Solvay : - Did you know Overmolding will make cars even lighter

Solvay - Did you know Overmolding will make cars even lighter.

As the most efficient way of reducing the weight of vehicles, replacing metal with plastics is a well-established practice in the automotive and aerospace industries, and an area where Solvay has many solutions to offer.

But there are limits to how far metal replacement can go: structural parts in a car's chassis or powertrain for example require performances in terms of strength and stiffness that only metal can offer. Until now.

Enabling injection molding process improvements

Observing the automotive industry's increasing need for new solutions that can take lightweighting to the next level, Solvay's teams at its Specialty Polymers and Composite Materials business units teamed up to answer that need. 'We want to move to another area of applications,' says Mark Wright, the Marketing Manager for Transportation at Specialty Polymers, who has been sharing his time with Composite Materials to create new synergies. 'That implies using the whole breadth of our portfolio, which not many companies possess. It enables us to uniquely combine our materials and deliver problem-solving solutions for our customers.'

Learn more about Lightweighting solutions

When exploring the possibility of non-metallic structural parts, the solution in question is the combination of Solvay's best thermoplastics and composite materials through overmolding. 'Overmolding isn't a new technology; what's novel here is the polymer base we're working on,' explains Mark. 'We chose to work with thermoplastic composite Evolite for the unparalleled strength it provides. When combined with a polymer such as Ryton PPS or Amodel PPA, we can integrate that strength into the thermoplastic injection molding process.'

As the polymers in both elements bond together, the obtained parts combine the advantages of injection molding (namely the possibility to manufacture intricate parts with short cycle times) with extreme solidity in all types of conditions. In effect, these are high thermal resistance materials that also offer superior chemical and impact resistance: they can therefore be used for much more demanding functions. Metal was the only conceivable solution so far for manufacturing these types of parts - certain plastics like polyamides could do the trick, provided the parts are made thicker in order to obtain sufficient stiffness.

An innovative combination of materials opens new opportunities for metal replacement

As the most efficient way of reducing the weight of vehicles, replacing metal with plastics is a well-established practice in the automotive and aerospace industries, and an area where Solvay has many solutions to offer. But there are limits to how far metal replacement can go: structural parts in a car's chassis or powertrain for example require performances in terms of strength and stiffness that only metal can offer. Until now.

Enabling injection molding process improvements

Observing the automotive industry's increasing need for new solutions that can take lightweighting to the next level, Solvay's teams at its Specialty Polymers and Composite Materials business units teamed up to answer that need. 'We want to move to another area of applications,' says Mark Wright, the Marketing Manager for Transportation at Specialty Polymers, who has been sharing his time with Composite Materials to create new synergies. 'That implies using the whole breadth of our portfolio, which not many companies possess. It enables us to uniquely combine our materials and deliver problem-solving solutions for our customers.'

Learn more about Light weighting solutions

When exploring the possibility of non-metallic structural parts, the solution in question is the combination of Solvay's best thermoplastics and composite materials through overmolding. 'Overmolding isn't a new technology; what's novel here is the polymer base we're working on,' explains Mark. 'We chose to work with thermoplastic composite Evolite for the unparalleled strength it provides. When combined with a polymer such as Ryton PPS or Amodel PPA, we can integrate that strength into the thermoplastic injection molding process.'

As the polymers in both elements bond together, the obtained parts combine the advantages of injection molding (namely the possibility to manufacture intricate parts with short cycle times) with extreme solidity in all types of conditions. In effect, these are high thermal resistance materials that also offer superior chemical and impact resistance: they can therefore be used for much more demanding functions. Metal was the only conceivable solution so far for manufacturing these types of parts - certain plastics like polyamides could do the trick, provided the parts are made thicker in order to obtain sufficient stiffness.

The seismic shift of lightweighting

The overwhelming trend towards lightweighting is slowly but surely opening the door to fully optimized, high-performance, non-metallic structural solutions. 'Lightweighting is creating a major shift in the industry because of future regulation requirements,' continues Mark. 'On top of that, the change from petrol to electric and the push for autonomous driving gives us the chance to provide solutions for structural applications.'

In hybrid and electric vehicles for example, Solvay's overmolded materials can be used to replace metal in the battery enclosures and electric motor housings that provide impact protection, making for weight savings that can contribute to counterbalancing the additional weight caused by battery systems. (Mark warns that when larger models go electric, finding lightweighting solutions will be all the more crucial in order to avoid them going over driver license weight limits).

A facility to demonstrate the power of polymers

Performance aside, another element is necessary in order to accelerate the transition towards composites in cars: convincing the industry that steel and aluminum aren't the only possible solutions. This means educating automotive engineers that have always considered metal as the be-all and end-all. 'It's up to us to gain their trust and demonstrate that a polymer design can fulfill the same functions as metal,' says Mark.

What better way to do that than in life-size conditions Solvay opened a facility to that end in Brussels: the Material Science Application Center (MSAC). Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for material testing, virtual engineering and demonstrative production, MSAC is a place to invite key customers and show them the extent of what Solvay's materials can do, and specifically how they behave in a manufacturing line.

In this field as in so many others, Solvay aims to be more than just a supplier of materials and position itself as a solution provider for its customers, which requires always keeping an ear to the ground. 'It's important for us to understand and anticipate the trends in the market so that we can offer the industry the materials it needs at the right time,' confirms Mark. 'Thanks to our differentiating portfolio, we are able to do that.'

And these days, the noise from the ground is quite clear: 'Manufacturers are much more open to new materials and technologies because they know they're going to need them. When it comes to lightweighting technologies, the time is definitely now.'

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