SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Competition is the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. On 11/11/2015, The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers announced the winners of its 45th-annual competition in 9 categories: Materials, Chassis/Hardware, Aftermarket, Body Exterior, Body Interior, Powertrain, Process/Assembly/Enabling Technologies, Safety and Aftermarket. Here we will look further into Materials, Body Interior & Exterior.
This year, the Materials category was selected as the Grand Award winner, representing the year's most innovative use of plastics by a blue-ribbon panel of judges. The winner is called “Ultralight Class A Body Panels”.
Photo: speautomotive.com
GM’s 2016 Chevrolet Corvette sports cars feature 21 body panel assemblies, depending on the model, made with the new TCA (tough Class A) Ultra Lite SMC, a compound formulated and compression molded by Continental Structural Plastics, Auburn Hills, Mich. With a specific gravity (SG) of 1.2, this SMC compound, offers mass reductions of 28% and 43%, respectively, versus CSP’s 1.6 SG TCA Lite SMC and conventional 1.9 SG SMC grades.
The 19% (>20 lbs) weight savings achieved with the new TCA Ultra Lite vs the earlier TCA Lite was enabled by the use of hollow glass microspheres which replaced traditional heavier fillers such as calcium carbonate, along with CSP’s proprietary surface treatment on the microspheres which promotes chemical bonding to the unsaturated polyester resin matrix.
In the Body interior category, the winner is “Rear-Seat Folding Head Restraint” and it is featured in 2015 Ford Motor Co. Ford F-150 pickup.
Photo: speautomotive.com
This rear-seat, folding head restraint allows auto makers to eliminate a welded steel structure and replace it with a single-piece, living hinge plastic core as its main structural component. As a result, thickness is reduced 33 mm for improved comfort and rear visibility; mass is reduced 624 g/vehicle, manufacturing complexity is significantly reduced (eliminating the need for special tooling processes thanks to consolidation of 5 parts into 1); tooling costs reduced by $180, with piece price reduced by $1.50/vehicle, while still meeting or exceeding all global safety requirements.
Automotive global Tier I supplier specializing in custom head restraints and armrests Windsor Machine Group and custom molder Hawk Plastics, both based in Ontario, teamed up to design and injection mold this unique head restraint using a standard random PP copolymer from Exxon Mobil Chemical.
“Push-to-Release Exterior Serviceability Fastener” was selected as the winner in the Body Exterior. Ford uses this fastener for its 2015 Ford Motor Co. Ford Mustang sports car.
Photo: speautomotive.com
Designed and manufactured by ITW Deltar Fasteners, Troy, Mich., the new fastener is made of Vydyne 47H nylon 66 from Houston-based Ascend Performance Materials.
Compared to other easy-service fasteners, which have twist heads to release, this injection molded PA 6/6 fastener only requires that you push the center pin to the service position to remove - an 80% reduction in removal time. This fastener cannot back out or be removed from the installed position without deliberate actions by the customer.
The pin and body are designed to not be easily separated; however, the fastener is reusable, unlike other push pins that become damaged in the process of removal. It meets EU lamp serviceability requirements, reducing the time needed to remove the fastener by 90% without tools.
And the followings are the winners in other categories: