In the past 40 years plastic materials incrementally found their way into automobiles. The applications using polymeric materials and composites indicate further growth in the future as well [1]. The utilization of plastics supports weight reduction and fuel economy. However, this is not the only reason plastics are used. The design freedom associated to plastics allows new approaches in the design of parts and lead to increased innovation such as the integration of different parts and material combinations. Additionally, plastic parts show minimum corrosion when compared with metals which improve vehicle lifetime. Last but not least, plastics enhance vehicle safety, comfort and and are recyclable as well.
The overall numbers are quite impressive: the average global plastic amount used in cars is 100 kg. A range of different polymers is applied to ensure functions such as low fuel consumption, appearance and freedom in design. Fuel usage, for example, can be reduced by 5% to 7% when the car weight is reduced by 10% [2]. And this is realized by polymeric applications.
Now enough of the features and benefits. To give you an entertaining view on this topic, I created an infographic which you can find below. It will uncover which plastics are used for which parts in the car. I hope you can recognize some of the parts when entering your car next time.
Enjoy and till next time!
Thanks for reading!
Best regards,
Herwig
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Literature:
[1] https://www.plasticstoday.com/automotive-and-mobility/future-automotive-rides-on-engineering-plastics/66937117456977[2] A. Patil: An overview of Polymeric Materials for Automotive Applications, Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 3807-3815
