Weight Reduction fiber material. A video demonstrated the fully automated of Plastic Components Using Modern Technology that out- technology as it produced a laptop cover/frame. lined a number of technologies the company has developed He was followed by Chris Huskamp, an independent con- to reduce mass in automotive parts, including the ProFoams sultant who manages all North American projects for Surface microcellular foaming process and the FDC (direct fiber Generation ltd., headquartered in East Midlands, England, compounding) process, which eliminates the need to buy on the topic of Economic Metal Replacement in Automotive pre-compounded pellets. He then described work combining Applications. Surface Generation uses a different technology compression molded UD glass/polypropylene (PP) (pixelated control that’s both adaptive and reactive) to pro- organosheet that was injection overmolded with discon- vide thermal management and rapid heating/cooling of tinuous glass/PP compound (produced via FDC) to produce tools to mold plastics, composites, and metals. The tech- a handle in 45 to 50 seconds. nology’s capabilities were demonstrated via a test part After a coffee break, the program continued with a shift

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | 19 COMPOSITES OVERMOLDING CONFERENCE

in focus to recycling and recycled carbon fiber. First up was of recycled carbon fiber make it a viable alternative to fiber- a co-presentation by Stephen Rawson, partner with R&M glass in many applications and that unless there is a International Sales Corp. of Fort Washington, Pa., and Vamsi requirement for very-high laminate stiffness, the high Patlolla of Shocker Composites llC of Wichita, Kan., who strength of recycled carbon fiber laminates make them both described work on Practical Developments in the Use of viable and cost-effective alternatives to virgin carbon fiber Recycled “Preimpregnated” Carbon Fiber Materials. This in many applications. involved aerospace-grade recycled carbon fiber (produced The Composites Overmolding conference was supported via Shocker’s proprietary process) that was used in SMC and by exhibitor-sponsors, PolyOne Corp., Prospect Mold, SABIC, BMC parts and newer work to use it in pelletized thermo- R&M International, Shocker Composites llC, Roctool S.A., plastic PA6/6. and Victrex plc. The last presentation of the day was given by Frazer Tariff Battles a Concern at Amerimold Barnes, managing director of ElG Carbon Fibre, ltd. based in Coseley, West Midlands, England, who addressed the The co-located Amerimold Show was well-attended with just topic of Application of Recycled Carbon Fibre in Composite under 3,000 registered attendees and 185 sponsors/exhibitors Overmoulding. He gave an overview of his own company’s covering a wide variety of moldmaking products and services. work producing recycling carbon fiber as chopped fiber for For the second year, the show featured technical talks in the thermoplastic compounds and hybrid nonwoven mats (car- Tech Talk Theater plus four in-booth demos at the displays bon and thermoplastic fibers) for preconsolidated laminates. of four sponsors. Barnes contends the higher mechanicals and lower density Walking the exhibit and speaking with a number of spon-

Composites Overmolding was held in conjunction with the Amerimold Expo, which covers all things involving moldmaking and mold makers. Often described as the one place where the metalworking and plastics industries come together happily, Amerimold 2018 attracted just under 3,000 registered attendees to see 185 exhibits. Photos courtesy of Amerimold

20 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org sors, it was interesting to note the level of concern expressed over the then pending tariff battles ramping up between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and China that are expected to have a strong negative impact on the domestic automotive industry and consumer spending. Amerimold, which has had several different names and one previous owner, was first held in 2000 and was acquired by Gardner in 2006. The show alternates between Novi, Mich., one year and Rosemont, Ill., the following year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Peggy Malnati has more than 30 years' experience writing about the global plastics and composites industries. She has organized technical conferences for SPI, SPE and SAE International, edited the 1994 book, “Structural Analysis of Thermoplastic Components” from McGraw-Hill, spent 15 years as board member Now in its 18th year, Amerimold alternates between and communications chair for the SPE Auto- Detroit and Chicago suburbs annually. Many motive Division, and has been a contributing exhibitors expressed concerns about pending tariff writer covering automotive and composites battles between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the beats for various trade publications, including European Union, and China. If allowed to escalate, the Plastics Engineering. She also provides commu- tariffs could have a deeply negative impact on the nications services for plastics- and composites-industry clients globally domestic automotive industry as well as on consumer via her own Detroit-area firm. Contact her at . spending. Courtesy of Amerimold [email protected]

SPE’s AAdditivesdditiSPE’s dditives & CColor olor EEuropeur ope ConferenceferonC ence moves to FFrankfurt!!furtrank CALL FOR PAPERSPAPERS This biannual conference is the best place to learn about the latest in state-of-the-art AbstractAbstract submission deadline is additives, pigments & dyes and master batches 30 SeptemberSeptember 2018! for plastics, and connect with the entire industry value chain, from raw material and Include the prospective title and general outline of the equipment suppliers to OEMs. work. Authors should provide an abstract (300 word max) of their paper before 30 September 2018.

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www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PlASTICS ENGINEERING | 21 AUTOMOTIVE INTERIORS

What's on the Inside? With 8 million autonomous vehicles expected to enter the world in the next five years, what will their interiors be like?

By Jim Romeo

ne day your car may speed along an electric super-highway, its speed and steering automatically controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road. Highways “O will be made safe—by electricity! No traffic jams ... no collisions ... no driver fatigue.” That's how the copy reads for a Central Power and Light Co. advertisement from 1956, 62 years ago. The ad depicts a happy family speeding down a freeway’s center lane alongside other conventional cars, in a convertible dri - verless vehicle. Their faces shine with bright, genteel smiles as they play dominoes. More than 60 years later, the autonomous vehicle—one that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input—is making a slow and steady appear - ance as transportation for everyone. The world's steadfast effort to go driverless—with cars, trucks, planes, trains, boats, and more—offers innovation not just on the out - side and mechanics of the vehicle, but also on the inside. The interiors of autonomous vehicles promise to feature the epitome of modern materials, styling, innovation, and functionality. Everything Old Is New Again Our infatuation with a driverless vehicle began a long time ago, even before the 1960s. The dream has never gone away. This time, however, it seems to be on its way to a reality. This 1956 Central Power and Light Co. advertisement (www.velocetoday.com) reads: “Electricity may be the An early representation of an automated guided car driver. One day, your car may speed along an electric was shown at General Motor's Futurama exhibit at the super-highway, its speed and steering automatically 1939 World's Fair. It depicted radio-controlled electric controlled by electronic devices embedded in the road. cars that were propelled via electromagnetic fields provided Highways will be made safe––by electricity! No traffic by circuits embedded in the roadway, like a glistening jams ... no collisions ... no driver fatigue.” new toy set that depicted transportation utopia. All photos courtesy of Jim Romeo

22 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Norman Bel Geddes, the industrial designer behind Gen - eral Motors Corp.’s exhibit, described the envisioned system in his 1940 book, Magic Motorway . In it, he pro - moted advances in highway design and transportation, foreshadowing the Interstate Highway System, and argued that humans should be removed from the process of driv - ing. Bel Geddes forecasted that advances would be a reality in 20 years: “But these cars of 1960 and the highways on which they drive will have in them devices which will correct the faults of human beings as drivers. They will prevent the driver from committing errors. They will prevent his turning out into traffic except when he should. They will aid him in passing through intersections without slowing down or causing anyone else to do so and without endangering himself to others.” Preparing to Be a Passenger Autonomous vehicle technology presents automotive If and when autonomous vehicles are widely adopted, the designers and manufacturers with new and innovative role of a vehicle operator will change to become less of designs and functionality. a driver and more of a passenger. This shift is a major part of the change to come. The Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) outlines the five levels of control. Level 0 is when the driv - more about a particular airline’s service or the amenities er is in full control. It proceeds to Level 1, in which limited of the airplane’s interior, like the comfort from a lie-flat steering and acceleration tasks are automated, and the seat in business or first class." driver controls the rest. The scale progresses up to Lev - Bernardon affirms the same mindset will apply to el 5, in which full automation in all conditions is in effect. autonomous car interiors. “Your mobility experience will According to ABI Research, a market-foresight adviso - be delivered by the interior,” he says. “So, there is a lot ry firm, 8 million consumer vehicles will hit the roads in of interest in what it’s going to be like, especially if you 2025 with SAE Level 3 and 4 technologies; in these vehi - think of an autonomous car as a living room on wheels, cles, “drivers will still be necessary but are able to with possibilities maybe as varied [as the] stationary liv - completely shift safety-critical functions to the vehicle ing room in your home.” under certain conditions and SAE Level 5 technology, Industrial designer Aleksandra Gaca explains her con - where no driver will be required at all.” cept for the future of interior design in an article on the With the focus off the road ahead, this change will bring industrial design website Core77.com . She characterizes more importance to the vehicle interior, specifically to its our potential relationship with the interior as an oppor - feel, look, and functionally. The cabin area of an tunity to reinvent it in the age of the autonomous vehicle. autonomous vehicle will play two roles: one in terms of Gaca specifically describes her assignment from French form, livability, and style, and the other in terms of func - car manufacturer Renault to design interior fabrics for tion as the driver must still be prepared to take over the visionary Renault SYMBIOZ as a concept car and, well, control. an extension of home. Picking fabric wasn’t enough for Gaca or for Renault, it seems. Instead, when it came to fab - The Zen of Autonomous Interiors ric for this futuristic, beyond-luxury vehicle, she created Siemens PLC Software has all eyes on the market for auto - her own. She writes: “I translated Renault's needs into motive interiors. In a blog entry, ( https://community.plm. woven form and created a new version of Bloko, a 3D fab - automation.siemens.com/t5/Digital-Transformations/How- ric. The new Bloko, in two shades of gray, covers the car will-autonomous-cars-look-as-they-hit-the-road/ba-p/445930 ), seats and the upholstery of the large sofa in the home, the vice president of strategic automotive initiatives for uniting the two spaces and giving them a touch of warmth the company's Specialized Engineering Software, said that and a reassuring feel.” the "impact of autonomous car and mobility service Her approach, Renault’s approach, and what seems to providers will likely become similar to that of companies be everyone’s approach to autonomous vehicles, is to in the airline industry. People on airplanes don’t care invent a new mobile experience. The interior of an about whether they’re in a Boeing or an Airbus; they care autonomous vehicle will become the intersection of mobil -

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 23 AUTOMOTIVE INTERIORS

ity, utility, convenience, technology, and (don’t forget) vehicle in creating the interior and human factor func - transportation. tionality of the autonomous vehicle. As Gaca describes it: “The Renault SYMBIOZ concept Ku took to horseback riding and tango dancing to exam - car was conceived as an extension of the home on the ine the unique chemistry that exists in such avocations road. When parked inside the home, it becomes a mobile, (horse and rider, dancer and partner) and applied the modular, and multi-purpose additional room. The goal same chemistry to driver and vehicle. In the article, he of the design was to make sure the cabin was livable like described the relationship as somewhat abstract and cre - any modern home.” ating “intelligent companions in a dynamic, visceral, and But there’s also the functionality of the interior; in fact, evolving relationship.” it’s quite important. Automotive designers are eliciting Other companies are also embracing the synergy they ideas from many other designers and thinkers in art and believe will exist between an autonomous vehicle and its design schools around the country. The New York Times driver, since the functionality of the vehicle will be so reported on Calvin Ku of the ArtCenter Design Center in attuned to the driver’s creature comforts and disposition. Pasadena, Calif. Ku is a graduate student in transporta - “Interiors on autonomous vehicle platforms will be tak - tion systems and design. His thesis, “Enthusiast ing on a totally new approach,” says Tony Lancione, vice Autonomous Experiences,” emphasizes the need to focus president of supply chain solutions at IndustryStar Solu - on a unique synergy or partnership between driver and tions in Ann Arbor, Mich. “They will be approached more

Above: Thanks to a convergence of technological advances, automated driving systems are becoming a reality. Their carefully designed interiors will poten - tially increase productivity and improve the quality of life for millions of people. Top right: The interior of an autonomous vehicle will play two roles: one of form or comfort and style, but also functionality whereby the driver may be prepared to take control over the vehicle. Right: The future of autonomous vehicles is full of promise. Their interiors will play an important part in the aesthetics and comfort of being in the vehicle but also in its functionality and utility to the passenger.

24 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Avi Reichental, founder and chief executive officer of XponentialWorks, is now leading partnerships between traditional auto part manufacturers and 3D printing tech startups to create unprecedented features that major auto manufacturers are integrating into self- driving cars. He says the transformation to autonomous vehicles and their newer technological interiors will require a mindshift to leaving the classic paradigm of driving behind. Instead of being the chauffeur, they are now being chauffeured.

as a living space as opposed to a vehicle. The dynamic is totally shifting where an individual will no longer have the road as his or her number one focus, but comfort, instead.” The interior design will have added emphasis on com - fort and functionality to parallel other parts of our “smart” life by offering features we're used to seeing with our smart homes, smart phones, and other 21st-century inno - vations. Panasonic Corp., for example, is rethinking the interior lighting of such vehicles to match it to a driver’s mood or providing technology that will allow passengers to search for nearby parking spots. Panasonic, as well as students at design schools, are also shifting the focus of another interior element with an important new function: the windshield. In full-fledged autonomous mode, a vehicle’s windshield could, remark -

