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Total Life Cycle-Based Materials Selection for Polymer Metal Hybrid Body-in-White Automotive Components

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Abstract

Over the last dozen of years, polymer metal hybrid (PMH) technologies have established themselves as viable alternatives for use in light-weight automotive body-in-white bolt-on as well as load-bearing (structural) components. Within the PMH technologies, sheet-metal stamped/formed and thermoplastic injection molding subcomponents are integrated into a singular component/module. Due to attending synergetic effects, the performance of the PMH component typically exceeds that attainable by an alternative single-material technologies. In the present work, a total life cycle (TLC) approach to the selection of metallic and thermoplastic materials (as well as the selection of structural adhesives, where appropriate) is considered. The TLC material selection approach considers the consequences and ramifications of material selection at each major stage of the vehicle manufacturing process chain (press shop, injection molding shop, body shop, paint shop, and assembly), as well as relation to the vehicle performance, durability and the end-of-the-life-of-the-vehicle considerations. The approach is next applied to the case of injection overmolding technology to identify the optimal grade of short glass-fiber reinforced nylon when used in a prototypical PMH load-bearing automotive body-in-white component.

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References

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Acknowledgments

The material presented in this paper is based on work conducted as a part of the project “Lightweight Engineering: Hybrid Structures: Application of Metal/Polymer Hybrid Materials in Load-bearing Automotive Structures” supported by BMW AG, München, Germany. The authors are indebted to Drs. Joshua Summers, Greg Mocko, Laine Mears, and Mohammed Omar for stimulating discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Center for Automotive Research CU-ICAR, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, 241 Engineering Innovation Building, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    M. Grujicic, V. Sellappan & T. He

  2. BMW Group Forschung und Technik, Hanauer Straße 46, Munchen, 80788, Germany

    Norbert Seyr & Andreas Obieglo

  3. BMW AG, Forschungs- und Innovationszentrum, Knorrstraße 147, Munchen, 80788, Germany

    Marc Erdmann & Jochen Holzleitner

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  1. M. Grujicic
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  2. V. Sellappan
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  3. T. He
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  4. Norbert Seyr
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  5. Andreas Obieglo
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  6. Marc Erdmann
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  7. Jochen Holzleitner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Grujicic.

Appendix: An Overview of the Polyamide (Nylon) Grades

Appendix: An Overview of the Polyamide (Nylon) Grades

Properties of Commercial Nylon Grades

Polyamide, commonly known as nylon, is possibly the most widely used engineering thermoplastic material in automotive, electronic, and packaging applications. There are different types of PAs having different properties and, consequently, different applications. Polyamide essentially has six different commercial grades depending upon the type of monomer used and the way they are polymerized. The six nylon grades are: PA 4/6, PA 6/6, PA 6, PA 6/12, PA 11, and PA 12. A summary of the key properties of these nylon grades is provided in Table A.1. A close analysis of Table A.1 reveals the following defining features of the commercial nylon grades:

  • PA 4/6 has superior impact properties, excellent resistance to wear and friction, and has outstanding flow characteristics (i.e., high processability). Unfortunately, its stiffness is relatively low and it has a high tendency to absorb moisture;

  • PA 6/6 possesses a good balance of strength, stiffness, heat resistance, resistance to hydrocarbons, lubricity, and wear resistance. PA 6/6 is the most widely used grade of nylon, followed by PA 6;

  • PA 6 has a better creep resistance, lower processing temperature, less mold shrinkage and gives a more lustrous surface (which improves appearance) than PA 6/6. Unfortunately, it possesses lower stiffness and it absorbs moisture more readily than PA 6/6;

  • PA 6/12 has the highest stiffness, low moisture absorption and has many properties similar to PA 12. However, compared to PA 12, PA 6/12 has a higher heat-deflection temperature, and greater tensile and flexural strength;

  • PA 11 has also a relatively low moisture-absorption tendency and it features a good combination of high chemical resistance and ability to accept high concentration of fillers. However, relative to other commercial nylon grades, PA 11 has the highest cost and possesses less heat resistance;

  • Due to its relatively low concentration of amide groups, PA 12 has the lowest water absorption tendency among the commercial nylon grades. It also has good-to-excellent resistance to oils, fuels, hydraulic fluids, solvents, and salt. Stress-cracking and abrasion resistances of this material are also quite high. Unfortunately PA 12 has a relatively low resistance to creep due to its low heat-deflection temperature.

Table A.1 A summary of the key properties of commercial nylon grades (a)
Full size table

Automotive Applications of Commercial Nylon Grades

To assess the suitability of different nylon grades in PMH applications, a survey of the main automotive applications of nylon is provided in this section. The approach used in the present work is that if a nylon grade is more often used in a vehicle, it could be more economically recycled and, forms the ELV standpoint, such grade would be preferred. A summary of the main automotive areas in which different nylon grades are used is given in Table A.2.

Table A.2 Typical automotive applications of commercial nylon grades
Full size table

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Grujicic, M., Sellappan, V., He, T. et al. Total Life Cycle-Based Materials Selection for Polymer Metal Hybrid Body-in-White Automotive Components. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 18, 111–128 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-008-9279-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-008-9279-4

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