00 Cover_Layout 1 8/19/16 5:40 AM Page cvr1 Plastics Engineering September 2016 Plastics in Automotive: Lightweighting with Composites Heating up Under the Hood • Blow Molding Innovation • Anticipating K 2016 00 Cover_Layout 1 8/19/16 5:41 AM Page cvr2 01-05 contents_editorial 8/19/16 8:51 AM Page 1 CONTENTS I I VOLUME 72 NUMBER 8 SEPTEMBER 2016 FROM SPE Preparing to reflect, and to forge ahead By Wim de Vos 6 Digital processes, interconnectivity, Industry 4.0 and fast-changing information technology are reshaping our industry. At the upcoming K Show, we will pause to review the landscape while looking ahead to assess where we are heading, as SPE prepares to enter its 75th anniversary year in 2017. DESIGN NOTES Sustainable Eyeglasses from Down Under, with a German Flair By Robert Grace 8 Australia’s Dresden Optics is aiming to produce low-cost, stylish, recycled-plastic eyewear but a strong nod to German design and 8 manufacturing quality Plastics in Automotive: Material Advances COVER STORY Power Drive By Patrick Toensmeier 12 The desire to reduce vehicle weight is accelerating the development and use of high-performance thermoplastics for underhood applications Automotive Composites: Mass Reduction for Mass Production By Peggy Malnati 22 Reinforced plastics are lowering weight, improving handling and performance, and boosting safety for passenger cars 12 K 2016 Preview Gearing Up for the World’s Largest Plastics Show By Jon Evans 28 To whet your appetite, we offer up a small sampling of the vast array of innovative products and technologies that await the 200,000 visitors to K 2016 in Düsseldorf from Oct. 19-26 New Developments in Blow Molding By Nancy D. Lamontagne 34 In early October, attendees will gather in Atlanta for SPE’s Annual Blow Molding Conference. Get a sneak peek at some the advances that will be on tap. About the cover: In this issue we turn a bright LED headlight (such as the one pictured on the cover) on how advanced materials are reshaping the automotive industry. (Photo courtesy of Bigstock; cover designed by SPE MarComm Team.) 22 www.plasticsengineering.org | www.4spe.org | SEPTEMBER 2016 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | 1 01-05 contents_editorial 8/19/16 8:51 AM Page 2 Driving PA66 Performance in Automotive Ascend Vydyne® PA66 is used in more than 75 automotive applications, delivering unsurpassed performance, combined with weight and cost savings. Asc Vydyne® PA66 allows OEM and Tier designers and engineers lead to deliver optimal system performance with: expe to m •High dimensional stability and mechanical strength •Long-term thermal resistance ® Hydrolysis Resistance •Chemical resistance Radiator end tanks must •Enhanced hydrolysis resistance have excellent heat and hydrolysis •Excellent creep and fatigue properties resistance as well as strong ® •Good tribological properties dimensional stability. New Vydyne delivers “best-in-class” thermal and hydro-ageing •High and low temperature impact resistance performance to provide superior hydrolysis resistance for demanding automotive cooling system components. Emission systems ̄ High-temperature Performance Interior ̄ ̄ Air bags Powertrain ̄ ̇ Safety systems ̇ Tire cord Eco-friendly Performance ̆ Clips & Fasteners For fans and shrouds, new Vydyne® R860 is an ‘eco-friendly’ reinforced PA66 compound with post-industrial ̆ Exterior Cooling systems ̆ recycled content that delivers the right balance between performance and economics. To learn more visit: www.ascendmaterials.com/pa66auto 1010 Travis Street, Suite 900, Houston, TX 77002, United States +1 888 927 2363 © 2016. ASCEND PERFORMANCE MATERIALS and VYDYNE are trademarks of Ascend Performance Materials Operations LLC. These trademarks have been registered in jurisdictions throughout the world, including the United States of America and the European Community. 01-05 contents_editorial 8/19/16 8:51 AM Page 3 Ascend Performance Materials is the world’s largest fully integrated producer of nylon/PA66 resin and a global leading supplier of nylon 66 *ber to the airbag and tire cord industries. With more than 60 years of PA66 materials expertise, Ascend is strategically focused to help automotive manufacturers innovate and optimize their designs to meet future regulatory, technical and cost requirements. Hydrolysis Resistance E/E Performance for Severe Environments Radiator end tanks must The increasing use of electronic controls and sensors have excellent heat and hydrolysis is driving part miniaturization, closer contact spacing resistance as well as strong and thinner metallic paths. Electrical neutral ® ® dimensional stability. New Vydyne PA66 HR-series Vydyne PA66 R515J, R530J and R535J delivers “best-in-class” thermal and hydro-ageing grades are ideal for these designs and performance to provide superior hydrolysis components operating in harsh environ- resistance for demanding automotive cooling mental conditions. Vydyne® electrical system components. neutral grades are copper-free with no halogen E salt, which delays contact corrosion, and improves High-temperature Performance dielectric resistance and CTI. Charge air coolers in fuel-efCcient