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 25 AUTOMOTIVE INTERIORS

ably, become a wide-screen display. For watching a movie, turers and 3D printing firms to meet the parts demands perhaps? Or it can be used for anything we would nor - by major auto manufacturers to complete designs for mally turn to a wide-screen display for, except now it self-driving cars. “The same way that people place great would be a “window to the world.” value on interior decorating spaces where they spend As designers embark on interior functionality, they are most of their time, typically the kitchen and family room, including all sensory perceptions into the mix. Sound, for is going to happen with vehicle interiors,” he says. “We will example, may be heard with noise-cancellation technol - see several trends. One is related to functionality: for ogy that may be able to switch from driver to passenger what purpose am I using the vehicle? Is it a space for in the event the driver takes control. Or sound may shift work, commuting, entertainment and leisure, camping, from front of vehicle to rear as activity within the vehicle or deliveries?” changes. The Way Ahead Other companies such as Bosch have further foresight into this phenomenon, believing vehicles will not neces - The years ahead will be formative and telling for the future sarily be owned as they are today. Instead, vehicles may of human transport as the full development of the be shared or used in community through pooling of assets, autonomous vehicle emerges. Not only may ownership akin to a public transportation model. The passenger or of the vehicle take on a different paradigm, but the inte - user of the vehicle may be linked through biometric tech - rior, replete with sophisticated materials and features, nology such as iris scan, face recognition, smart phone will also reflect the changing needs and usages. connection, or some other means to connect with their Regarding ownership, Reichental echoes Bosch, believ - unique preferences in terms of music, temperature, and ing that people will probably not need to own a car but even ergonomic support. to summon one in a sharing arrangement with others. If Avi Reichental, founder and chief executive officer of you do own one, however, you'll want to customize it as XponentialWorks, is working with auto parts manufac - you do your own home. “For those who will insist on owning their own vehicle, there’s going to be an opportunity for significant interi - SAE International’s Autonomous or customization,” he predicts. “It’s going to become Vehicle Scale of Control another living space as opposed to a commuting and operating space. For most of us, we focus mainly on oper - Level 1: Limited control via automation on some func - ating the vehicle, and maybe answer phone calls and listen tions such as steering or perhaps acceleration without to music. When that focus is no longer necessary, the human intervention. All other usual vehicle functions whole purpose of the space and utility will change, and are under human control. there’ll be opportunities for automakers to differentiate Level 2: More advanced automation with more control, through features of design, creature comforts, illumina - almost like advanced cruise control. Right now, this is tion, connectivity, and relaxation. On top of that, there will the only authorized autonomous level on public roads. also be the opportunity for customizations to meet per - Drivers must be alert and prepared to take control, ready sonal styles and needs.” at the wheel. Personal styles and customizations within the vehicle will Level 3: Even more advanced automation where safe - stand to complicate the designs for autonomous vehicle ty-critical functions are left up to the vehicle control, interiors. They will parallel the world’s infatuation with given certain conditions of traffic and environment. The technology as a lifestyle enhancement: think smart phones, driver may cede most of the functions of driving over to smart homes, smart buildings, and smart everything. New the autonomous technology of the vehicle. materials and components that integrate with sophisti - Level 4: One step below full automation, the vehicle cated technology will become commonplace. drives itself without human input. It may be programmed “Plastic manufacturers and interior car designers and to stay out of certain mapped areas and off the road in manufacturers must bring into their universe of expert - certain weather conditions. ise intelligent structures that can provide strength and Level 5: The autonomous vehicle, in its entirety, has resiliency almost on demand,” says Reichental. He expects control. things like nanotechnology to be prevalent in the interi -

26 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org or designs because the wear and tear, weight and func - travel and transport, should change—for the better. tionality will change significantly. “The morphing of the automobile from a driver-centric “Companies will need to learn how to integrate trans - device to an autonomous device will create more oppor - parent electrochromatic interactive surfaces, electronics, tunities than it destroys,” observes Reichental. “The vehicle encapsulated sensors, and antennas into plastic struc - will become a canvas for many new technologies and busi - tures, and become proficient in bio-luminescence and ness models. It’s going to be become one giant surface lighting integration into plastic surfaces,” he notes. human-to-machine interface similar to how our smart - “The maker of parts will also have to learn how to use phones are the most immediate interface that puts our sensors and AI to create some of the human-to-machine brain online. In the future, it will be the car, and that’s interfacing that will be necessary.” why so many new players are clamoring to get in on the action. The size of the prize is enormous.” Will Electricity Be the Driver, for Real? Thus, the vision that Norman Bel Geddes created for the ABOUT THE AUTHOR 1939 World’s Fair and the rendering that the Central Pow - Jim Romeo is a freelance writer based in er and Light Co. advertisement depicted in 1956 may Chesapeake, Va. For more than 20 years, he become reality. For years, society has been mesmerized has contributed numerous articles to vari - ous publications on the topics of logistics, at the concept of self-driving vehicles, where the driver is engineering, software and supply-chain man - more of a passenger, where the adventure of travel is one agement. He earned his B.S. in mechanical without attention to the road or other cars around you, engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine and where the time spent traveling is almost entirely your Academy, and an MBA from Columbia Busi - ness School at Columbia University. own, to be productive, frolic, and enjoy. No longer the Contact him at [email protected]. chauffer, but the chauffeured, the paradigm of vehicle

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 27 COVER STORY

Easy Riders

As autonomous vehicles become viable transportation options, designers will rethink auto interiors and make greater use of plastics and composites to enhance this new riding experience

By Pat Toensmeier

AV interiors bear little resemblance to those of conventional cars. Faurecia’s concept includes the Advanced Versatile Structure seat and a morphing display that shifts to the center for autonomous driving. Both are shown in Renault’s Cockpit of the Future. courtesy of Faurecia

28 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org utonomous vehicles could be fixtures on streets and highways as soon as 2025 as developers finalize the technologies and platforms that enable their performance. While issues relating to avehicle operation and passenger safety need to be resolved in the near term, the consensus among most experts is that aVs will be viable transportation options. assuming consumer acceptance of the technology meets expectations, wide commercialization of aVs no later than 2030 seems all but certain in the U.s., Europe, china, and elsewhere.

as aVs gain market share, attention will initially focus on advances in the sensors, neural networks, computa- tional processing, vehicle connectivity, and artificial intelligence (ai) that dominate the technology. a growing area of importance, however, will be the interior design and engineering of aVs, whether they are in use as mobility service providers (robotaxis and the like) or as private cars. current aVs in testing are mostly conventional passenger vehicles equipped with software and an array of sensors—radar, lidar, and cameras. interiors, however, will eventually reflect the promise of the technology: self-driving platforms (levels 4 and 5 on the autonomy scale developed by the society of automotive Engineers) that provide passengers with comfort as well as a broad range of entertainment and work options via advanced electronic systems. as indicated by concept cars and experimental vehicles, interior components will make extensive use of features like touchscreen controls and high-definition clusters of digital displays that combine bright illumination technologies such as OlEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) and active-matrix OlEDs with flexible multilayer polymer screens that can be fabricated in three-dimensional shapes. WiFi connections and infotainment systems will allow wireless streaming of movies and television shows, as well as real- time navigation and weather and traffic reports. these and other interior electronic components will be customizable to end-user needs—more so for private owners and specialty fleets, less so for mobility service vehicles—and reflect the cockpit conversion of this high- tech platform into what will essentially, and ironically, become just another device that passengers make use of

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | Plastics EnginEEring | 29 COVER STORY

as effortlessly as they do smartphones and tablets. Design Needs Challenge Plastics importantly, interior designs will be free from one con- all of these interior-based developments will expand or straint that restricts their use in conventional vehicles: create opportunities for polymers and composites. For driver distraction. since level 4 and 5 aVs will be capable example: of autonomous operation, designers can add human- • Because aVs will have all-electric, hybrid-electric, or machine interfaces, entertainment systems, and other hydrogen propulsion systems, weight savings will be features without concerns about distracting drivers from the as critical to performance and mileage as in gas- or road. diesel-powered cars and will influence battery size, there will also be an overlap between an aV’s system power density, and, in the case of hydrogen, fuel-cell electronics and personal electronics: cloud-based connec- capacity. tivity will allow software updates that enhance aspects of • Part consolidation will play an important role in vehicle performance to be downloaded as readily as smart- cockpit design, as engineers minimize components phone apps. Owners will improve performance features as and simplify assemblies. smaller will be better when often as upgrades become available, which will likely be it comes to component developments—especially in months or annually, rather than the current multi-year since most aVs will be “right-sized,” i.e., designed to model development cycles of conventional autos. meet specific needs such as urban transport, rather all of the electronic systems in level 4 or 5 aVs will than a one-size-fits-all mobility application. process huge amounts of data to keep operations reliable • Viewing surfaces for virtual displays and maps, skype- and safe. aV expert aptiv, formerly Delphi automotive sys- like internet communications, data updates on travel, tems, reports that in 2018 the average car with some road conditions, and weather, and touchscreen autonomous capability transfers 15,000 pieces of data controls will make use of high-definition panels that each microsecond. By 2020, the company expects this will complement interior geometries (rounded surfaces, reach 100,000 pieces of data. for example) or fit designated spaces, rather than be Much of this data will be generated by connectivity. con- available only in small (less than 12 inches) square or nections will be car-to-car, so aVs know where they are in rectangular 2D shapes. surfaces will make use of relation to other vehicles at any moment; car-to-traffic infra- evolving thin-film display technologies, and 3D structure like traffic lights; and include networking of aVs screens will be options, both for aesthetic purposes with outside services. and as haptic control guides.

GM’s Cruise electric car is designed for autonomous The Mercedes Maybach 6 Cabriolet is an all-electric driving. The interior is simple yet functional, with a concept car with potential AV cockpit features like dig- display, ample space, and no driving control. ital display clusters, windscreen images, and subdued courtesy of gM lighting. courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

30 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org • “smart” viewing surfaces will project images onto windows and windshields, creating opportunities for specially formulated polycarbonates and other clear plastics. the technology for display applications is rapidly advancing. Examples can be seen in all-electric concept cars that are not aVs. One such is the Mercedes Maybach 6 cabriolet, whose interior incorporates electronic, passenger enhancement, and safety features, all of which are transferrable to aVs. the capability of displays could extend beyond vehicle function and personal entertainment. a 2017 report from consultant Forrester forecasts that advertisers will compete for passengers’ attention by transmitting select advertisements and informercials keyed to particular destinations or other interests. • On a utilitarian note, the ability to use plastics to design heat sinks and otherwise control thermal buildup will be vital to the reliable operation of electronics-rich cockpits. • aesthetics will be enhanced by developments in materials and fabrication techniques that impart comfort and luxury looks while achieving performance benefits like weight reduction. • safety features will include impact-resistant doors, windows, windscreens, and other structures that 3D displays that use thin-film technology will be protect passengers without burdensome weight important cockpit components for their benefits in penalties. Much metal and glass could be replaced by haptic control, cockpit integration, and aesthetics. composites and impact-resistant plastics. seats will courtesy of continental

The new MBUX digital multimedia system is a high-resolution display that uses AI and augmented reality to Passengers will have access to Snap’s pod features access, update, and learn driver preferences. like WiFi and internet displays during transit. courtesy of Mercedes-Benz courtesy of rinspeed

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | Plastics EnginEEring | 31 COVER STORY

swivel so passengers can face each other or there will probably be fewer tier One suppliers and oth- rearrange interior space. Movable seats, seatbelts, er vendors to the aV industry than has been the case with and airbags will be designed to protect passengers at conventional automotive development. this reflects an whatever position they are in if an accident happens. ongoing trend in which automotive OEMs turn to consumer these and other applications assure that aVs will be as technologies, notably in software, for the advanced elec- fertile an area for plastics innovation as conventional inter- tronics they need, rather than wait for conventional suppliers nal combustion vehicles. Demand for engineered plastics to develop solutions. tapping into existing or evolving elec- parts and assemblies will intensify in coming years, as tech- tronic technologies by licensing or other means will be nology companies, automotive OEMs, mobility service more economical for auto OEMs than creating systems and providers, and others bring products and services to mar- will speed their integration into vehicles. ket and build share in this fast-growing business. the real powers behind the inevitable changes in the the dominant suppliers of aVs will include legacy vehi- global automotive industry that aVs and related trends cre- cle makers that are investing in the capability, either by ate, however, will be innovative companies that lead themselves, in partnership with technology companies, or technology development in critical areas such as software by acquisition. a 2017 report by navigant research high- and services. in its 2018 report “Five trends transforming lighting its top 10 developers of autonomous vehicles the automotive industry,” Pricewaterhousecoopers (Pwc) includes a list dominated by well-known names. Beginning states that as of 2016 only one of these companies was with number one they include, in descending order: Ford, an automaker, tesla Motors, which is hardly a legacy name. gM, the renault-nissan alliance, Daimler, Volkswagen Beginning with number one these companies are, in group, BMW, Waymo (the former google self-driving car descending order: apple; alphabet; 3M; tesla; amazon; project), Volvo/autoliv/Zenuity, aptiv (listed then as Delphi), samsung; Facebook; Microsoft; gE; and iBM. and Hyundai Motor group. Vendors specializing in plas- Reshaping Auto Economics tics and composites may thus find themselves dealing with familiar supply chain networks as they expand into aV inte- Vehicles designed for autonomous operation, either fully riors. (saE level 5) or partially (levels 3 and 4), will include driv-

VW’s I.D. Vizzion, slated for launch in 2020, is a Level 5 AV with facial recognition software for passenger identifi- cation, voice and gesture controls, and windows that darken with an electrical charge. courtesy of Volkswagen

32 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Snap AV is a chassis-and-pod system that can be con- Sensors display data as AV moves down a street. figured for passengers or used with just the chassis Aptiv says AVs will process 100,000 pieces of data for other duties like roadside advertising. every millisecond by 2020. courtesy of aptiv courtesy of rinspeed

er controls. saE level 4 autonomy denotes a vehicle that vehicles declines by 38 percent from 2015 to 2030. From performs all driving functions under certain conditions. 2025 to 2030, Berger forecasts that mobility service level 5 is a vehicle that performs all driving functions under providers like robotaxis will increase from 2.3 percent of all conditions. at both levels a driver may have the option global ride-sharing platforms to 27.3 percent—a remark- to control a vehicle. level 4 and 5 vehicles will become able five-year surge. more common as operating systems prove their reliability Berger adds that producers of conventional autos will and the public accepts them as safe. aV developers have see their share of total revenues worldwide decline to 29.9 a way to go before this happens. a survey earlier this year percent in 2030 from 34.7 percent in 2015. the OEMs’ conducted by saE for software developer ansys found that share of global profits from automotive sales will drop to 79 percent of engineers who responded would not now 22.3 percent in 2030 from 38.1 percent in 2015. aV fleets feel safe in a level 5 aV. are projected to capture 19.6 percent of global revenues nevertheless, by 2030 aVs, including those at level 5, in 2030 compared with 1.2 percent of revenues in 2025, could rival conventional automotive sales and profits world- and a 40.3 percent share of profits in 2030 from 2.8 per- wide. Pwc attributes this to changes in the vehicle market cent in 2025. that it describes as EascY: electrified, autonomous, shared, the monetary stakes are immense. Berger notes that in connected, and yearly updated. the consultant forecasts that January 2016, Ford’s then-chief executive officer Mark by 2030 EascY factors will raise personal mileage figures Fields estimated that the evolving global transportation in the U.s., Europe, and china substantially above current services market could total $5.4 trillion in annual sales, an numbers, as more consumers, including those without reg- amount larger than that for the traditional automotive mar- ular access to vehicles today, take advantage of ride-sharing ket. aV services. in the U.s., personal mileage accounts for 2.9 analysts say mobility services will be the biggest factor trillion miles per year. By 2030, this will be 3.7 trillion miles, in aV sales. if so, this means that in less than 50 years, Pwc predicts. in Europe the number will rise from 2.3 tril- beginning from around 1984 when the Pentagon began lion miles to 3.6 trillion miles; and in china, mileage will experimenting with autonomous trucks for the military, to surge from 1.8 trillion miles to more than 3.7 trillion. 2030, a once futuristic and science fiction-like capability a 2016 study by consulting firm roland Berger predicts will be mainstream in many countries. a “new automotive ecosystem” for the global market, in “i’ve noticed in my career that things go from impossi- which private and commercial ownership of conventional ble to inevitable in a very short period of time,” said alan

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | Plastics EnginEEring | 33 COVER STORY

