PRESENTED BY
Kamalakanta Samal

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INTRODUCTION
According to IBN, Michigan, Cars built entirely out of plastic could be the wave of the future, making metal a thing of the past when it comes to cars.
New, innovative cars made almost entirely of plastic are paving the way for what you may be driving in the future. "With plastics you can design cars which are very bold, and that gives you an advantage to sell nicer cars."
Plastics have gained a lot of ground over traditional metals used in cars, making it possible to build almost an entire vehicle completely of non-metal material. Mechanical engineers use a lightweight, high-strength aerospace material called carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. It's used in the doors, hoods, fenders, chassis and also in support frames for the engine and transmission.
"You can mold the plastics into very complicated shapes that maybe you can't do in steel. Looks aren't the only perks of plastic; plastics help cars lose weight to go farther on fuel.
New materials, like plastic, are usually tested on high-end vehicles first. Once the materials are proven to be more efficient and cost effective, they eventually filter down to affordable consumer vehicles.
ABOUT PLASTICS
Plastics are a type of polymer, a chemical substance made up of many very large, chain-shaped molecules. These molecules in turn form thousands of repeating units, much like the links in a chain. Linking together different monomers into different length chains makes different plastics. Mixing polymers with various additives gives them many useful properties, which is why plastics are used so often in our everyday lives. Thermoplastics soften with heat and harden when cooled, such as polyvinylchloride (PVC) and Teflon. They are used in food packaging, milk and water bottles, electrical insulation, carpet fibers, and credit cards, among other applications. Thermosetting plastics harden with heat, such as epoxy and polyester. They can be found in mattresses, cushions, varnishes, glues, and coatings on electrical circuits.
SPECIFICATION AND FEATURES
AUTO BODY EXTERIOR
Today's plastics have revolutionized the design of auto body exteriors. From bumpers to door panels, light weight plastic gives cars better gas mileage and allows designers and engineers the freedom to create innovative concepts that otherwise would never be possible. Traditionally, metal alloys were synonymous with auto body exterior design and manufacturing. However, metal alloys are susceptible to dents, dings, stone chips and corrosion. They are also heavier and more expensive than plastic. Choosing plastics for auto body exterior parts allows manufacturers to adopt modular assembly practices, lower production costs, improve energy management, achieve better dent resistance, and use advanced styling techniques for sleeker, more aerodynamic exteriors.
Automobile design engineers face many constrictions when designing with metal. Low-cost, single-unit production of large automobile sections, such as a front grille, is nearly impossible when using metal. Plastic offers auto engineers a variety of practical, cost-effective alternatives, as well as tremendous advantages over traditional automobile production materials.
Plastics allow auto engineers to have greater freedom in styling, building, and placing components, and give them the opportunity to combine several complex parts into a single, integrated piece. Plastics make this possible, while lowering manufacturing costs.
New processes enable manufacturers to reuse scrap plastic and recycle used plastic cost-effectively. Also, plastic components weigh approximately 50 percent less than their steel counterparts. This enables automobile components to be substantially lighter, while retaining needed strength, and contributes to an overall lighter vehicle and therefore fewer emissions and improved gas mileage. Better gas mileage helps us responsibly manage natural resources such as gasoline, while reducing emissions released into the environment. This benefits us all.
Plastic Car Bumpers & Fascia Systems
Front and rear bumpers became standard equipment on all cars in 1925. What were then simple metal beams attached to the front and rear of a car have evolved into complex, engineered components that are integral to the protection of the vehicle in low-speed collisions. Today's plastic auto bumpers and fascia systems are aesthetically pleasing, while offering advantages to both designers and drivers.
The majority of modern plastic car bumper system fascias are made of thermoplastic olefins (TPOs), polycarbonates, polyesters, polypropylene, polyurethanes, polyamides, or blends of these with, for instance, glass fibers, for strength and structural rigidity.
The use of plastic in auto bumpers and fascias gives designers a tremendous amount of freedom when it comes to styling a prototype vehicle, or improving an existing model. Plastic can be styled for both aesthetic and functional reasons in many ways without greatly affecting the cost of production. Plastic bumpers contain reinforcements that allow them to be as impact-resistant as metals while being less expensive to replace than their metal equivalents. Plastic car bumpers generally expand at the same rate as metal bumpers under normal driving temperatures and do not usually require special fixtures to keep them in place.
Some of the plastic products used in making auto bumpers and fascias can be recycled. This enables the manufacturer to reuse scrap material in a cost-effective manner. A new recycling program uses painted TPO scrap to produce new bumper fascias through an innovative and major recycling breakthrough process that removes paint from salvage yard plastic. Tests reveal post-industrial recycled TPO performs exactly like virgin material, converting hundreds of thousands of pounds of material destined for landfills into workable grade-A material, and reducing material costs for manufacturers.
