Plastics in Automotive Engineering : Exterior Applications

Today%u2019s automotive industry is challenged by ever more stringent demands to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. Lightweight design and increased use of advanced plastic components will be crucial for the next generation of cars complying with legislation. Engineers and manufacturers who develop and produce polymer-based components for automotives are under pressure to reduce developing times and to optimize production processes for quality and economic viability. Tools of choice are computer-aided selection of polymers in combination with mathematical simulation for both, material properties and production processes. They provide crucial help in finding innovative and economical solutions when designing polymer applications for modern cars. This unique and timely book provides theoretical as well as practical reviews of novel polymer applications for automotive engineering, covering materials selection, simulation, prototyping and manufacturing. Nineteen industrial case studies illustrating current polymer applications for the exterior of passenger cars and commercial vehicles complete this book.

Preface
List of Contributors

Chapter 1 : Introduction to the Application of Plastics in Vehicle Design
1.0 : Introduction
1.1 : Plastics in Lightweight Vehicle Engineering
1.2 : Plastics Applications for the Exterior
1.3 : Outlook

Chapter 2 : Automotive Concepts and Lightweight Design
2.1 : Increased Use of Plastics in Body Applications : Opportunities and Risks
2.2 : Use of Plastics in Body construction in Future Automobile Design and Production
2.3 : Lightweight Design with Plastics in the New BMW 6 Series

Chapter 3 : Material Concepts and Process Technologies
3.1 : Plastics Engineering in Automotive Exteriors
3.2 : Plastics for the Car of Tommorow - Invisible Contribution : Visible Sucess
3.3 : CFRP - from Motor Sports to Automotive Series - Challenges and Opportunities Facing Technology Transfer
3.4 : Further Developments in SMC Technology
3.5 : New TPO Grades with Reduced Linear Thermal Expansion for Exterior Parts Painted Offline
3.6 : Lightweight Bodywork - Use of Structural Foams in Hollow Sections
3.7 : Body-in-White turns Black
3.8 : Innovative Manufacturing Processes Adapted for the Production of Structural Modules
3.9 : Innovations in Injection Molding for the Automobile of the Future

Chapter 4 : Modelling and Rapid Prototyping
4.1 : Innovative Solutions for Prototype - Making in Automobile Manufacturing - Prototype Component Requirements and Practical Examples
4.2 : Rapid Prototyping of Plastic Components for Efficient Vehicle Development
4.3 : Calculating the Fatigue Life of Short-Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastics
4.4 : Calculated Estimate of Service Life for Components Made of Short-glass-fiber-reinforced plastics
4.5 : Material Data for Imaging Thermoplastic plastics in Crash Simulation

Chapter 5 : Joining
5.1 : Bonded Joints in and on the Vehicle Structure
5.2 : Joining Techniques Used for Integrating Fiber Composite Plastic Components in Metallic Body Structures
5.3 : Bonding Automotive Bodies
5.4 : Warm Reactive Bonding

Chapter 6 : Case Studies : Design,Production,Performance
6.1 : Structures and Body Panels
6.2 : Front Modules,Crash Elements,Safety Concepts
6.3 : Roof Modules, Hardtops
6.4 : Automotive Glazing
6.5 : Acoustics and Aerodynamics

Appendix