Eustace, a director of Opener inc., of Palo alto, calif., in a least 2 million people. Uber Elevate is working on air taxi television interview in July. Opener formally unveiled Black- designs with five partners, among them aerospace heavy- Fly that month, a single-seat, all-electric personal aerial weights Karem aircraft, which patented tiltrotor propulsion vehicle (PaV) that can reportedly be piloted after only five technology; aurora Flight sciences, a division of Boeing; minutes of simulator training, due to its powerful onboard and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. computers. the PaV is slated for sale in 2019 and will retail two cities will be initial locations for Uber air taxis, los in the U.s. for the price of an sUV. angeles and Dallas. the company is seeking a third, in the the development of the epoxy-carbon fiber BlackFly is U.s. or elsewhere. Demonstrations are slated to begin in notable because it foreshadows what many believe is one 2020, with commercial operations planned for 2023. direction that aV service mobility fleets will take in the not- Back on land, several car manufacturers are readying too-distant future: a ground-air connection in which aVs or licensing concepts that could soon be operational. robotaxis deliver passengers to special terminals for flights Volkswagen, for example, intends to launch i.D. Vizzion, in autonomous vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft to air- a level 5 autonomous sedan, in 2020. the electric vehicle ports and other destinations in congested urban areas. will be equipped with interconnected laser scanners, ultra- How realistic is this Jetsons-like vision of the future? a sonic and radar sensors, and front, rear, and side cameras. small but influential number of companies are promoting the sedan will generate 302 hp and have a 413-mile range. the concept. the most notable is the ubiquitous ride-shar- there will be no driving controls. Four ergonomically bal- ing service Uber, which formed Uber Elevate to develop anced seats will be available. glass windows can be darkened autonomous air taxis linked to “skyports” in cities of at by electrical connections for privacy. the sedan’s “virtual host” will use facial recognition software to recognize passengers, and occupants can operate features with voice control and gestures. a concept for urban driving was unveiled this year by rinspeed ag, a german company that describes itself as a “creative think tank” for automotive. the company’s snap autonomous vehicle consists of two main components: a chassis and a pod. When picking up passengers, chassis and pod work together, trans- porting them where they need to go. When passenger demand is slow or nonexistent, the chassis alone is deployed as a mobile or stationary platform for uses ranging from cargo transport to roadside advertising. rinspeed cEO and founder Frank rinderknecht says a startup called snap Motion is planned for the vehicle. He believes that the chassis-pod system allows for greater utilization of the vehicle and thus a faster return on investment. Reimagining Passenger Needs DriveCore from Visteon is a centralized domain controller that lets OEMs develop autonomous systems in Examples of components and systems that aV interiors an open-collaboration model, speeding time to market. could include are emerging from OEMs and technology courtesy of Visteon specialists. this last includes Faurecia, a global tier One

34 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org whose expertise is seating, interiors, and “clean mobility” rear images, users will have ready access to a range of data systems. Faurecia and ZF Friedrichshafen recently devel- specific to their needs. oped an aV seat called the advanced Versatile structure Ongoing advances in digital electronics will allow clusters (aVs), which uses what the partners call intelligently pow- of information to be displayed. these range from tradi- ered kinematic controls to recline, lift, adjust, and swivel. tional instrument panel (iP) data about vehicle operation the aVs has integrated comfort and safety features. (speed, range, mileage, and fuel consumption) to naviga- these include a composite upper backrest adjustment (UBa) tion and entertainment options. for support when the seat reclines. the length of the upper One potential crossover is the new MBUX (Mercedes-Benz backrest and height of the neck support and encircling User Experience) multimedia system in the 2019 a-class headrest are power-adjustable. since they are part of the sedan. the high-resolution display uses ai and augment- aVs, the seatbelt and belt retractor are effective restraints ed reality to access, update, and learn driver-specific no matter what position the seat is in. armrests change information when activated by touch controls in one of position as an occupant moves. the rear of the UBa can three areas—the display, center console touchpad, and be equipped with a docking station or display to save space steering wheel buttons. the customizable MBUX responds in the cockpit, and the headrest can contain speakers. the to voice commands, and projects an optional head-up wind- headrest moves up to 25º which improves acoustics for shield display. the occupant and minimizes or eliminates sound in the some aV dashboard concepts feature “morphing screens,” cockpit. digital iPs that are positioned in front of a driver during the seat is made of composites, along with aluminum and manual control and shift to the center of a cockpit in steel, for light weight and structural performance. Faure- autonomous operation, so passengers can easily view clus- cia states that the aVs weighs 17.6 pounds less than a ters. conventional seat of similar size. importantly, advanced cockpit displays will use one domain touchscreen controls, meanwhile, will be as simple and controller, a central processing unit (cPU) that is the size of intuitive to operate as those on smartphones. coupled with a car radio, to integrate discrete data clusters. One benefit self-learning capabilities generated by ai, and the use of aug- of this is a significant reduction in the packaging space mented reality and virtual reality to project front, side, and required behind a dashboard for electronic control units

Ride-sharing is key to AV growth. One company, Voyage, partners with Enterprise car rental to provide AV service to communities in California and Florida, which allows seniors and others greater access to transportation. courtesy of Voyage

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | Plastics EnginEEring | 35 COVER STORY

and their connections. this in turn promotes weight sav- els. the tape is a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic ings, sometimes by as much as 150 pounds, according to composite—in this case polypropylene—that combines a Visteon, which specializes in cockpit electronics. resin-rich surface with a high density of continuous fibers, Visteon earlier this year added Drivecore to its aV lineup. applied in a special process. this is a centralized domain controller with a hardware and the company says the tape, which comes in 4,000-meter software platform that lets OEMs build autonomous driv- (13,124-foot) rolls, can be used in high-volume production ing systems in open-collaboration models. the system is processes. laminates made with the tape are reportedly 40 independent of sensors and cPU hardware and provides percent lighter than comparable steel structures, 15 percent high data-processing capabilities. Visteon says the controller lighter than aluminum, and 7 percent lighter than magnesium. speeds autonomous system development and allows faster Conclusion time-to-market capabilities. Projects at aptiv, meanwhile, include smart Vehicle archi- aVs are an integral part of an evolving automotive ecosys- tecture (sVa), which covers three critical areas of aV tem that is being created by social and cultural trends like operation: computing, networking, and vehicle power. sVa ride-sharing, diminished interest in vehicle ownership, and is a fail-safe system that aptiv says will assure that failure a preference among urban populations for fast, economi- in any—or all—of these modes will not affect vehicle or cal, and convenient transportation. aVs will also save lives passenger safety. the system’s redundant capabilities take by reducing accidents, proponents say, and lower vehicle over if problems develop. sVa will guide an aV to a safe stop emissions, thereby allowing countries to meet increasing- and keep critical components functioning until help arrives. ly strict clean-air rules even as personal mileage totals aptiv tests aV electronics with ride-sharing service lyft, increase. at the former’s las Vegas customer technology center. the autonomy revolution offers innovators in polymers While electronics are central to aV interiors and critical to and composites major opportunities to redefine the “driving” operations, other applications figure prominently as well, as experience, in hardware and technology, of course, but they pertain to weight savings. One area is composites, which also in passenger cockpits, where the experience will be provide structural benefits that rival many metals, at con- keenly felt. companies that meet this challenge will thrive siderably less weight. in a new world of transportation that upends perceptions Faurecia, for one, developed the Exposed carbon roof, a about vehicles, and users’ relationships to them, that have one-piece epoxy-carbon fiber structure that the company been unchanged since cars first appeared. fabricates with resin transfer molding, rather than compression molding. the part is made with a visible fiber weave that can be tight and small or large and in whatever orientation an OEM wants for aesthetics. roof weight is as much ABOUT THE AUTHOR as 60 percent less than with metal.

the technique could have application on aVs as a struc- Pat toensmeier is a Hamden, conn.-based tural option. Faurecia acknowledges that the carbon roof is freelance writer and reporter with more priced “considerably higher” than steel or aluminum, but than 35 years of business journalism says it is working with suppliers and formulators to reduce experience, much of it with Modern Plastics and aviation Week. Over the years fiber cost and speed resin curing to improve production he has specialized in writing about economy. manufacturing, plastics and chemicals, sabic touts its UDMaX gPP 45-70 composite tape as a technology development and applica- lightweight, high-strength option to steel, magnesium, and tions, defense, and other technical topics. thermosets in laminated doors, sidewalls, floors, and roof pan-

36 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING

Enlightening Possibilities: Plastics Expand Role in Vehicle Lighting Applications Polymeric materials bring increased functionality, safety, and visual branding opportunities to automotive lighting

By Peggy Malnati

utomotive lighting is something that few people spend much time thinking about— that is until something stops working or someone’s eyes are blasted by another car’s high beams at night. While lighting is rarely the reason people buy cars, it plays an Aimportant safety role in all personal and commercial vehicles—both in terms of making a vehicle more visible to humans and animals as well as improving a driver’s ability to see potential problems in the vehicle’s path. Not surprisingly, plastics play an important role in these applications and, in fact, are being used for visual branding on many passenger vehicles. Nominations for the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition—organized by the SPE Automotive Division—show just how innovative lighting has become for increasing occupant comfort and safety, adding functionality, and making vehicles memorable to consumers.

Forward Thinking in Forward Lighting thick-section injection molding held to extremely tight tol - The 2018 model year (MY) Chevrolet Traverse sport utility erances for high optical clarity using a highly polished tool vehicle from General Motors Co. was the first to use the D (to meet sub-micron surface-reproduction requirements) Optic LED headlamp system from system supplier Magna and laser degating. Magna reports that each side of each Autosystems Division of Plymouth, Mich. The technology lens is created via an insert put together like a jigsaw puzzle offers automakers a scalable, building-block approach to to achieve a perfect fit with no flash. Lens thickness varies optimize both lamp performance and styling objectives by between 1.5-12 mm/0.06-0.47 inches. High-temperature target market (e.g. using more elements for premium models Plexiglas HT-121 PMMA from Arkema Inc. was chosen over and fewer on economy models). It does this while significantly polycarbonate (PC) for higher light transmission (92 versus reducing lamp complexity and potentially improving safety 89 percent at 3.2-mm/0.13-inch) and superior stress resist - by increasing driver visibility. Versus conventional LED-optic ance, enabling very close (300-500 mm) positioning of the systems—which feature separate reflectors, shields, and lens to the light source to maximize light capture without lenses that must be positioned precisely—with the new sys - distortion. In the case of the Traverse, nine individual lenses tem a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) lens is paired with and nine 1x1 LEDs were used to produce approximately a 1x1 LED light source, eliminating typical component stack- 720 lumens of light on each headlamp. Three large, vertically up and the extra space that takes while increasing integrated lenses (two low-beam and one high-beam) and light-output efficiency. Lenses are produced via single-shot, six compact lenses (four low-beam and two high-beam) plus

38 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org An innovative new headlamp system developed by Magna Autosystems Division offers higher design flexibility, more efficient light output, and potentially higher safety (through increased driver visibility) while significantly reducing LED lamp complexity and offering new opportunities to optimize styling and performance. The D Optic system combines precisely molded high-temperature lenses (HDT=109 oC/228 oF) in Plexiglas HT-121 PMMA from Arkema Inc. The light pipe around the headlamp’s perimeter uses the same grade. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (left) and General Motors Co. (right) nine 1x1 LEDs were to used meet the design studio’s goals. special molded structures (micro-optics) on the light curtain A homogeneously glowing headlamp light curtain produced as well as multiple LEDs behind the part to achieve this effect. by system supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. of Lippstadt, However, that technology suffered from bright spots when Germany, on GM’s 2016 MY Cadillac CT6 luxury sedans is powered and a milky appearance when off. The new tech - said to enhance safety due to large and more visible illumi - nology is edge-lit using just four LEDs, is aesthetically pleasing, nated surfaces. When headlamps are off, lamps appear crystal and serves as a design enabler for achieving a homogeneous clear, but when lit, light guides appear to glow thanks to a lit appearance. The technology works with any color LED, light-scattering additive used in the new injection-molded with or without 3D effects like molded logos, offering studios PMMA grade (Acrylite LED LD96 from Evonik Cyro LLC.) A greater design freedom and providing consumers with pre - previous version of the lamps in clear PMMA without light- mium headlamp styling. Since the additive eliminated the scattering additives—Evonik’s Acrylite 8N—required both need to mold structures into the light curtain, tooling costs

ACRYLITE® 8N No light output ACRYLITE® LED Light output Diﬀuser particles

LED light source LED light source

The 2016 MY Cadillac CT6 luxury sedan (top right) sports a headlamp light curtain from system supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. that appears crystal clear when unlit but glows homogeneously across the part when lit due to a special light-scattering additive in Acrylite LED LD96 PMMA from Evonik Cyro LLC. The special diffuser particles in the polymer deflect light rays while suppressing total internal reflection so light exits the lamp through the part’s surface. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (top left), General Motors Co. (top right), and Evonik Cyro LLC (bottom)

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | 39 AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING

were reduced 10 to 15 percent. the lenses to system suppliers OSrAM Licht AG, headquar - replacing multiple glass lenses, the single-collimator, all- tered in Munich, Germany, and Flex-N-Gate Corp. of Warren, plastic lens for both low- and high-beam LED headlamp Mich. who produce complete headlamp systems. Compared applications debuted on 2015 MY Ford F-150 pickups from to glass lenses, Ford reported over $1.5-million savings from Ford Motor Co. and later transitioned to 2017 MY Ford Fusion investment and capital cost avoidance. sedans. Looking like a large-faceted gem and subsequently The headlamp shutter with integrated backlighting ring called Crystal Diamond Light, the efficient single-lens design debuted on 2014 MY BMW 4 Series executive coupes from achieved the same level of light output as previous glass BMW AG and replaced high-temperature co-polycarbonate with systems, increased design freedom for stylists, freed up a liquid crystal polymer (Vectra E531i-D3 from Celanese of headlamp packaging space, lowered the carbon footprint, Irving, Texas). The switch to the higher-performing LCP was and saved ≈$5 USD/vehicle—which, on high-volume platforms made to solve heat problems caused by the “sunload effect”— like the F-150 , represents significant savings. Injection molder namely formation of a hot spot on the shutter/trim ring and toolmaker DBM reflex of Laval, Quebec, made the high- generated by the projection lens, which acts like a magnifier. precision, multilayer tool, which holds surface tolerances to In some cases, temperatures are rising to 200 C or greater ° 40 mm to accurately replicate the complex optical shapes/pre - on part surfaces. The change was cost neutral but provided scriptions. The molding cycle is 150 seconds, which is quite many benefits, including better mechanicals (very-high tensile fast for such a thick lens (45-mm/1.8-inch). Makrolon LED strength and elastic modulus, 30-percent higher creep resist - 22.4.5 PC resin supplied by then Bayer MaterialScience (now ance at 10,000 hours), very-low moisture absorption (0.03-0.10 Covestro LLC) was selected for optical efficiency. DBM supplies percent), higher dimensional stability at elevated temperatures, and higher thermal performance (continuous-use temperature (CUT) = 225 C/437 F @ 1.8 MPa/261 psi with peak operating ° ° temperature at 335 C/635 F). Other improvements included ° ° higher chemical and oxidation resistance, inherent flame retar - dance (UL 94 V-0 to 0.15 mm/0.01 inch), very-low fogging/outgasing, higher part quality, shorter cycle times, and 30 percent less scrap (sprue waste). A very-thin cold runner is used to inject the material into the tool, which was produced by molder and toolmaker Formplast Purkert, s.r.o. of Prague, Czech republic. Cycle times are around 15 seconds versus 35 to 45 seconds for the high-temperature PC. System supplier Automotive Lighting reutlingen GmbH of reutlingen, Germany, produces the complete headlamp. No Retreat with Rear Lighting

Headlamp light curtains aren’t the only form of lighting that benefit from special reflective additives. A good example

Innovative single-col - are rear lamp reflectors on 2015 MY Dodge Challenger sports limator, all-plastic cars from FCA US LLC. Produced by systems supplier and injection molded molder Varroc Lighting Systems, the rear taillamps appear lenses for both low- to glow homogeneously when lit thanks to the special resin and high-beam LED additive coupled with multiple LEDs. A reflective white PC headlamp applica - resin (Lexan Lux 2298 from SABIC of Houston) provides both tions replaced multi - highly specular and diffuse reflectance (>95 percent across ple glass lenses on Ford F-150 pickups from Ford the visible-light spectrum) plus a higher optical efficiency Motor Co. Customers benefit from a uniform light pat - tern on the road and light color that replicates day - versus other materials. Due to a low yellowness index (YI), light. The long-lasting LED lamps and lenses are the polymer experiences minimal color shift and maintains designed to last the life of the vehicle. its high reflectivity even after heat aging, eliminating the Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (left) and Ford Motor Co. (right) cost, scrap, and environmental burden of painting or plating,

40 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org which are standard practices for taillamp reflectors. An ideal shot process in water-clear transparent, transparent red, and balance of properties is said to facilitate both moldability specially formulated opaque red. A cast-aluminum service and design freedom. The result is enhanced aesthetics and door, which also acts as a heat sink, allows the BLIS unit to a stylish appearance that is different when the lamps are be serviced. The combined part function reportedly saved lit/unlit, helping support safety and the rear signature brand - Ford $10 per vehicle plus an additional $15 million in cost ing of Dodge vehicles. savings by eliminating hardware, covers, and modifications Another rear lighting system adds an additional safety to the D pillar to accommodate the module in the bumper. twist by embedding the blind-spot information system (BLIS) Lighting as Visual Branding in taillights on Ford’s 2015 MY F-150 pickups . A radar-based collision-avoidance safety feature, BLIS modules help drivers The last decade saw a significant increase in the use of inno - determine if anything is entering the sensor’s field of view vative, plastics-intensive lighting not only to enhance (FOV)—extending rearward from exterior mirrors to 0.91 functionality, customer comfort, and safety, but also for meters/3 feet behind the truck’s rear bumper. BLIS modules visual branding both inside and outside of vehicles. Perhaps normally are housed behind rear radar-transparent thermo - no automaker did more of this than Ford. The automaker plastic bumper fascia, but this vehicle sports aluminum introduced color-changing LED ambient lighting in footwells, bumpers, which are opaque to radar and render the system front and rear cupholders, and heating/ventilation/air-con - unusable. The tail lamp features a protuberance in front of ditioning (HVAC) controls for 2009 MY Ford Flex cross-over the sensor to maintain a minimum distance of 3 cm/1.2 utility vehicles (CUVs). Injection-molded light-diffusing Acrylite inches between sensor and lens. The BLIS is housed behind PMMA resin from Evonik Cyro provided uniform lighting two layers of Plexiglas V826 PMMA supplied by Arkema. The without hotspots across the car using blended colors from taillamp lens was injection molded via a three-color/three- red/green/blue (rGB) LED light sources. LED-based ambient

Taillamp reflectors on Dodge Challenger BMW AG’s 2014 MY sports cars from FCA BMW 4 Series execu - US LLC appear to tive coupe was the glow homogeneously first vehicle to use liq - when lit via multiple uid crystal polymer LEDs thanks to a spe - (LCP, Vectra E531i-D3 cial resin additive in from Celanese) to a reflective white PC resin (Lexan Lux 2298 from replace high-temperature co-polycarbonate on head - SABIC). Versus standard practice, this material elimi - lamp shutters with integrated backlighting rings. The nates the need to paint or plate reflectors, lowering high-performance part met all thermal requirements, direct part costs 40 percent plus providing an addi - eliminated plating, coating, and special treatments, tional (and unspecified) indirect cost savings by elimi - and it did so in a thin-wall design that provided excel - nating scrap from metallization or painting. That, in lent creep and long-term property retention at elevat - turn, facilitates end-of-life recycling and avoids the ed temperatures. Additionally, versus amorphous environmental burden of painting or plating. Supplied high-temperature PC, the semi-crystalline LCP increas - by Varroc Lighting Systems, the injection-molded parts es design freedom by flowing quickly and easily into include design features such as integrally molded complex geometries in thin wall sections and freezing clips positioned close to locations where LED circuit immediately in a cool tool unless shear or high pres - boards are housed, reducing post-mold assembly, sure is applied. eliminating hardware, and increasing functionality. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (left) and BMW AG (right) Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (left) and FCA US LLC (right)

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | 41 AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING

lighting was said to reduce costs and power consumption while increasing use-life of interior lighting. Ford’s second- generation dual-lens cup holder lights debuted on 2011 MY Ford Explorer SUVs. The one-piece design integrated the pri - mary illumination surface with the show-surface lens for improved craftsmanship and lower assembly and warranty costs versus earlier two-piece designs. Acrylite 8N-123-000 PMMA from Evonik Cyro was molded by system supplier Chicago Miniature Lighting, LLC of Novi, Mich. A third-gen - eration illuminated beverage holder assembly was used on Ford’s 2015 MY Lincoln MKC and MKX luxury CUVs. The patented, package-friendly application combined PMMA’s optical transparency with geometrically mirrored part surfaces to move light efficiently upward from the bottom of the cupholder via a single cup/plate component. This reduced Ford, along with sys - glare when a cup was absent from the holder, lowered scrap, tem supplier/material processor Flex-N-Gate and eliminated the need for a special press and tooling, Corp. and Flex-N- thereby lowering costs. Gate’s tooling/equip - Similarly, Ford used LED-based lighting as part of its brand - ment division Ventra ing scheme on illuminated door sills with vehicle/model Sandusky, LLC, logos starting with 2010 MY Ford Mustang sports cars, housed a blind spot Lincoln MKZ sedans , and Ford MKT CUVs. Produced by information system module—part of a vehicle’s colli - Innotec Group of Zeeland, Mich., using PMMA from Serigraph sion-avoidance system—in the rear taillights of 2015 Inc. of West Bend, Ind., and PC and acrylonitrile butadiene MY F-150 pickups. The lens cover protects the module from exposure to water, snow, ice, mud, and stone styrene (ABS) from SABIC, the sill plates were laser etched impingement during normal driving. Since the BLIS to create high-impact illuminated optics. Development time system is positioned higher on the vehicle sidewall, it was reduced from months to weeks, also lowering costs. also is better protected from direct impact during col - Ford was back with a different manufacturing process on lisions. 2013 MY Lincoln MKZ and MKS sedans and Ford MKT CUVs . Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division (left) and Ford Motor Co. (right)

Color-changing LED-based ambient lighting (left) was first used in foot wells, cup holders, and HVAC controls on 2009 MY Ford Flex CUVs. System supplier and material processor CML Innovative Technologies Ltd. produced the PMMA parts for the OEM. Ford’s second-generation PMMA cup holder lights (center) with integrated, dual-lens design debuted on 2011 MY Ford Explorer SUVs, reducing mass 10 percent and cost by $0.35/vehicle. Third-gener - ation cup holder lights (right) were first used on Ford’s 2015 MY Lincoln MKC and MKX luxury CUVs. Blue Star Inc. supplied PMMA resin and tooling, and Pacific Insight Electronics Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia, produced the assembly. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division

42 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Produced by Innotec with Lexan PC from SABIC, this time electronics were encapsulated in the PC resin to protect them from electrostatic dissipation (ESD), mechanical shock, and other environmental damage. Insert molding eliminated the need for conventional conformal coatings or separate housing assemblies, which, in turn, simplified ESD testing and improved reliability versus conventional light-engine designs. Another branded lighting application from Ford was the logo-projection lamp in lower door panels of 2013 MY Lincoln MKT Town Car sedans and limousines. Traditional door- panel lights use incandescent bulbs that take significant packaging space where there is little space, necessitating that lights be designed concurrently with doors. That location increases the risk of bulb damage since the panel housing the light can be kicked/bumped as people enter/exit cars. A two-shot overmolded lens and light guide with selec - tive areas of transparency and diffusivity (above) were The new LED-based system projects a logo (instead of a laser welded to create a single component that provides point of light) onto the ground beneath right- and left-side a backlit chrome-appearance emblem on 2017 MY doors when doors open. Holes in the panel substrate provide Chevrolet Camaro sports cars and Silverado and poka yoke (fail safe) orientation for the logo. Compared to Colorado pickups from GM. Windsor Mold Group of earlier designs, the system took far less packaging space Windsor, Ontario, supplied tooling and completed the and eliminated metal fasteners. Furthermore, damage during assembly. Its Emrick Plastics Division molded the parts ingress/egress was greatly reduced since the LED light was using PMMA from Arkema and two grades of PC from SABIC. An illuminated articulating step assist (inset) com - no longer exposed when the door was open. bined a flexible cast urethane light bar with an extruded and hardcoated PC lens profile to put light where occu - pants need it when entering/exiting GM’s 2015 MY Cadillac Escalade SUVs. The sealed light pipe was protect - ed against heat, water intrusion, stone chips, and shoe impacts. The system was supplied by Magna International using material supplied and processed by 3M Co. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division

Multicolor LED-based illuminated door sills (top) debuted on 2010 MY Ford Mustang sports cars and Lincoln MKZ and Ford MKT vehicles. The application was said to be the auto industry’s first to provide The ability to project a logo onto the ground when multicolor illumination from one LED light engine. vehicle doors open is another visual branding applica - Next-generation illuminated door sills (above) debuted tion that Ford and system supplier Innotec applied to on 2013 MY Lincoln MKZ and MKS sedans and Ford 2013 MY Lincoln MKT Town Car luxury sedans and MKT CUVs. Packaging height also was reduced, elimi - limousines. The application improved safety by help - nating the need to form depressions in the rocker ing occupants enter/leave vehicles in the dark. The panel or to make costly changes to the door’s sheet system uses polypropylene (PP), ABS, polyvinylchlo - metal to accommodate the illuminated sill plate. ride (PVC), and PC from unnamed suppliers. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | 43 AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING

Vehicle exteriors also are an area of active work with brand - welded into a single component with a backlit chrome- ed lighting. Ford was the first to use diffusive PMMA as a appearance. This eliminated the need for hardcoat and light guide around charge ports on 2013 MY Ford C-Max created even lighting across a large surface area within a and Fusion plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and Focus tight packaging space. Another innovative GM lighting battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) to indicate the battery charge application—this time an illuminated articulating step level. Valeo of Paris was the system supplier and material assist—debuted on 2015 MY Cadillac Escalade SUVs. A processor. flexible cast urethane light bar with molded-in light “dis - Visual branding was further expanded on 2013 MY Mus - persion/extraction” geometry was coupled with an extruded tang sports cars, where Ford introduced illuminated panels and hardcoated PC lens profile to light the step assist that on both engine covers and grille badges. A unique combi - articulates in and out when vehicle doors open. Unlike con - nation of injection molded PMMA, PC, and high-temperature ventional light pipes with LEDs, the new system had no polyamide (PA) were used to provide thermal and chemical bright spots and provided uniform lighting for improved resistance on the engine cover. Select portions of the cover safety. had a chromed appearance during daylight but were illu - Since 1970, the SPE Automotive Division has held its Auto - minated in low light conditions. Similarly, during daylight, motive Innovation Awards Competition to draw industry the “pony” emblem on the front grille displayed a 3D attention to the increasing ways that plastics and composites chromed look, but in low light it glowed softly. Injection make parts and modules for passenger vehicles safer, lighter, molded PMMA with crushed glass particles made the logo less costly, more durable, and feature-rich. The competition sparkle. The badge was designed to be serviceable without has long proven to be a good predictor of trends and tech - removing the grille and could be installed on 2013 as well nologies in automotive plastics and composites. The division as earlier models. is still accepting nominations for this year’s competition. GM used different technology to create a similar illumi - Forms are available at http://speautomotive.com/innova - nated effect on its Chevrolet “bowtie” emblem on 2017 MY tion-awards-gala . Winners (in a variety of categories) of this Camaro sports cars and Silverado and Colorado pickups. year’s competition will be announced Nov. 7 at a Detroit- Here, two-shot overmolded lenses and light guides with area awards gala that draws an international crowd of about selective areas of transparency and diffusivity were laser 800 attendees.

Ford used both PMMA and PC for battery-charge indicators around charge ports for 2013 MY Ford C-Max and Fusion Another form of visual branding was the use of the unique TECHNO (translucent PHEVs and Focus BEVs. PC electro-chromatic high-intensity novelty optics) process on engine covers and grille allowed the design studio to badges on 2013 MY Ford Mustang sports cars. In daylight, the components have a mold the port in different chromed appearance, but in low light they glow softly thanks to an electrochromat - shapes and improve crafts - ic layer that replaces costly and hazardous chrome plating. Furthermore, the manship while diffusive unique look does not peel, flake, or delaminate as chrome can. Colonial Plastics, PMMA reduced the number of Inc. was the system supplier and material processor and Colonial Mold, Inc. sup - LEDs needed. plied tooling for both applications. Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division Courtesy of SPE Automotive Division

44 | PLASTICS ENGINEErING | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Innovation meets reliability

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Micro-Scale Medical Devices Were Big News at MD&M East

By Geoff Giordano

ne big theme at MD&M East this year: Small. . The Medical Device and Manufacturing Show, co-located with Plastec East and four other shows at the Javits Center in New York City between June 12 and 14, offered a Oslew of plastics-related innovations amid the 3D printers, laser markers, metrology equipment, and collaborative robots (cobots).