Car Lighting Systems
Plastics are rapidly updating car lighting systems. Glass headlight lenses have been virtually replaced by transparent polycarbonate plastics. These plastics are designed to resist high levels of heat, are shatter-resistant, and can be molded into almost any shape. This gives car designers and engineers far more flexibility in the styling and placement of headlights. Plastics' versatility also allows auto headlights to incorporate high-tech focusing designs in the lenses, providing the benefit of increased highway safety.
Tail lights, turn signals, cornering lamps, back-up lights, and fog lights are all made of polycarbonate plastics or, in some cases, acrylic plastics. These lenses have similar design and engineering advantages to auto headlight lenses, and incorporate reflective optical surfaces too.
Major changes in the future of both head and tail light systems are imminent, with the incorporation of plastic-based LED (Light Emitting Diode) brake-light systems and 'light box' systems, whereby an easily accessible, single light source is used to provide exterior lighting for the car via acrylic fiber-optic wires. The incorporation of "light box" LED car lighting technology will eliminate the need for high-heat resistant plastics in auto lighting systems, allowing substitution for even lighter plastic lenses that retain the ability to resist impacts.
Auto Trim
Trim is an important operative and aesthetic component of car exteriors. Auto trim comprises everything from mirror housings to door handles, side trim, wheel covers and radiator grilles. Today, auto trim parts depend largely on plastic to add functionality and decoration to a vehicle's exterior. A variety of plastics are used in manufacturing exterior trim. Nylons, polystyrene, polycarbonates, weather able ASA-AES, PVC, polypropylene, polyesters, and urethanes are the most commonly used plastics in these applications.
A number of important innovations have allowed manufacturers to save both time and money when building exterior car trim parts. Mirror housings can now be in-mold painted, thanks to weather able ASA-AES plastics systems, which allow car manufacturers to save on painting costs and eliminate the need for timing the cure of mirror housings with their painting on the production line. Another exciting innovation is in plastic wheel covers. By using plastic instead of metal to manufacture wheel covers, and then plating the plastic with a metallic finish, manufacturers spend a fraction of the cost while making the plastic look like a metal alloy. Engineers and consumers also enjoy the added benefits of weight reduction that go hand-in-hand with a switch to plastics. Plastic has also led to innovations in pickup trucks as well. In addition to the familiar truck bed liners, the entire pickup truck bed can be blow-molded from high-density polyethylene.
Recent innovations and buying trends demonstrate a bright future for plastic in exterior automobile applications because it is an excellent, cost-saving alternative to traditional materials. Plastic's ability to reduce weight and improve efficiency provides environmental benefits while maintaining safety. With high-mileage performance becoming an increasingly important issue to consumers and car manufacturers, plastics have the added advantage of making strong future environmental achievements possible.
AUTO INTERIOR
The elements of car interior design -- comfort, noise level, aesthetic appeal, ergonomic layout, durability -- have a great impact on a consumer's purchasing decision. Plastic auto interior parts address all of these aspects, and more, in a remarkably effective and efficient manner.
Auto Upholstery
Urethane foams are the most common plastics used in auto upholstery cushioning. Recyclability, combined with their ability to fulfill design and economic demands set forth by a manufacturer make them an ideal choice for car upholstery materials.
Recent innovations in cushioning technology now allow a manufacturer to save on the quantity of urethane foam used in cushioning by injecting the foam with carbon dioxide to increase its volume without sacrificing comfort levels, noise, vibration, harshness (NVH) levels, or flexibility on the assembly line. Arm rests, head rests, headliners and cushioned instrument panels are all made with urethane foams. Thanks to efficient and cost-effective processes, urethane foams can be recycled to make carpeting for cars, homes, and offices.
The carpet padding typically used in automobiles consists of a needled vinyl-based fiber that lies between the floor panels and the carpet itself. Insulating carpet padding is especially important in helping reduce NVH. A new process now allows for the use of polyurethane foam padding between the carpet and the floor panel, which promises even greater reductions in NVH, a more comfortable surface, and an improved fit and finish. Most importantly, however, is that it is a cost-effective process easily adaptable to existing assembly lines and changes in model specification.
Instrument Panels
Traditionally, instrument panels were made from several separate components that needed to be painted and that were all held together by a steel supporting beam that lay behind the panel. Today, thanks to modern plastics technology, instrument panels are made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), ABS/polycarbonate alloys, polycarbonates, polypropylene, modified polyphenylene ether (PPE) and SMA (styrene maleic anhydride) resins. These plastics allow for complex designs in items such as: airbag housings, center stacks for instrument panels, and large, integrated instrument panel pieces. They are also used in manufacturing the rest of the automobile's interior trim. These plastics are also capable of eliminating the need for a steel support beam, allowing manufacturers to save dramatically on the cost of the instrument panel while substantially reducing its weight.
Wholly integrated single-piece units can be manufactured from all-urethane and all-polypropylene resins. This results in a seamless instrument panel with greatly reduced NVH levels, molded-in color and with significant cost savings for the manufacturer. Cost effective post-consumer and in-plant recycling is also achievable.