Issue 01/2016
Automotive Foam Basics: Public Procurement
Automotive
Foam
Basics: Public Procurement
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Automotive<br />
Smart bioplastics for<br />
automotive applications<br />
By:<br />
Francesca Brunori<br />
Advanced Development Engine Systems<br />
Röchling Automotive<br />
Laives, Italy<br />
Röchling Automotive reports promising results on the development<br />
of automotive parts made of Plantura PLA<br />
based biopolymers.<br />
In collaboration with Plantura Italia Srl (Italy) and Corbion<br />
Purac (The Netherlands), Röchling Automotive is working<br />
towards greener products offering similar or enhanced<br />
technical functionality.<br />
Plantura has a CO 2<br />
equivalent emission of approximately<br />
0.5 tonnes for each ton of produced raw material. This is<br />
around 70 % lower than PP, and close to 90 % less than PA6.<br />
There are currently four standard grades available that are<br />
suitable for low to medium demanding automotive underthe-hood<br />
applications and – using the glass fiber filled<br />
grade – in underbody applications. The talc filled standard<br />
grade, as well as natural fiber filled grades, are suitable for<br />
automotive interior applications. As these different standard<br />
grades, which boast a biocontent of up to 95 %, can be finetuned<br />
to meet specific customer needs and final application<br />
requirements, the material has already been used in series<br />
production in sectors other than the automotive market. The<br />
compounds can be processed and recycled with conventional<br />
plastics processing and recycling technologies.<br />
In comparison to standard PLA, Plantura showed significant<br />
improvements in thermal stability and chemical resistance.<br />
Long term thermal stability was tested according to thermal<br />
cycle tests performed from -40 °C to 140 °C according to an<br />
OEM’s specification. When tested at temperatures as low as<br />
-30 °C, the material demonstrated an outstanding impact<br />
resistance for shockproof parts, showing that Plantura 30 %<br />
GF can offer values of up to 50 % higher Charpy impact<br />
strength compared to a PA6 GF+M30. The materials also<br />
exhibit excellent hydrolysis resistance.<br />
Prototype filter boxes (cf. fig. 1) as well as interior parts<br />
were tested according to the OEM’s complete specifications,<br />
with very promising results<br />
The use of Plantura for the air flaps (fig. 3) of an Active Grille<br />
Shutter (fig. 2) was investigated and the initial results bode<br />
well for the future. The injection molded Plantura component<br />
has a higher stiffness compared to the component produced<br />
with the standard material (PA6 GF30). Because of this,<br />
deflection is lower during use, which can be used to reduce<br />
air leakage. Moreover, thanks to the lower shrinkage of the<br />
material, it is also possible to reduce the deformation of the<br />
final component. Another big advantage to using Plantura for<br />
this application is that the dimensional stability will increase<br />
over the lifetime of the component, due to the fact that no<br />
humidity is absorbed. The scratch resistance behavior of PLA,<br />
an extremely important aspect when it comes to aesthetic<br />
components in general, and in this case for aesthetic Active<br />
Grille Shutters In particular, is well known and taken into<br />
consideration in the Plantura formulations.<br />
The continuous development of the material has led to<br />
higher, and increasingly interesting cost efficiency. With its<br />
significant contribution to an improved CO 2<br />
balance, Plantura<br />
could become an important concept in the automotive world.<br />
www.roechling.com<br />
Fig. 1: Filter box made of Plantura 30 % Wood Fibers<br />
Fig. 2: Assembled Active Grille Shutter<br />
Fig. 3: Air flaps of Active Grille Shutter made of<br />
Plantura 30 % Glass Fiber reinforced<br />
bioplastics MAGAZINE [<strong>01</strong>/16] Vol. 11 15