But prominent alongside the high-profile machinery and electronic parts are getting. was a broad selection of barely visible micro-scale med- For instance, exhibitor Marshall Manufacturing of Min- ical parts down to a few thousandths of an inch. neapolis, Minn., a medical contract manufacturer Discussions with some plastics fabrication exhibitors dur- specializing in micro processing, demonstrated a range ing and after the show revealed just how “micro” medical of its delicate work. Sales and Marketing Manager Tom

Attendees gather for the opening of the exhibit floor at MD&M East, Plastec East, and four other co-located shows at the Javits Center in Manhattan on June 12. Photo by Geoff Giordano

46 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org A variety of micro-connectors and medical and electronic components molded by Accumold of Ankeny, Iowa. Courtesy of accumold

Plantenberg showed off a small container holding fragile invasive surgical techniques, more consumer or patient- plastic medical components with two outer diameters— based technology putting devices in the hands of the the largest being 12 thousandths—and a point on one patient for more localized and personalized care—a lot of side. “Everybody wants smaller parts.” that centers on microelectronics and inexpensive manu- While Marshall specializes in precision machining and facturing. Microplastics plays into part of that equation.” turning, exhibiting micro molders like accumold of anke- accumold specializes in high-precision microinjection ny, iowa, and MTD Micro Molding of Charlton, Mass., offer molding down to a few microns in medical, microelec- yet more options for downsizing complex components tronics, micro-optics and other applications. The for implantable and bioabsorbable medical devices, sin- company’s smallest commercial part is “about 800 microns gle-use surgical tools, and more. at its longest feature,” and “we have tolerances that can “Parts can be as small as microscopic in size,” says lind- be down to 2 or 3 microns.” say Mann, director of marketing for MTD. “in terms of Unique Approaches weight, we manufactured a part where 520 parts were made from a pellet of polycarbonate. The smallest part The world of micro plastics, particularly for medical appli- we have molded was an ophthalmic implant that weighed cations, requires fabrication experts to craft a new in at 0.00000313 grams—about 1,000 times smaller than manufacturing rulebook. These novel skill sets were clear- a sesame seed.” ly in great demand from MD&M attendees. at MD&M, “we discussed the manufacturing challenges When looking at small, thin, high-aspect ratio features, (visitors to our booth) were experiencing with their cur- “material selection by itself can make or break the (man- rent molder, molding in-house, or another process they ufacturing) process,” Johnson explains. Matching material were using to manufacture their micro components,” Mann geometries and tolerances “is more of an art form than notes. “at MTD, 20 percent of new projects come to us it is something you look up in a textbook.” as ‘rescues,’ or failed attempts by others, and another in its recent study of thin-wall features, accumold found 30 percent are projects no one else would even attempt. that a wide range of results could be obtained when using Whether it is part-quality issues, a need for bioabsorbable a wide range of materials. For instance, liquid crystal poly- molding expertise, or a struggle to find a route to pro- mer (lCP) “loves high, thin aspect ratio,” while polyether duction scalability, MTD has extensive experience solving ether ketone (PEEK) “tends to push more like cement.” these common problems experienced by medical device This database helps accumold determine the material companies.” capable of producing the geometries a part requires. at accumold, “often we hear, ‘i didn’t know you could “When you’re trying to push PEEK down a very long, do that with plastic’,” says aaron Johnson, vice president thin, high-aspect ratio, it’s going to react differently than of marketing and customer strategy. “Miniaturization is some other materials,” Johnson concludes. still a hot topic; it seems like we’ve been talking about Other factors in selecting the right plastic are when that for a long, long time. But when you’re looking at the replacing metal or another material in a product going medical space and talking about wearables, minimally directly into to patient or the desire to create a more dis-

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | 47 MD&M EAST 2018

posable device. These scenarios could require a produc- popular for medical devices “because of the implant data tion boost from a few thousand units a year to several that accompanies it. it is also one of the easiest materi- hundred thousand. als to machine, which makes it convenient for the at MTD, “we continue to discuss the value of our 6 Sci- prototyping phase.” But challenges arise “when higher ences approach,” says Brian Matachun, director of technical production volumes justify moving into the injection mold- sales, which is “a complete new set of tools for us to be ing process for significant cost savings. The benefit is successful in micro. Being able to provide fully packaged that micro injection molding takes a fraction of the time micro medical devices to our customers helps us provide to mold components and uses less costly materials in services to OEMs that will help bring their micro devices comparison to micromachining. The problem is that micro to market.” injection molding with PEEK can be challenging, placing By employing its 6 Sciences approach, “we are able to further stress on timing and budget. pass a Gauge r&r on dimensions with tolerances down Measuring and Protecting Parts to plus or minus .0005 [inches],” he continues. “Passing a Grr with these types of dimensions is contingent on Ensuring the quality of finished parts is a job for increas- polymer and geometry. at MTD, the high resolution of ingly accurate metrology and part-handling tools. the part dimensions is attributed to the precision applied “along with inline camera systems in our presses check- in the mold-making process, where tooling components ing the geometry of each part, parts are inspected in are created in-house with plus or minus 1 micron accu- custom fixturing with touch-free optical vision systems,” racy.” MTD’s Mann explains. “Our QC lab utilizes OGP meas- adds Mann: “the maximum part size we can manufac- urement systems for high-accuracy metrology. We partner ture is 1 inch by 1 inch. This may seem ‘large’ when with a company that provides us with CT scanning serv- thinking about micromolding, but it is a good fit for micro- ices for accurate, high-resolution measurements as well. molding technology when there are micro-sized features This is an excellent tool to capture internal dimensions on that part—such as complex geometry with critical tol- of a part that otherwise would require manual cross-sec- erances, small holes, and sharp corners.” tioning to measure.” in terms of materials, Matachun explains that PEEK is The company employs critical processes and equip-

Left: Custom fixturing for quality control inspection by MTD Micro Molding. Above: Robotics and collection system in a micromolding cell at MTD Micro Molding. Photos courtesy of MTD Micro Molding

48 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Left: A complex bioabsorbable fixation component by MTD Micro Molding sits atop a dime. Right: A micromolded implantable clip by MTD Micro Molding that snaps closed. Photos courtesy of MTD Micro Molding

ment before, during, and after molding to ensure the the solder reflow manufacturing process. We also see proper outcomes, Matachun adds: requests for more optical-grade materials that can with- • Critical drying procedures and controlled storage of stand high-heat environments either for manufacturing materials in the pre-mold phase. or other processes like sterilization.” • Monitoring of thermal stability during molding. among the evolving trends MTD’s Matachun and Mann “Understanding thermal stability of a polymer due project in micromolding materials and methods are: to high residence time during the micromolding • Sports medicine products transitioning from metals process is critical to avoid premature degradation or machined polymers to plastic. and discoloration.” • Bioabsorbable materials being used in molded • Handling parts upon mold ejection using end-of- medical devices. arm tooling with custom grippers to prevent part • Custom compounded resins and “special recipe” damage. MTD also protects delicate part features materials to meet targeted application during transit with custom trays and packaging. requirements. Climate-controlled component storage is another • Overmolding versus hand assembly for more measure to protect part integrity. precision and less fallout; for combining micro products with a macro piece as an assembly; and Future of Micro Molding for injection molding a second material onto a Future micro molding opportunities are likely to come in micro part. “markets that may be yesterday didn’t need us,” accu- • 3D printing having more influence as it becomes mold’s Johnson predicts. “We’re finding new opportunities more refined and applicable in more applications. from industries trying to push the limits of their own tech- • Smarter camera systems and robotics. nology or entire market sectors that didn’t exist before. • larger device manufacturers outsourcing critical a lot centers on the microelectronics space; think of all manufacturing technologies at the component and the gadgets we didn’t have five years ago. We try to be assembly level. in front of folks working on next-generation design that New Diagnostic Devices needs small plastics. The world is still getting smaller.” accumold tends to focus on higher-grade engineered Point-of-care diagnostic products that promise sample- resins, Johnson explains, including implantable-grade to-answer functionality “with high sensitivity and specificity” material. “We are often asked by our resin suppliers to are a growing opportunity—and challenge–says luke be beta testers for some of their new materials just to Helm, director of business development for medical device get an understanding of how they work in the micro envi- engineering firm Symbient Product Development of Carls- ronment.” bad, Calif. “Matching the often-challenging design PEEK, Ultem, lCP, and high-temperature nylons are requirements of next-gen diagnostics with widely available among the top materials accumold processes. Most com- manufacturing tolerances,” is a key design hurdle, he mon in microelectronics are materials “that can withstand added.

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | 49 MD&M EAST 2018

Such devices run the gamut from “simple lateral-flow materials are vital to avoid biological or chemical inter- assays for everything from flu to pregnancy to molecular ference. “With diagnostic disposables, the shot size is so diagnostics. Some molecular diagnostics require very low small the material cost is often negligible compared to autofluorescing plastic like Topaz or very inert biocom- the machine cost.” patible material like polypropylene.” MD&M Miscellany an example of the tight tolerances required for future medical devices might be for a unit that performs “pre- Some other material and machine innovations appearing cise metering of volumes and small channels—for example, at MD&M East included: 10 microns—with plus or minus 1 microns,” Helm says. 3D Printing: 3D Systems touted its Figure 4 series of “Our solution is to design a subassembly that will be man- scalable printing machines and indicated a new stand- ufactured by a specialty vendor who has that capability alone version is to be available around September. The and make the rest of the assembly with more typical fea- Figure 4 series can combine numerous modules for high- ture sizes and tolerances.” production environments, with robotic arms conveying Overmolding of elastomers to make low-cost seals in flu- parts from printing to cleaning to curing, explains Mar- id handling devices is one of the areas plastics are keting Manager Ken Feitz. replacing metals or other materials in diagnostic devices. “We can set up as many (modules) as you need,” he Such parts “replace an o-ring in many cases, saving part says, “and you can run different materials and products cost and an assembly step. The savings could be 10 cents at the same time.” From rigid to black to elastomeric to a $1 per piece depending on manufacturing volumes.” materials, “we’re continuing to develop additional mate- in terms of disposable diagnostic devices, non-leeching rials (because) everybody has different needs.”

MTD’s custom end-of-arm tooling presents a part to an inline camera system before depositing into collection system. Photos courtesy of MTD Micro Molding

50 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Meanwhile, Stratasys offered two new materials, a car- units provide validation, printing, and UDi in a small foot- bon-filled nylon and antero 800Na, a PEKK-based print. high-performance thermoplastic for fused deposition The Kanga, about a year old, “was necessitated by the modeling. lack of a low-volume, high-mix medical device pouching Films: Plitek fielded numerous inquiries about various machine,” says Sean Dotson, president and chief execu- grades of custom extruded film for clean-room applica- tive officer of the Sarasota, Fla.-based company. “The tions, a trend on the rise in the past 18 months, says Jeff MiniPack was developed to give medical and consumer Kusiciel, manager of the Des Plaines, ill.-based convert- product customers a small-footprint HFFS machine. There er. Plitek incorporates additives like antimicrobials, are multiple Fortune 500 medical device companies using anti-statics anti-fog agents into such films for products like both solutions.” medical bags and packaging cards for devices like catheters and cannulas. Bioplastics: France’s lactips announced its develop- ABOUT THE AUTHOR ment and manufacture of a bioplastic made of milk protein Geoff Giordano has been a contributor to reduce pollution and replace oil-based plastics. lac- to Plastics Engineering since 2009, cover- tips’s patented innovation is water-soluble, biodegradable, ing a range of topics, including additives, bio-based, printable, and edible. infrastructure, flexible electronics, design Packaging: rND automation & Engineering and MDC software, 3D printing and nanotechnology. He has served as editor-in-chief of Packaging Machinery, a division of rND, showcased numerous industry magazines and is their vertical form fill sealing Kanga Poucher and hori- founder and chief creative officer of con- zontal form fill and seal machine (HFFS) MiniPack tent marketing firm Driven inbound. He thermoformer, both fully automated with robotics, for can be reached at [email protected] the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. The

SUSTAINABLE POLYOLEFINS GROWTH: MEETING NEEDS FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

The SPE South Texas Section, the SPE Polymer Modifiers and Additives Division, the Thermoplastic Due Dates for Materials and Foams Division, and the Flexible Submission: Packaging Division are organizing technical sessions for the 2019 SPE International Polyolefins Abstracts: Conference (Feb 24-27) in the following areas: October 19, 2018

¹ Current Trends in Markets, Technology, and Papers: Investments January 18, 2019 ¹ Innovation in Polyolefin Catalysts and Process ¹ Advances in Polyolefin Stabilization Presentations: ¹ Modifiers for Polyolefins January 18, 2019 ¹ Polymer Testing and Characterization ¹ Flexible Packaging Student Posters: ¹ Polyolefins in Automotive January 18, 2019 ¹ Advances in Polyolefin Processing ¹ Polyolefin Drainage Applications ¹ Sustainability

VSHRUJSRO\ROHILQV

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBEr 2018 | PlaSTiCS ENGiNEEriNG | 51 INDUSTRY NEWS

Becker Named Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Vice President of Polymers and Sustainability

hevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC announced that have partnered with organizations across the globe to ensure James (Jim) Becker, currently vice president of poly- that our facilities and employees act in an environmentally mers, will assume an additional role and become their responsible manner at all times. We likewise want our prod- Cfirst executive to hold a sustainability title. As vice president ucts used and disposed of properly and look forward to the of polymers and sustainability, Becker assumes senior exec- many contributions we can make to bolster sustainability utive responsibility at Chevron Phillips Chemical for overseeing efforts here in the United States and around the world.” the company’s emerging sustainability strategy. “Chevron Phillips Chemical is in growth mode, and with “From new product development to sustainable practices growth comes the responsibility to do everything we can within our facilities, we want to be on the forefront of to help foster a culture of sustainability with our own advances that enrich lives and care for our environment,” he employees while seeking to partner with organizations says. around the world devoted to developing sustainability In his new capacity, Becker will coordinate Chevron solutions,” Becker adds. Phillips’s commercial and technical resources to focus on Becker began his career with Chevron in 1980. He pre- internal sustainability achievements while also identifying viously served as the Asia region manager and managing and collaborating with industry groups, NGOs, and others director of Chevron Phillips Singapore Chemicals before to provide leadership and innovative sustainability solutions becoming the executive president of Saudi Polymers Com- for global concerns, including plastics in the environment. pany LLC. Prior to his position as vice president of “Developing a comprehensive global sustainability strat- polymers, he served as the vice president of specialties. egy is imperative for our company and our industry,” says He also currently sits on the board of directors of Amer- Mark Lashier, president and chief executive officer. “We ican Styrenics LLC.

Hard Rock International, Seminole Gaming, to Eliminate Plastic Straws

ard Rock International (HRI) intends to eliminate plas- “One of Hard Rock's founding mottos is to ‘Save the tic straws at properties worldwide effective Sept. 1. Planet,’ and this is only an extension of the commitment Likewise, Seminole Gaming announced the elimina- we made to do just that 47 years ago,” says Tracy Brad- Htion of plastic straws at its six Florida casinos by the same ford, senior vice president of purchasing for Hard Rock date. International. “Our vendors and partners have been and will This measure is in addition to green initiatives already in continue to be instrumental in activating this endeavor place at the Hard Rock cafes, hotels, and casinos globally across the globe, and we are proud to help make a dif- and at Seminole’s Florida casinos. Durable, earth-friendly ference in conscientious sustainability practices as a drinking straws will now be available to customers upon business—it’s the right thing to do.” request. Beyond this measure, both companies transitioned In regards to Seminole Gaming, Bradford says, “Semi- to using paper to-go bags last month. nole Gaming restaurants already utilize reusable, recyclable Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming are owned or eco-friendly to go containers. As the gaming operation by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and two of Seminole Gam- of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Seminole Gaming is proud ing’s six Florida casinos—the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & to help make a difference in conscientious sustainability Casino Tampa and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino practices.” She also notes that Seminole Gaming recycles Hollywood—operate under the Hard Rock brand. Semi- cardboard and wood pallets. nole’s other Florida locations are the Seminole Casino Hard Rock International plans to announce more ‘Save Coconut Creek, the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood, the Planet’ initiatives in the next few months, including part- the Seminole Casino Immokalee, and the Seminole Casino nerships with key charities that share their values of Brighton. protecting the earth’s natural resources and environment.

52 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org SPE Launches Interactive Exhibitor Directory Ahead of ANTEC® 2019

he Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) debuted a new Clark, senior director of sales and advertising for SPE. online exhibitor directory and floorplan that bene- The following companies have already signed up to fits both exhibitors and attendees. exhibit: Bruker Optics, Brabender Technologie, Coperion TThe directory provides extensive eBooth listings, Corp., Crafts Technology, ECON Inc., Enercon Industries, increased visibility, and networking opportunities. Atten- Moldex3D, NFM Welding Engineers Inc., Parkinson Tech- dees are able to view real-time updates of the event map nologies, TA Instruments, Technovel Corp., and Thermo and can search for products and services by category. Fisher Scientific. Attendees can also create their own personalized expo The ANTEC® Detroit exhibit hall will feature break areas plan of booths to visit and schedule appointments with and receptions to increase networking opportunities. The exhibitors before the conference. ANTEC Detroit Exhibitor Directory and Floorplan can be “I am excited to offer our exhibitors another platform to found here. For more information about exhibiting or advertise their products and services and enable to atten- sponsoring at ANTEC® Detroit, contact Stephanie Clark at dees to create an expo plan before ANTEC®,” says Stephanie [email protected] or (203) 740-5411.

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www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 53 INDUSTRY NEWS

Innovation Takes Root Releases Programing Schedule for September Conference

atureWorks recently announced the full program- biomaterials industry. Representing the Ellen MacArthur ing schedule for their sixth Innovation Takes Root: Foundation, Mats Linder will speak on how the products A NatureWorks Advanced Biomaterials Forum. The and materials we consume fit into the construct of the Nconference, to be held Sept. 10 to 12 at the Rancho Bernar- circular economy. Dr. Norbert Schmitz, from ISCC, will do Inn in San Diego, Calif., will see speakers from Electrolux present on certified sustainable agricultural practices. and PepsiCo join a lineup that will draw broad interest Omar Hoek from Ahlstrom, Marco Garilli from Electrolux, from brand owners, non-governmental organizations, and and Marc DeSchutter from Danone will then share exam- manufacturers who will set the direction for future Ingeo ples of how brands and the supply chain can and must advanced materials innovation. partner together to create real, sustainable solutions for Innovation Takes Root (ITR) brings global thought lead- materials and manufacturing. ers, sustainability professionals, marketers, and business Parallel breakout sessions over the next two days will leaders together with scientists and engineers from the explore market integrating presentations on key market biomaterials value chain. The forum offers full-scale immer- drivers with new Ingeo product and application tech- sion into rethinking and remaking products that will nologies. These sessions will highlight applications such address the need for performance materials while still as coffee capsules, tea bags, nonwovens for personal embracing the growing consumer preference for sus- care, compostable food service utensils, 3D printing, tainability and the tenants of the circular economy. foundry, flexible food packaging, and horticulture. Mean- In all, ITR’s program features over 60 speakers across while, focused workshops designed to provide an in-depth six breakout sessions, four workshops, and two plenary exploration of industry critical topics and technical per- sessions. The program will illustrate the latest develop- formance opportunities will be held in addition to the ments in the market based on new product introductions regular programming. and innovations in applications, processing, and con- Innovation Takes Root organizers are expecting atten- verting amidst a broader context on changes around the dees from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia world from a policy, legislative, and societal perspective. Pacific, and more. Registration is available on the Innova- The opening plenary session on Sept. 10 will feature tion Takes Root website at www.innovationtakesroot.com. David and Jonah Stillman discussing the expectations of Follow NatureWorks on Twitter (@natureworks) for the lat- future “Gen Z” consumers and how they will affect the est updates.

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54 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Demand for Advanced Waterproofing Options Spurs Polymer Modified Cementitious Coatings Market

olymer modified cementitious coatings are important sion of carbon dioxide. construction materials manufactured using cement According to the report, another driver of the growth in and polymers. While they mainly function in protect- the market is increased demand from the residential real Ping concrete surfaces from water and moisture, they are estate sector. Polymer modified cementitious coatings are also used extensively as a bonding agent during new con- extensively used in the construction of residential build- struction and renovation activities. These factors point ings owing to their excellent waterproofing features and towards a bright future for these products, as a recently resistance to wear and tear. published report projects the global polymer modified However, the report states that fluctuating raw materi- cementitious coatings market to grow at a compound annual costs present a significant challenge within this particular al growth rate of 6.35 percent between 2018 and 2022. market. Consistent fluctuations in the cost of components One positive trend in the global polymer modified cemen- used to manufacture polymer modified cementitious coat- titious coatings market is the increasing popularity of ings pose a major hurdle to manufacturers. The production geopolymer cements. Geopolymer is an inorganic com- of these coatings requires numerous raw materials, includ- pound and is an environment-friendly alternative to cement, ing Portland cement, several other cement grades, and particularly Portland cement, the production of which polymers (such as acrylic polymers and its derivatives and involves an energy-intensive process and significant emis- SBR latex).

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 55 INDUSTRY NEWS

PLASTICS Receives ANSI Accreditation on Machinery Safety Standards, Announces October Meeting

he Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) was makers/machinery-safety-standards-committee. recently accredited by the American National Stan- Current projects of interest include the development dards Institute (ANSI) to oversee and reshape a wide of standards for safety of film and sheet winding machin- Trange of issues regarding machinery safety standards. ery, granulators, strand pelletizers, and dicers, as well as This new accreditation charges PLASTICS to develop, a review of the robot integration safety standard. The approve, reaffirm, revise, or withdraw American National Machinery Safety Technical Committee was also respon- Standards and Technical Reports covering manufacture, sible for ANSI/PLASTICS B151.1-2017, the recently integration, care, and use of plastics machinery or mate- published safety standard regarding injection molding rials throughout the supply chain. machinery; PLASTICS safety standards included require- As part of this accreditation, PLASTICS is currently seek- ments for both the manufacturer and user of the ing additional participants towards their efforts related machinery. A full list of previously published PLASTICS’s to machinery safety, particularly for voting members that machinery safety standards is available on their website, are not equipment manufacturers. The Machinery Safety plasticsindustry.org. Technical Committee serves as the consensus body for While most of this work will be done via teleconference, all B151 standards activities and any other technical stan- web conference, or email, PLASTICS is holding an in-per- dards work related to machinery safety. As voting on son meeting on Oct. 9 to 11 in Independence, Ohio. The PLASTICS standards will be done on a company basis, main purpose of the meeting will be to review progress each company that is interested in becoming a voting on the 2018 work plan and begin development of a work member on the technical committee must submit a mem- plan for 2019. PLASTICS standards meetings are open to bership application. This application is available on the all interested parties, so for additional information, includ- PLASTICS Machinery Safety Standards website at ing a draft agenda and registration, please visit their http://plasticsindustry.org/supply-chain/equipment-mold- website at plasticsindustry.org.

Report Forecasts Plastic Food Container Growth Over the Next Decade

rends around the world are aligning to create unseen packaged and processed foods. Simply put, millennials opportunities for growth in the plastic food con- favor convenience and are cooking less than any gener- tainer market, and while the impetus may be different ation before them, which has led to increased sales of Tfrom region to region, the end result remains the same. prepared foods; in fact, a 2015 report from Mintel cited According to a recently published report, the global plas- that even making cereal was seen as inconvenient due to tic food container market is expected to grow at a the dirty bowl it would leave, with millennials favoring a compound annual growth rate of 6.3 percent through the prepackaged yogurt or sandwich for breakfast. Finally, year 2026, according to Researchandmarkets. the global market is also being fueled by consumers’ The factors towards this market growth are as diverse increasing demand that retailers develop modern pack- as the societies around the globe that drive them. World- aging technologies, with fixed plastic packaging being wide, increased disposable incomes, especially from seen as one of the major opportunities for growth during developing countries, are a huge stimulus for the plastic the forecast period. food container market. In particular, Asia Pacific is antic- By product, the demand for plastic food containers for ipated to be one of the fastest growing regions for plastic meat products is growing rapidly due to the emergence food containers thanks to its growing population, of robust and non-deformable plastic containers in vari- increased industrialization, and infrastructural develop- ous shapes and sizes. The demand for these disposable ment. food containers is increasing for the storage and trans- In America, the eating and purchasing habits of the mil- portation of delicate food products such as meats, cold lennial generation has led to an increased demand for cuts, and sausages.

56 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Endowment for Clean Oceans Finalizes $1 Million Contest, Appoints Judges

he design of the Endowment for Clean Oceans (ECO) “We must deploy technology to remove micro and macro $1 million worldwide contest to find a sustainable, pieces of plastic from the world’s oceans on global scale,” globally deployable technology to remove micro says Daniel Perrin, ECO’s founder. Tand macro plastics from the world’s oceans has been ECO plans a second contest, to find an economically finalized. ECO also recently announced that Skunkworks viable replacement for plastic, for which the Martin Broth- Surfing Co. co-founders Chris and Ricky Martin have been ers will also serve as judges. The winner of that contest appointed as judges. will receive a $5 million prize. “We need to prevent new “We are extremely excited to be part of this important plastic from going into the world’s oceans as well as take and historic work,” say the Martin Brothers. the plastic already polluting our oceans out,” says Perrin. Regarding the contest’s format, ECO announced the “It’s essential. It really can’t wait.” following three submission categories based upon the Regarding the Martin Brothers’ roles as judges, Chris interest from potential contestants: will serve on the Science and Tech Committee while Ricky Corporations and universities will serve on the Entrepreneur Committee. The role of “Garage” inventors the Entrepreneur Committee is to judge each entry on Elementary/secondary students scalability and executability, and the Scientific and Tech- The $1 million prize will go to the corporation and uni- nical Committee will evaluate each entry from that versity winner, while the “garage inventor” will win a perspective. Perrin explains that, “[The Martin Brothers] significant investment in his company and technology. The have the sort of innovative entrepreneur and plastic mate- prize for the elementary and secondary student catego- rials technical expertise we are looking for to be ECO ry will be a full scholarship to a school of their choice. judges.”

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 57 INDUSTRY NEWS

BioLogiQ Creates Biodegradable Plastic Using Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate

est results show that BioLogiQ’s new NuPlastiQ MB Brad LaPray, president and founder of BioLogiQ, says, BioPolymer, produced by blending NuPlastiQ GP with “Our ability to produce a marine biodegradable film using PBAT (polybutylene adipate terephthalate), is marine a material that was previously not marine biodegradable Tbiodegradable. Performed by Eden Research Laboratory, is a huge technical accomplishment that can significant- results show 97 percent biodegradation of a GP/PBAT film ly reduce both plastic marine debris and the negative in ocean water within a one-year period, according to effects this debris can have in our oceans.” He adds, “Giv- ASTM-D6691 standards for marine biodegradability. en the current concern regarding plastics and ocean BioLogiQ, Inc. is a bioplastic resin manufacturing com- pollution, we are working on NuPlastiQ MB marine pany specializing in sustainable plastic products made biodegradable formulations of NuPlastiQ GP with poly- from renewable resources, and the key to this new plas- ethylene and polypropylene. Our target applications are tic compound is their NuPlastiQ GP General Purpose drink cups, straws, lids, and grocery sacks.” BioPolymer. GP is a 100 percent natural, renewably In regards to certifying the new resin, LaPray says, “The resourced, plant-based resin that has been certified by ability for plastics to biodegrade in a marine environment TUV Austria to marine biodegrade in 28 days. When PBAT is so new and unusual that acceptable certification stan- is mixed with NuPlastiQ GP, it will also biodegrade in dards do not exist. We plan to work with industry and marine environments. governments to develop new standards.”

58 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org Pilot Chemical Names John Brantley to Board, Bob Cellura Director Emeritus

he Pilot Chemical Co. recently made two important Pilot chief executive officer, president, and board member changes to its board of directors, appointing veteran Pam Butcher explains how Brantley’s professional background attorney John R. Brantley as a director and naming long- is a strategic fit for the company: “In addition to his signifi- Ttime director Bob Cellura as its first director emeritus. cant experience advising companies in the chemical, oil, and As a partner in the Houston office of international law firm gas, and banking industries, John will bring strength in cor- Bracewell LLP, Brantley advises public and private companies porate governance to the board.” on mergers and acquisitions, securities, and corporate gov- Pilot’s board will also have its first director emeritus in Bob ernance. He has provided legal counsel to Pilot Chemical for Cellura, who has served on the Board since 2006. Cellura more than 13 years. joined the board upon his retirement from Pilot, where he “John has developed an in-depth knowledge of the com- served in executive roles for more than 20 years. Prior to join- pany’s heritage, the business objectives, and the strategy for ing Pilot, he held key roles with DuPont and Union Carbide. continued growth and success,” says Pilot Chairman Paul Mor- “Bob will continue to be a resource to the board by pro- risroe. viding valuable insights and comments based upon his long Brantley has come to know and respect Morrisroe, as well history with the chemical industry, Pilot, and Pilot’s board of as Pilot’s board of directors and management, over the past directors,” Morrisroe says. “We are all very pleased to have 13 years, he says. “The Pilot organization is a unique blend that continuing relationship.” of active, engaged ownership, and professional, innovative These appointments continue what has been a time of tran- management,” he adds. “Serving as a board member will allow sition at Pilot. The company named Mike Clark its chief me to work with the Pilot team in a new and different way.” operating officer just weeks ago.

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 59 PATENTS

Our Regular Roundup of Notable Patents

By Roger Corneliussen

Tissue Engineering system to form the thermoplastic A/B block copolymer. U.S. Patent 9,931,249 (April 3, 2018), “Reduced-Pressure, The unsaturated triglycerides also enable crosslinking Deep-Tissue Closure Systems and Methods,” James Joseph because of multiple unsaturated groups in each unit. Sealy, Keith Patrick Heaton, Colin John Hall, Christopher These polymerized plant oil-based materials behave as Guy Coward, and Mark Stephen James Beard (KCI Licens - the more traditional TPE materials useful as asphalt mod - ing, Inc., San Antonio, Texas) ifiers, rubber, adhesives, tires, footwear, and packaging. Stitching or stabilizing deep tissues such as fat, mus - cle, or fascia during surgery is difficult. These tissues in an infected wound may be very fragile and not endure Spinning Nanofibers suturing. Gentle pressure could minimize complications like retraction or necrosis. Sealy et al. developed a reduced- U.S. Patent 9,931,777 (April 3, 2018), “Simple Device for pressure, deep-tissue closure device using an expandable Economically Producing Electrospun Fibers at Moderate material. This is based on an open cell, reticulated Rates,” George G. Chase, Kitchaporn Nartetamrongsutt, polyurethane foam attached to a manifold for reducing and Hyeon Ung Shin (University of Akron, Akron, Ohio) pressure. After placement, a gentle reduced pressure grips Electrospinning is an effective process to form fibers the surrounding deep tissue and pushes it into place with - especially micro- and nanofibers. However, it has a low out tearing or drastic movement. production rate up to 0.17 g/hour. This can be solved by multiple jets, but these are difficult to control and are expensive. Chase, Nartetamrongsutt, and Shin developed an electrospinning device based on injecting a polymer Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE) from Plants solution onto a charged threaded rod with a grounded U.S. Patent 9,932,435 (April 3, 2018), “Ther - collector enclosed in a pipe. The process may involve moplastic Elastomers via Atom Transfer many rods at one time. The solution flows down multi - Radical Polymerization of Plant Oil,” Eric ple small grooves in the rod forming small droplets. William Cochran, Ronald Christopher Under strong electric fields, these eject small jets which Williams, Nacu Hernandez, and Andrew are collected by a grounded collector. The rods are A. Cascione (Iowa State University, Ames, charged by electrodes and a power supply. The average Iowa) size of the resulting fibers was 200 to 400 nm formed Attempts are made to replace traditional petrochemi - at 5 g/hour or 30 times the rate of conventional elec - cal feedstocks with plant materials due to their trospinning processes. environmental and economic impact. Plant feedstocks for thermosets are successful but not for highly process - able thermoplastic elastomers. Cochran et al. developed Polyethylene Hinges A/B block copolymers where A is the traditional synthetic vinyl, acrylic, diolefin, nitrile, or acrylonitrile monomer U.S. Patent 9,932,466 (April 3, 2018), “Hinge Polymer,” while B is a radically polymerizable plant oil monomer Jason Michael Rycroft, Gilber Alexander Arnould, Matthew based on triglycerides from bio-feedstocks such as soy - Zaki Botros, and Mark Rejamn (Nova Chemicals Interna - bean oil. A mixture of monomers is poly merized in the tional, S.A., Fribourg, Switzerland) presence of an initiator and a transition-metal catalyst Some applications require thin molded polyethylene

60 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org parts to resist flex cracking. One example is dispenser resins are melted in separate extruders and coextruded to lids which need to have life cycles of at least 300 openings form the laminated film without adhesives. The film is, and closings before failure. Currently, “snap top” dis - then, uniaxially drawn to 1.1 to 10 draw ratios and heat - pensing lids are made from polypropylene due to its ed below the melting point of the polylactic acid layers. toughness and living hinge capability, but they are not These materials are used in vibrating bodies of micro - recyclable. Rycroft et al. developed polyethylene for thin- phones, pickups, buzzers, speakers, optical switches, fans, film living hinges containing 0.1 to 5 wt% C 4-8 comonomer and piezoelectric actuators. with a density of 0.945. The resulting material show life cycles of 200 to more than 900 cycles.

Efficient 3D Printing U.S. Patent 9,937,669 (April 10, 2018), “Three-Dimen - Stiffened Foam Laminates sional Printed Part Removal using a Bimetallic Platen,” Ron U.S. Patent 9,937,692 (April E. Dufort, John T. Buzzelli, Dara N. Lubin, and Kevin St. 10, 2018), “Method for the Martin (Xerox Corp., Norwalk, Conn.) Manufacture of Reinforced 3D printing or additive manufacturing is popular but Materials and Material that hampered by very low productivity. The process is inher - can be Obtained from this Method,” Christian Weimer and ently slow by producing a single structure with a slow Patricia Parlevliet (Airbus Defense and Space GmbH, Otto - repetitive process. Even removing the completed struc - brunn, Germany) ture from the fabrication platform is a problem because Because of their good stiffness and strength/density of adhesion. Dufort et al. developed a three-dimensional ratios, foam core composites are widely used in aircraft. printer with a support platen that induces separation on These laminates—including honeycombs—reduce weight, command. This platen consists of layers with different but they also reduce stiffness and other properties. Fibers thermal expansivities. After completing a structure, the and resin can be added, but they also increase weight platen is given burst of heat from an electrical current, which must be avoided for aviation and space flight. Weimer which bends the platen and releases the formed object. and Parlevliet reinforced foam core composites by insert - ing hot pins through the cores including honeycomb laminates. The hot pins melt neighboring resin inducing Tear-Resistant Film interfacial bonding and increased stiffness. Suitable ther - moplastic polymers are polyetherimides, U.S. Patent 9,951,253 (April 24, 2018), “Multilayer Film polyetheretherketones, polyamides, polyimides, poly - with High Tear Propagation Resistance and Low Shrink - ethersulfones, polyurethanes, or polyvinylchlorides. age,” Heinz Engelhard (Infiana Germany GmbH & Co., KG, Forchheim, Germany) Multilayer plastic films waterproof sheeting materials have inadequate tear resistance. Engelhard developed a Piezoelectric Laminates multilayer film with high tear resistance consisting of U.S. Patent 9,937,688 (April 10, 2018), “Stretched Lami - polypropylene copolymer layers with an intermediate nated Film for use in Piezoelectric Polymer Material, and olefin/alkyl (meth)acrylate copolymer layer bound by an Manufacturing Method thereof,” Tetsuo Yoshida, Yoshiro adhesive. The resulting film has tear propagation resist - Tajitsu, Atsuko Kato, and Tomoka Yoshimura (Teijin Ltd. ances of at least 300 mN for a total layer thickness of 45 and Kansai University, Osaka, Japan) microns and low shrinkage. Stretched films of poly-L-lactic acid and poly-D-lactic acid laminates can be used as piezoelectric materials. However, adequate adhesion is necessary, requiring com - Capillary Composites plicated processing and low productivity. Yoshida et al. developed stable polylactic acid laminates not prone to U.S. Patent 9,951,221 (April 24, 2018), “Thermally Degrad - delamination by a co-extrusion process. The individual able Polymeric Fibers,” Aaron P. Esser-Kahn, Hefei Dong,

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 61 PATENTS

Piyush R. Thakre, Jason F.Patrick, Nancy R. Sottos, Jeffrey S. reinforcements, they are difficult to produce and recycle. Moore, and Scott R. White (University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.) Cellulose nanofibers are good reinforcing fibers with a low Synthetic composite materials have the desired high environmental load. Wada, Yoshimura, and Amano developed strength-to-weight ratios but lack the dynamic functional - cellulose nanofibers that are water dispersible and very ity of natural composite materials because of internal processable. Cellulose nanofibers having an average degree capillary networks. Esser-Kahn et al. formed a composite of polymerization of 100 or more and 800 or less and an with an internal capillary or microfluidic network by heat - aspect ratio of 150 or more and 2000 or less are produced ing a solid matrix with an embedded fabric of sacrificial by treating plant pulp with enzymes and mechanical shear - fibers. Heating degrades the fibers forming the capillary ing. Plant sources include wood, cotton, bacterial cellulose, network. The matric can be a polyamide, polyester or any animals, cloth, and waste paper. Their compatibility enables thermoplastic polymer. The degradable fiber matrix is a high composite concentrations leading to high strengths. polymer such as poly(hydroxyalkanoate) with up to 0.01 wt% catalyst consisting of an alkaline earth metal oxide, a tin salt of a mono- or di-carboxylic acid and scandium tri - Wear-Resistant Implants flate. The resulting channels will have interconnected channels 0.1 to 1000 micrometers in diameter. U.S. Patent 9,951,190 (April 24, 2018), “Surface Crosslinked Polyethylene,” Shulin He, Zongtao Zhang, Keenan Michael Hanson, and Shi-Shen Yau (Howmedica Osteonics Corp., Mahwah, N.J.) Moldable Hemp Reinforced Materials Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has U.S. Patent 9,951,215 (April 24, 2018), “Injectable Com - been used for some time as a bearing material for artificial posite Material Reinforced by Natural Fibers,” Pauline joints such as hips and knees. Wear resistance is induced Kannengiesser, Embarka Aoudjit, Laurence Dufrancatel, by crosslinking by gamma or electron beam irradiation. Sergio Da Costa Pito, and Gerard Mougin (Faurecia Interieur High doses can reduce wear rates to near zero, but the Industrie, Nanterre, France) material becomes too brittle for clinical use. He et al. devel - Composites based on natural materials are needed for oped a toughened, wear-resistant polyethylene medical large-scaled applications including transportation. Hemp implant ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW - fiber reinforcement is possible but limited by low impact PE) by a two-stage crosslinking process. The material is first resistance and emission of volatile components. Kan - irradiated with gamma ray or e-beam radiation to form free nengiesser et al. developed hemp-reinforced composites for radicals and then crosslinked to eliminate free radicals pri - injection molding consisting of 28 to 95 wt% polypropy - or to oxygen exposure. It is then coated with a photoinitiator lene-polyethylene copolymer, 0 to 10 wt% flow enhancer, and photocrosslinked with ultraviolet (UV) radiation. 1 to 20 wt% impact modifier, 1 to 20 percent by weight of a compatibilizer and 3 to 70 wt% 0.1 to 10 mm long hemp fibers. Injection moldability is best for hemp fiber contents Auxetic Foams less than 30 wt%. U.S. Patent 9,956,729 (May 1, 2018), “Method of Manu - facturing a Foam Showing a Gradient Poisson's Ratio Behaviour,” Matteo Bianchi and Fabrizio Scarpa (Rolls- Cellulose Nanofibers Royce plc, London) U.S. Patent 9,951,192 (April 24, 2018), “Cellulose Nanofibers, Auxetic materials have a negative Poisson's ratio when Method for Producing same, Aqueous Dispersion using Cel - stretched becoming thicker in a direction perpendicular lulose Nanofibers, and Fiber-Reinforced Composite Material” to the direction of the applied force. These materials have Masanori Wada, Akira Yoshimura, and Yoshihiko Amano high energy absorption, high fracture resistance, and are (Nitto Boseki Co., Ltd., Fukushima, Japan) highly absorbent. However, there is no known method for Cellulose nanofibers are attractive for fiber reinforced manufacturing these foams. Bianchi and Scarpa manu - composites because they are strong, light weight and recy - factured foams with variable Poisson's ratios including clable. Although carbon fibers or glass fibers are excellent some regions with negative ratios. An open-cell foam is

62 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org placed in a chamber with inlets and outlets for air. The ABOUT THE AUTHOR foam is heated and cooled while air is flowing through the Dr. Roger Corneliussen is Professor Emer - foam. The transforming temperature is greater than its itus of Materials Engineering of Drexel glass transition but less than the melting temperature. University in Philadelphia. He has been For polyurethane and polyethylene foams this is 120º to an SPE member since 1962 and an active member of the Philadelphia Section, serv - 170º C. The result is a foam with variable Poisson’s ratio. ing as president and national councilman Examples include open-cell foams such as open-cell for several years. The above patents are selected from the 100 to 400 plastics- polyurethane foam. Potential applications include sound - related patents found by reviewing 3,000 proof panels, acoustic linings, duct liners, vibration mat to 7,000 U.S. patents published each Tues - pads, and filters. day. Readers can review the complete list of plastics-related patents by week at www.plasticspatents.com .

Protect the site against power failure

Power failures can occur anywhere in the world, and sites financial implications if it is not provided. Setting up systems need to be prepared for these. An unscheduled power to minimize the damage is the first thing that should be failure will stop production, but the lost production is done. temporary. The major issue is data loss and/or damage to the machines. These may well be permanent and cost more Actions : to rectify than the cost of lost production. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) can provide continued • Set/adjust machines to fail-to-safe conditions to avoid power for computers and controllers in a power failure. They leaving machines in an unsafe or unstable condition will not keep a site operating because of their limited energy • Prepare checklists and procedures for action, e.g. isolate storage, but UPS should be used for all computers and machines, clear conveyors, clear assembly machines, set servers to prevent data corruption and loss. machines in correct condition for re-start • Use UPS to prevent data loss (or corruption) for The alternative site-wide approach is to use a “genset” which computers and controls is a diesel engine and an electric generator. Gensets, when • Gracefully shut down computers and controls. Do not suitably sized, can provide enough power to run a plastics keep working; the UPS will eventually drain processing site but are expensive and rarely used except • Gracefully shut down machines to prevent machine for critical applications or in countries with an unreliable activation when the supply is restored grid supply. • Backup, backup, and backup again. A power failure is a Protecting against power failure is effectively an insurance nuisance; data loss can be fatal policy against losses from such an event. There is no financial benefit in providing this protection, but there are Dr. Robin Kent - ©Tangram Technology Ltd.

Note: Dr. Robin Kent is the author of Energy Management in Plastics Processing, published by Plastics Information Direct, and managing director of Tangram Technology Ltd., ( www.tangram.co.uk ), consulting engineers specializing in energy management in plastics processing. Contact him at [email protected] .

