Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : June 2002

Focus on RAPRA: Don't Miss Out on Plastics

The RAPRA: Rubber and Plastics database (File 323/RAPR) is the world's largest database entirely geared to plastics and rubber. It is a valuable resource for anyone involved in the automotive industry. Over the last 10 years, the role of polymers and advanced composites in the automotive industry has heavily expanded. No longer restricted to hoses, seals and tires, polymeric materials are starting to challenge metals in structural aspects of car bodywork. Recent advances in technology have allowed polymeric materials to challenge metals in respect to their mechanical properties, while maintaining their traditional advantages in inherent corrosion resistance. The primary driver, however, is reduced weight.

While such plans are still very much in the future, a number of high profile plastic vehicle components are already in mass production. Polyamides have now taken almost two-thirds of the European market for exhaust manifolds, and half of the American market. The Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division's Chassis Award for 1999 went to a metal/plastic composite front-end assembly for the Ford Focus small family car, which replaces over 10 welded metal stampings and achieves a weight reduction of 40%. The novel MCC Smart ultra-small city car includes body panels made from a polybutylene terephthalate/polycarbonate blend with a 50% weight reduction over comparable metal parts and equivalent mechanical durability. The new Ford Thunderbird uses Sheet Moulding Compound for large portions of its body in the quest for light weight, and recently, Renault has introduced the eye-catching Avantime, which depends on SMC's formability for its combination of outrageous appearance and mass producibility. A spectacular testimony to the durability of the new plastic materials is the commercial vehicle manufacturer NABI's introduction of an entirely glass fiber-reinforced plastic bodied Compobus, for high intensity urban transport uses. NABI claims a weight reduction of 25% over traditional steel-bodied vehicles.

Hence, if you are searching engineering databases geared to metallic materials for design inspiration, you could be missing out on the best material for your objective. RAPRA is an excellent source to use for any queries on polymeric materials, whether you want to know the heat resistance of polyamide nanocomposites, or the damage mechanics of glass fiber-reinforced materials. There are currently 73 Section Headings (search SH= on Dialog or .SH. on DataStar) for various automotive applications so you can easily narrow a search to a specific application or the general section heading (e.g., SH=AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS).

Note the detailed listing of descriptors assigned to the article, as well as indexing by company name and product trade name.

Try File 323 on Dialog or RAPR on DataStar the next time you're searching materials topics; you just might find something you never imagined could be done.

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