The largest polycarbonate roof module to date
Automotive glass to date, the largest polycarbonate roof module with excellent surface quality and significant weight reduction Tail Lights For Lexus Lx,Lexus Lx 570 Tail Light,Lexus Lx570 Tail Lights,Lexus Back Lights Wenzhou Yecheng Auto Parts Co., Ltd. , https://www.hcmotionz.com
Shanghai - The new "smart fortwo" car embodies the characteristics of urban mobility and has become an outstanding representative of environmentally friendly products with its low fuel consumption and low carbon dioxide emissions. A notable highlight of this model is its lightweight roof module made of Makrolon® AG2677. Makrolon® AG2677 is a polycarbonate material from Bayer MaterialScience, Inc., designed for automotive glass manufacturing. “This polycarbonate roof module measures approximately 1.2 square meters and is the largest polycarbonate roof module in the world for automotive assembly lines to date.†Dr. Sven Gestermann, Key Account Manager, Automotive Glass, Bayer MaterialScience Said. The plastic module is produced by Webasto AG, located in Stockdorf, near Munich, one of the world's leading manufacturers of roof modules and skylights for the automotive industry.
Webasto manufactures the roof module by performing a two-component injection compression molding process on a rotary platen injection molding machine and then performing a painting step. In the first shot, the transparent shell was made with Makrolon® AG2677, and on the second shot, Bayblend® DP T95 MF was used to make the larger frame structure. Bayer and Webasto have jointly developed a black coating made from a mixture of PC and ABS. As the second component in this application, Bayer has been specially used as a large-area glass coating made of Makrolon® AG2677 material. A major feature of this hybrid material is its ability to shrink and cater to the shrinkage of PC materials. “Despite the large size of this roof module, our production still allows it to have very low internal compressive stress and low distortion deformation characteristics. This is one of the reasons for the excellent surface quality of this roof formwork,†Gestermann explain.
Because the roof is made of plastic, its weight is greatly reduced – in fact, the roof is 40% lighter than the comparable glass module roof. This not only helps to save fuel, but also means that the car's center of gravity is reduced as much as possible, thus increasing the flexibility of driving and the agility of the car. As early as in the early stages of smart design, Detlev Penczek, who was responsible for the panoramic roof, said: “The possibility of weight reduction, design liberalization and integration functions (such as assembling various components into the car) is our decision to adopt The most important factor in the manufacture of the roof of cracked polycarbonate."
Bayer MaterialScience and Webasto have been working together for many years on the development of polycarbonate panoramic roofs. “The development of this project has once again become a huge advantage for us, allowing us to share Bayer MaterialScience's extensive expertise in materials, processing and analytics,†commented Martin Pollak, Head of Webasto Roof Module Development. The services provided by Bayer MaterialScience are integrated into the entire processing chain. For example, rheological calculation methods are used to determine the optimal gating design, and mechanized calculations are used to simulate the static and dynamic performance of parts. At the same time, experts from plastics manufacturers also started to help mold development and production line start-up work.
As far as the size of the polycarbonate roof module is concerned, people have not fully exploited its potential. “The tests carried out by our company show that with the current materials and modern injection-compression molding tools and machinery, the construction of low-stress roofs with an area of ​​up to 1.7 square meters is very feasible. Therefore, we keep up with the trend of the times and develop large The panoramic roof of the area," Gestermann said. He also hopes that future roof module designs will make better use of the molding and integration potential of Makrolon® AG2677 and Bayblend® DP T95MF to save costs and simplify the assembly process. “In addition to this, we are considering integrating roof spoilers, premium lights, roof rail components and water management systems,†Gestermann said.
About Bayer MaterialScience:
Bayer MaterialScience is one of the world's largest polymer producers with 2006 sales of €10.16 billion (except HC Stark and Wolff Walsrode). Bayer MaterialScience's main business areas are the production of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for many common products in everyday life. Its main consumers come from the automotive, electrical engineering / electronics, construction, sports and leisure sectors. As of the end of 2006, Bayer MaterialScience has approximately 30 production sites worldwide with more than 14,900 employees. Bayer MaterialScience is part of the Bayer Group.