With weight reduction being a perennial target for automotive engineers and designers, finding ways to lighten conventional materials is a constant task.
GM are working to identify and develop new plastics — and new applications for existing plastics — to help shave vehicle weight. “In the materials area, sometimes the freshest ideas come from Tier 2 suppliers,” said Matt Tsien, Executive Director of Global Technology Engineering for General Motors Corp.weight and
Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is a material that “has a lot of potential.
While the electrical and electronics industries presently have LCP applications, automotive uses look promising since LCPs have “thermal expansion coefficients roughly equivalent to metals. A primary advantage of using LCPs is the material’s extremely high stiffness, which potentially allows for making thin-wall part applications. In addition, the high temperature resistance makes LCPs potentially good materials for under-the-hood applications,” said William Rodgers, Technical Fellow at the GM R&D Center, Materials and Processes Laboratory, in Warren, MI.
LCPs are not that far from prime-time exposure. “If testing and validation proves successful, it’s possible that LCPs could be used in production applications like body panels, support brackets, and underhood parts in a time frame that’s probably more than two years away, but likely less than five years,” Rodgers predicted.
GM are working to identify and develop new plastics — and new applications for existing plastics — to help shave vehicle weight. “In the materials area, sometimes the freshest ideas come from Tier 2 suppliers,” said Matt Tsien, Executive Director of Global Technology Engineering for General Motors Corp.weight and
Liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is a material that “has a lot of potential.
While the electrical and electronics industries presently have LCP applications, automotive uses look promising since LCPs have “thermal expansion coefficients roughly equivalent to metals. A primary advantage of using LCPs is the material’s extremely high stiffness, which potentially allows for making thin-wall part applications. In addition, the high temperature resistance makes LCPs potentially good materials for under-the-hood applications,” said William Rodgers, Technical Fellow at the GM R&D Center, Materials and Processes Laboratory, in Warren, MI.
LCPs are not that far from prime-time exposure. “If testing and validation proves successful, it’s possible that LCPs could be used in production applications like body panels, support brackets, and underhood parts in a time frame that’s probably more than two years away, but likely less than five years,” Rodgers predicted.