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 63 EVENTS

Oct. 8-10 – Annual Blow Molding Conference 2018 SPE & PARTNERED CONFERENCES sheraton station square Pittsburgh, Pa. 2018 contact: surendra agarwal tel: 912-240-7800 sept. 5-7 – SPE Automotive Composites Conference Email: [email protected] and Exhibition Web: www.4spe.org/Events the Diamond Banquet and conference center at the suburban collection showplace Oct. 23-25 – Vinyltec® 2018: PVC Additives Today novi, Mich. and Tomorrow contact: alper Kiziltas chicago Marriot O’Hare tel: 313-322-0598 chicago, ill. Email: [email protected] contact: Kimberly rush and William arendt Web: http://speautomotive.com/acce-conference tel: 847-427-0020 ext. 117; 847-932-9068 Email: [email protected] ; sept. 11-14 – Advances in Foam Materials and [email protected] Technology Web: www.4spe.org/events Hyatt regency Montreal, Quebec Oct. 28-31 – FlexPackCon 2018® contact: Marie-France sosa Wild Horse Pass resort tel: 450-889-7277 Phoenix, ariz. Email: [email protected] contact: Donna Davis Web: www.4spe.org/Events tel: 832-298-0795 Email: [email protected] sept. 18-20 – 2018 TPE TopCon––Innovation Bounces Web: www.4spe.org/Events Back Hilton Fairlawn Hotel nov. 8 – 48 th Automotive Innovation Awards akron, Ohio Competition & Gala contact: Viv Malpass Burton Manor Email: [email protected] lavonia, Mich. Web: www.4spe.org/Events contact: Jeff Helms tel: 248-459-7012 sept. 23-25 – CAD RETEC Email: [email protected] Embassy suites charleston airport Web: www.4spe.org/Events charleston, s.c. contact: Brenda Mullins tel: 313-920-3113 Email: [email protected] 2019 Web: www.specad.org/events/ Feb. 19-20 – Thermoset Topical Conference 2019 Belmond charleston Place Hotel sept. 24-26 – SPE Thermoforming Conference charleston, s.c. Omni Fort Worth and Fort Worth convention center contact: len nunnery Fort Worth, texas tel: 630-777-6656 contact: Jim arnet Email: [email protected] tel: 972-974-3516 Web: https://spethermosets.org/ Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Feb. 24-27 – 2019 SPE International Polyolefins Conference Oct. 7-10 – Automotive TPO Hilton Hotel north Marriott Hotel Houston, texas troy, Mich. contact: robert Portnoy contact: sassan tarahomi tel: 713-829-8799 tel: 586-819-0650 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: https://spe-stx.org/international-polyolefins- Web: www.auto-tpo.com conference/

64 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org March 18-21 – ANTEC 2019 sept. 16-18 - Annual Blow Molding Conference 2019 Marriott renaissance center crowne Plaza ravinia Detroit, Mich. atlanta, ga. contact: scott Marko contact: ron Puvak tel: 203-740-5442 tel: 419-867-5400 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Web: www.4spe.org/antec sept. 23-25 - CAD RETECH Color and Appearance March 27-29 – European Additives & Colors Conference Conference renaissance cleveland Hotel le Méridien Frankfurt cleveland, Ohio Frankfurt, germany contact: steve Esker contact: Kathrin lehmann tel: 614-679-4677 tel: 0049-1752922796 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Web: www.4spe.org/Events Oct. 1-3 - Vinyltec® 2019 april 16-17 – Plastic Pipe & Fittings Conference Hilton Fairlawn Hotel Philadelphia Marriott West akron, Ohio West conshohocken, Pa. contact: Viv Milpass tel: 330-342-1120 contact: James Mason Email: [email protected] tel: 610-816-5720 Web: www.4spe.org/Events Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Oct. 6-9 - Automotive TPO Marriott Hotel May 7 – AUTO EPCON 2019 troy, Mich. Detroit-troy Marriott contact: sassan tarahomi troy, Mich. Email: [email protected] contact: gary Kogowski Web: www.4spe.org/Events tel: 248-797-7433 Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Other Industry Events June 3-4 – SPE Decorating & Assembly Division TopCon and IMDA Symposium sept. 11-13 - Second International Conference LSR Marriott conference center-cool springs 2018 Franklin, tenn. sheraton Park Hotel anaheim, calif. contact: Jeff Peterson contact: Heather Dib tel: 785-271-5801 tel: 586-737-7373 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Web: www.4spe.org/Events Web: http://executive-conference.com sept. 9-11 - 2019 SPE Thermoforming Conference® Oct. 2-4 – Polymer Failure & Defects: Problem- Wisconsin center and the Hilton Milwaukee city center Solving Case-Histories Hotel Marriott Marquis –– Downtown Milwaukee, Wis. atlanta, ga. contact: Brian Winton/steve Zamprelli contact: innoPlast solutions, inc. tel: 989-435-7741 ext. 2232; 516-334-2300 tel: 973-801-6212 Email: [email protected] ; Email: [email protected] [email protected] Web: http://innoplastsolutions.com/courses/ Web: www.4spe.org/Events polymer-failure-defects.html

www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | Plastics EnginEEring | 65 EVENTS

Dec. 13-14 – 2nd CPRJ and SPE New Materials for March 5-7 - Global Automotive Congress “Plastics-in- Plastics Application Conference and Showcase Motion” sheraton charlotte Hotel adsale Publishing ltd. and sPE charlotte, n.c. shenzhen, china contact: Heather Dib Web: www.adsalecPrJ.com tel: 586-737-7373 Email: [email protected] Web: http://executive-conference.com 2019 Dec. 13-14 – 2nd CPRJ and SPE New Materials for Jan. 5-8 – ARABPLAST 2019 Plastics Application Conference and Showcase Dubai World trade center adsale Publishing ltd. and sPE Dubai, United arab Emirates shenzhen, china Web: https://arabplast.info/index Web: www.adsalecPrJ.com

66 | Plastics EnginEEring | sEPtEMBEr 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org

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www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 69 EDITORIAL INDEX

3D Systems ...... 50 Lactips ...... 51 3M ...... 32, 43 Magna Autosystems Division ...... 38 EDITORIAL STAFF ABI Research ...... 23 Marshall Manufacturing ...... 46 Editor-in-Chief Accumold ...... 47 Mercedes-Benz ...... 30-31 Airbus Dense and Space GmbH ...... 23, 61 Microsoft ...... 32 Sheri Kasprzak Alphabet ...... 32 MTD Micro Molding ...... 47-51 Amazon ...... 32 NatureWorks ...... 54 Contributing Editors American Chemistry Council ...... 6-9 Nitto Boseki Co. Ltd...... 62 Dr. Roger Corneliussen American Sytrenics LLC ...... 52 Norplex-Micarta ...... 18 Apple ...... 32 Nova Chemicals International S.A...... 60 Jon Evans Aptiv ...... 30, 33, 36 Opener Inc...... 34 Dr. Robin Kent Arburg GmbH + Co KG ...... 19 Osram Licht AG ...... 41 Arkema Inc...... 38 Pacific Insights Electronics Corp...... 42 Marketing & Communications ArtCenter Design Center ...... 24 Panasonic Corp...... 25 Sue Wojnicki Automotive Lighting Reutlingen GmbH...... 40 PepsiCo ...... 54 BioLogiQ...... 58 Pilot Chemical Co...... 59 Branding & Design Blue Star Inc...... 42 PLASTICS ...... 56 BMW...... 32 Plitek ...... 51 Valaree DonFrancesco Bosch ...... 26 PolyOne Corp...... 17, 20 Ryan Foster Bracara Group ...... 16 Pratt Institute ...... 12 California College of the Arts ...... 12-13 PricewaterhouseCoopers ...... 32 Art Director Celanese ...... 40 Prospect Mold ...... 20 Central Power and Light Co...... 22, 27 R&M International Sales Corp...... 20 Gerry Mercieca Chevrolet ...... 38-45 Renault ...... 23, 28, 32 Publisher Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC ...... 52 Rinspeed AG ...... 31, 33-34 Chicago Miniature Lighting LLC ...... 42 RND Automation & Engineering ...... 51 Lisa Dionne Lento City College of New York ...... 6 Roctool S.A...... 18-20 Colonial Mold Inc...... 44 Rolls-Royce plc ...... 62 2018–2019 EXECUTIVE BOARD Colonial Plastics Inc...... 44 Royal College of Art ...... 12 CompositeTechs LLC ...... 17 SABIC ...... 18, 20, 36, 40, 42 President Continental ...... 30 Samsung ...... 32 Brian Grady Core77.com ...... 23 Saudi Polymers Co. LLC ...... 52 CoreTech System Co. Ltd...... 17 Seminole Gaming ...... 52 CEO, SPE Covestro LLC ...... 40 Serigraph Inc...... 42 Crossply Technology B.V...... 17 Shocker Composites LLC ...... 20 Patrick Farrey Daimler ...... 32 Siemens PLC Software ...... 23 President-elect DBM Reflex...... 40 Skunkworks Surfing Co...... 57 Dieffenbacher GmbH ...... 17 Snap Motion ...... 34 Brian Landes DuPont ...... 59 Society of Automotive Engineers Int. ....23, 29 Electolux ...... 54 SPE ...... 4-5, 53 Vice President - Business & Finance ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd...... 20 SPE Automotive Division ...... 38-45 Jeremy Dworshak Endowment for Clean Oceans...... 57 Stanford University ...... 14 Evonik Cyro LLC ...... 39 Stanford University d.school...... 11 Vice President - Divisions Facebook ...... 32 Stratasys ...... 51 Faurecia ...... 28, 34 Surface Generation Ltd...... 19 Jason Lyons Faurecia Interieur Industrie...... 62 Symbient Product Development ...... 49 Vice President - Events FCA US LLC ...... 40 Techmer PM ...... 11 Flex-N-Gate Corp...... 40 Teijin Ltd...... 61 Jaime Gómez Formplast Purkert s.r.o...... 40 Tesla ...... 32 Ford Motor Co...... 16, 32, 40 The Boeing Co...... 23 Vice President - Marketing & Fraunhofer Project Center @ Western Univ. ..17 ThermoPlastic composites Research Center 16 Gardner Business Media Inc...... 16 Uber...... 34 Communications General Electric ...... 32 Union Carbide ...... 59 Conor Carlin General Motors Corp...... 22-23, 30, 32, 38 University of Akron...... 60 Georgia Tech ...... 14 University of Illinois at Urbana ...... 62 Vice President - Sections Hard Rock International ...... 52 University of Southampton ...... 13 Hella KGaA Hueck & Co...... 39 University of Tennessee at Knoxville ...... 18 Scott Eastman Howmedica Osteonics Corp...... 62 Van Wees UD ...... 17 Hyundai Motor Group...... 32 Varroc Lighting Systems ...... 40 Vice President - Young Professionals IBM...... 32 Ventra Sandusky LLC ...... 42 Lynzie Nebel IDEO...... 10 Victrex plc ...... 18, 20 IndustryStar Solutions ...... 24 Visteon...... 34, 36 Vice President - Technology & Infiana Germany GmbH & Co. KG ...... 61 Volkswagen ...... 15, 32 Education Innotec Group ...... 42 Volvo/Autoliv/Zenuity ...... 32 Institute for Advanced Composites Voyage ...... 35 Raymond Pearson Manufacturing ...... 18 Waymo ...... 32 Iowa State University ...... 60 Windsor Mold Group ...... 43 2017–2018 President Kansai University ...... 61 Xerox Corp...... 61 KCI Licensing Inc...... 60 XponentialWorks ...... 25-26 Raed AlZubi

Plastics Engineering (ISSN 0091-9578) is published monthly, except bimonthly in July/August and November/December, by Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., a Wiley Company, 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA. The magazine is compiled and edited by the Society of Plastics Engineers, Editorial and Business Office, 6 Berkshire Blvd., Suite 306, Bethel, CT 06801 USA. Telephone +1 203-775-0471, Fax +1 203-775-8490. SPE Home Page: www.4spe.org. Communications should be sent to the Editor. Send subscription orders and claims for non-receipt to Wiley Subscription Services at the Wiley address given above. SPE members receive the magazine as a benefit of membership. Subscription rate for nonmembers is $233 for 1 year; add $100 per year for subscriptions outside North America. Single-issue price is $20. Plastics Engineering is printed by Dartmouth Printing Co., a Sheridan Group Company. Copyright 2018 by the Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Laura Aberle, Production Editor, John Wiley & Sons, 101 Station Landing, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02155 USA. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Plastics Engineering is indexed by Engineering Information Inc. Neither Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., nor the Society of Plastics Engineers, nor Plastics Engineering is responsible for opinions or statements of facts expressed by contributors or advertisers, either in the articles published in Plastics Engineering or in the technical papers that are presented at the meetings of the Society. Editorials do not necessarily repre- sent the official policy of Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., or the Society. Display and classified advertisements are included as an educational service to readers of Plastics Engineering. Advertising appearing in Plastics Engineering is not to be taken as an endorsement, expressed or implied, of the respective company’s processes, products, or services represented in the ad. Printed in the U.S.A.

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4spe.org | 203.775.0471 ADVERTISERS INDEX

Aaron Equipment Company www.aaronequipment.com/sniff...... 68

Aero Rubber Company, Inc. www.aerorubber.com...... 69 ADVERTISING SALES FOR PRINT AND ON LINE DIGITAL www.allgrind.com...... 69 Allgrind Plastics ADVERTISING SALES in Ascend Performance Materials www.ascendmaterials.com/vydyne...... 45 Plastics Engineering magazine Atlas Material Testing Solutions www.atlas-mts.com ...... 3 please contact:

Brabender CWB www.cwbrabender.com...... 9, 27 Global Sciences Sales Director BYK www.byk.com...... Cover 4 Dan Nicholas CPRJ & SPE New Materials Showcase www.adsaleCPRJ.com...... 53 Tel: +1-716-587-2181 Growing Your Business email: [email protected] ...... 46 [email protected]

IMS Company www.imscompany.com/G21...... Cover 3 Sr. Account Manager J.P. Curilla Associates Email: [email protected] ...... 69 Print & E Media Advertising

Japan Steel Works www.jswamerica.com...... Cover 2, 69 Roland Espinosa Tel: +1-201-748-6819 John Anderson & Associates www.plasticsjobsearch.com...... 68 E-mail: [email protected] Konica Minolta sensing.konicaminolta.us...... 15

Plastic Flow www.plasticflow.com ...... 68

Polyhedron Laboratories, Inc. www.polyhedronlab.com...... 68 Product and news releases for Plastics Engineering can be sent Process Design & Technologies www.processdesigntech.com ...... 68 directly to: Rheo-Plast Associates Inc. www.rheoplastusa.com...... 68 [email protected] SAM North America www.sam-na.com • Email: [email protected]...... 68

Shepherd Color Company www.shepherdcolor.com ...... 7

SPE Annual Awards www.4spe.org/annualawards ...... 66

SPE ANTEC Call for Papers www.4spe.org/ANTECcfp ...... 37 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA SPE ANTEC Sponsorships Email: [email protected] ...... 57

SPE European Additives & Color Conference 4spe.org/ace19 ...... 21

SPE FlexPackCon www.4spe.org/flexpackcon2018...... 55

SPE Innovation Awards speautomotive.com/innovation-awards-gala...... 13

SPE International Polyolefins Conference www.4spe.org/polyolefins ...... 51

SPE Join Today www.4spe.org...... 71

SPE Membership www.4spe.org...... 67

SPE Online Training www.4spe.org/fundamentals...... 58 6 Berkshire Blvd., Suite 306 Bethel, CT 06801 USA SPE Thermoset Topcon www.spethermosets.org...... 19 www.4spe.org SPE Vinyltec 2018 www.4spe.org/vinyl18 ...... 25

Tangram Technology www.tangram.co.uk...... 69

72 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2018 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org P

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