Ultralight body panels won top prize at SPE Automotive Innovation Awards

The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) announced the category and Grand Award winners for its 45th-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries.  

The Materials category winner was selected as this year's Grand Award winner, representing the year's most innovative use of plastics by a blue-ribbon panel of judges.

Ultralight class A body panels

The Grand Award was given to the ultralight class A body panels 2016 model of of General Motors  Chevrolet Corvette sports car with the TCA Ultra Lite SMC supplied by Continental Structural Plastics. The new 1.2 SG SMC eliminated 9 kg of body-panel weight after a running change from a mid-density grade, where no tooling changes were required. Suitable for Class A or structural components, the new composite reduces mass by 28% as against  mid-density (1.6 SG) grades and 43% of conventional (1.9 SG) SMC. To achieve this breakthrough, hollow-glass microspheres were used.

Top winner in the Aftermarket category is the transparent lightweight wind deflector, also of the 2016 General Motors Co. Corvette Stingray convertible sports car.  For the first time, elf-mounted, transparent and frameless wind deflector is used for convertible cars that meets AS2 ANSI and ECE requirements. The steeply raked design minimizes air turbulence and noise when the top is down. In this model, replacing glass with PC  cuts down mass by 33% and allowed a contoured shape to be achieved that would have been difficult and costly in glass. A laser-etched monogram under the surface is unobtrusive to vision during driving, yet visible during inspection and meets regulatory requirements for glass marking. A plasma coating enhances scratch, chemical, and UV resistance for long use life.

A winner in the Body Exterior category  is a push-to-release exterior serviceability fastener  for the 2015 Ford Motor Co. Ford Mustang sports car. 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. 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.

For the Body Interior category, the winner is the rear-seat folding head restraint for the 2015 Ford Motor Co. Ford F-150 pickup with material supplied by ExxonMobil Chemical Co.  This rear seat, folding head restraint eliminates a welded steel structure and replaces 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 are lowered; and piece price is reduced $1.50 USD/vehicle, while still meeting or exceeding all global safety requirements.

Other winners are:

Category: Chassis/Hardware
Fiberglass/Epoxy Composite Coil Spring
OEM Make & Model: 2015 Audi AG Audi A6 Avant wagon
Tier Supplier/Processor: S. Ara Composite S.A.S.
Material Supplier / Toolmaker: Hexion Inc. / not stated
Material / Process:  Epikote epoxy + fiberglass /modified filament winding
Description:  This weight-saving epoxy/fiberglass composite coil spring is the first of its kind to be used in the suspension system of a series-production vehicle. Using a patented, modified filament winding process, the application replaced traditional steel coil springs, reducing weight 40% and enabling the suspension system to react more quickly to changing road surface conditions, thereby improving vehicle handling and NVH. Significant work was done on resin chemistry and resin/fiber interface to ensure efficient load transfer and long-term mechanical performance, as well as finding an efficient, cost-effective production method capable of meeting build volumes.
 
Category: environmental
Seat Fabric From Recycled Materials
OEM Make & Model: 2015 Ford Motor Co. Ford F-150 pickup
Tier Supplier/Processor: Johnson Controls Inc. / Sage Automotive Interiors
Material Supplier / Toolmaker: Unifi Manufacturing, Inc. / not stated
Material / Process:  Repreve PET / Multiple
Description:  The fiber used in this innovative seat fabric is made from a hybrid blend of 100% recycled materials, including post-industrial fiber and post-consumer water bottles. The fabric meets Ford design and comfort requirements without any compromise in quality, durability, or performance. The switch from virgin fiber was achieved at cost parity, while providing significant environmental benefits, including diverting over 5-million water bottles from landfills just this year. To help close the loop further, there are now PET bottle collection bins installed at the Ford Research & Engineering campus. The bottles are recycled to help form this fiber.
 
Category: Powertrain
Heated-Tip Fuel Injector
OEM Make & Model: 2015 Honda Motor Co. Honda Fit subcompact and City sedan
Tier Supplier/Processor: Delphi Powertrain
Material Supplier / Toolmaker: DuPont Automotive / Coltelleria Baldi
Material / Process:  Zytel HTN54G35EF BKB336 PPA / injection molding
Description:  An electrical heater within the injector is energized by the vehicle controller, rapidly heating the ethanol fuel and dramatically improving vaporization while reducing emissions.  Ink materials used in construction of the heater, body design, the ink-printing process on the body, and overmolding with PPA (which was designed for flow, heat resistance, and electronic compatibility) were all key to the success of this application. The technology saved $60 USD/vehicle as well as 8.8 kg, while improving cold starts on E100 fuel and eliminating the need for a redundant gasoline fuel system on the vehicle.
 
Category: Process/Assembly/Enabling Technologies
IMX Instrument Panel
OEM Make & Model: 2014 Hyundai Motor Group Hyundai i20 supermini
Tier Supplier/Processor:  Hyundai-Mobis / HanilEhwa
Material Supplier / Toolmaker: Hanwha L&C / Hyundai-Motor Co.
Material / Process:  Multiflex 3202 TPO / compression-injection molding
Description:  To eliminate scratches and a hard "plastic" feel, a 2-shot compression-injection soft IP was developed. The back-foamed TPO foil is compression-injected with the PP substrate, which in turn is integrally injection molded with the TPO passenger-side airbag door. All the work is done in a single tool. To increase foam softness and stability of the integral injection molding, the TRIZ method and design of experiments tools were used. The resulting part saves $10 USD/vehicle and reduces mass 300 g.
 
Category: Safety
Floor Rocker Reinforcement
OEM Make & Model: 2015 FCA US LLC Jeep Renegade SUV
Tier Supplier/Processor:  Proma Group / Redstamp
Material Supplier / Toolmaker: SABIC / Redstamp
Material / Process:  Noryl GTX 910 MPPE/PA / injection molding
Description:  An optimized MPPE/PA 6 honeycomb geometry in a plastic/metal hybrid proved to be a very efficient energy-absorbing crash-box structure in this floor rocker reinforcement. Not only is the component E-coat capable, but it is very easy to assemble into the vehicle's BIW. Since the plastic honeycomb is integrally attached to 2 steel flanges during injection molding, no structural adhesives are needed. The mixed-material solution took 1 kg of weight out of the BIW, saved approximately 10%, and contributed tooling savings vs. previous steel solutions.