turbocharged engines demand Heat Stabilized Performance robust thermal ageing performance For transmission covers, oil pan covers and air intake to meet design and operating conditions. manifolds new heat stabilized Vydyne® New Vydyne® PA66 HT-series grades R862H provides the appropriate provide high levels of resistance to prop- balance between functionality erty degradation after long-term exposure and economics with its eco- to this challenging environment. friendly recycled content. ord Eco-friendly Performance Access the Latest For fans and shrouds, new Vydyne® R860 is an ‘eco-friendly’ reinforced Technical Information PA66 compound with post-industrial Download the free Vydyne® PA66 automotive recycled content that delivers the right balance between performance and economics. presentation at ascendmaterials.com/pa66auto for more in-depth technical and application information. Vydyne® PA66 Solutions for Automotive A Global Leader in uto Global Performance PA66 Solutions for Global OEMs and Tier suppliers trust Ascend Automotive Applications Emission systems ̄ Performance Materials to deliver performance Interior ̄ Air bags Powertrain ̄ ̄ ̇ Safety systems with the highest quality materials, technical Cooling Systems ̄ and application development support, and ̇ Tire cord ̆ Clips & Fasteners supply assurance so they can manufacture ̆ Exterior ® cost-effective, innovative products. 01-05 contents_editorial 8/19/16 2:39 PM Page 4 CONTENTS CONTENTS Technical Paper: Joining Technologies How to Select the Right Process for Joining Your Underhood Parts By Craig Birrittella 38 A variety of technologies exist to execute the welding and joining of plastics parts. In this article, Branson Ultrasonics helps you to determine which one is right for you. CONSULTANT’S CORNER Plastics — It’s All About Molecular Structure By Jeffrey A. Jansen 44 Get a quick primer on some key aspects of polymer chemistry — from polymerization, intermolecular bonding, molecular weight, and the differences between crystalline and amorphous structure 28 PLASTICS MAKE IT POSSIBLE Plastics Sustainability, through the Lens of Natural Capital Costs By The American Chemistry Council 50 A new study by UK consultants Trucost PLC reveal that in some key applications, plastics offer broad environmental advantages over competitive materials. We crunch the numbers for you. INSIDE SPI Assessing the Brexit Impact, plus The FLiP Files By SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association 54 SPI’s Michael Taylor takes a hard look at what the UK’s potential exit from the European Union might mean to the U.S. plastics industry. See also the latest person to be profiled in SPI’s Future Leaders in Plastics (FLiP) files. 38 The Dawn of Commercial Thermoforming By Stanley R. Rosen 58 Industry veteran Stan Rosen reflects on how the thermoforming industry got its start some 80 years ago, and what developments have helped shaped the modern-day thermoforming sector. DEPARTMENTS Industry News Market Place 64 80 Industry Patents Editorial Index 72 By Dr. Roger Corneliussen 82 Upcoming Industry Advertisers Index 76 Events 84 Energy-Saving Tip 64 78 By Dr. Robin Kent 4 | PLASTICS ENGINEERING | SEPTEMBER 2016 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org 01-05 contents_editorial 8/19/16 8:51 AM Page 5 06-07 From SPE_046854 IndustryNews.QXD 8/22/16 7:17 AM Page 6 FROM SPE Preparing to reflect, and to forge ahead By Wim de Vos ime flies by. The pace of innovation quickens. Product careers 20-30 years ago as cycles shorten. Time to market accelerates. And every chemical or mechanical day our plastics industry helps to advance these evo- engineers. In the future, lutions. more of our industry’s lead- The digitalization of processes continues and even virtual tech- ers are likely to come from Tnologies can help us to speed up or skip certain steps in the old an information technology product development processes. Time indeed goes so fast that background. The key it seems as if NPE 2015 was only yesterday and the K 2013 show aspects of Industry 4.0 are only last month, but K 2016 is already upon us. information, knowledge No wonder the theme of this year’s K Show is Plastics Indus- transfer and networking. try 4.0. Whilst information technology emerged at first to help Not surprisingly, SPE pro- support some of our industry’s functions, IT now is taking over vides these same aspects — some of our key functions, and playing a central role in both our although SPE’s knowledge manufacturing and business processes. transfer and networking currently have a different perspective. This also has and will continue to impact the types of people This brings us to how SPE will support the plastics industry we need to run the processes in our factories. We used to need of tomorrow. And tomorrow = next year. In 2017 SPE will cel- chemists, polymer engineers and mechanical engineers to ebrate its 75th anniversary — marking three-quarters of a start up new machines, do new trials and run our operations. century of excellence in supporting the plastics and polymer Human interpretation and manual adjustments always made industry and its individuals.