The global automotive industry continues to seek options for producing attractive, durable, and cost-effective solutions for body exterior applications by processes other than traditional painting.Molded-in-color resins are emerging as contenders for these applications, since they are glossy, durable and maintain their appearance over time and use. While paint is a contaminant to plastics recycling, these resins are readily recyclable. As a thermoplastic alloy, it can be recycled (reprocessed) in two ways, (1) as a same-color regrind addition to molding, or (2) converted into a base recolored option (e.g. black or gray) by compounding mixed-color scrap with a black pigment.The use of molded-in-color resins should provide a range of environmental and consumer benefits, including: A 1st generation weatherable alloy was originally commercialized to provide most of these benefits but required a surface texture to achieve adequate scratch resistance.A new generation Surlyn® supergloss alloy is being selectively commercialized to provide all the 1st generation benefits with a glossy, scratch-resistant show surface.Applications under development include bumper fascias, truck wheel lip moldings, body side moldings and claddings, exterior mirror housings and grilles. While most development is focused on conventional injection-molding processes, co-injection molding technology and sheet thermoforming technology and processes are under selective evaluation.
Glossy, Weatherable, Molded-in-Color Resins for Automotive Exterior Applications
Sae Technical Papers
International Congress & Exposition ; 1999
1999-03-01
Conference paper
English
Glossy, weatherable, molded-in-color resins for automotive exterior applications
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