The category and grand prize winners selected by the Blue Ribbon jury on October 1 will be announced at the evening party on November 10, 2021. The submission content is as follows.
The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE, Danbury, Connecticut, USA) announced the finalists for its 50th Annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala. The nomination will first undergo prequalification and then be submitted to the industry expert panel on September 23-24, 2021. Then, the team will send the category finalists to the Blue Ribbon Review Round on October 1, 2021. The category and grand prize winners selected in the Blue Ribbon Review Round will be held on the evening of November 10, 2021. Announced at the SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala. The finalists for this year's competition are listed as follows, by category and order of submission:
These after-sales polymer spring sleeves use 3D printing TPU and post-processed steam smoothing instead of extruded rubber molded parts, and are designed with additive manufacturing (DFAM) principles, eliminating the adhesive normally used to bond rubber sleeves to springs . The design balances assembly feasibility, performance, weight, and material usage, and provides an aesthetic not normally found in such applications. When traditional suppliers no longer provide parts, Ford internally designed and produced kits, reducing quality, cost, and material usage, improving water separation capabilities, and saving $150,000 by avoiding the use of tools.
First in the industry, customers can select, download NFTL files and 3D print their own replaceable accessories (such as cup holders, trash cans, etc.), which fit the storage slots of the entire Maverick series of vehicles. The initial design was developed by Ford and its supply team, but future designs can be suggested by customers. A variety of printer types and recommended materials can be used. This provides customers with flexible and customizable storage and usage functions, or they can choose to maximize cabin space while avoiding a lot of tool investment.
It is said that this is the first external, weather-resistant, MIC application using low-density microspheres plus PP from PCR carpet. The application reduces the mass (0.2 kg) and costs 0.50-1.00 US dollars per vehicle, while providing enhanced weather resistance, excellent dimensional stability and surface aesthetics in a more environmentally friendly form. The plug-in application requires minimal tool modification, but the density is 16% lower than the main PP filled with talc, while providing better processing, machinery, surface finish, scratches and abrasion, weather resistance and shorter cycle time. It helps avoid 680,000 kilograms of potential landfills and reduce carbon emissions by 83%.
This hard-coated and painted front grille with luminous logos provides a 3D futuristic effect in a single component. Injection/compression molding forms a large-format transparent PC grid with variable wall thickness (3-5 mm) in a low-tonnage press, helping to minimize or eliminate flow lines and stress marks. After molding, the optical quality parts are impregnated with hard coating silicone, which has excellent weather resistance and abrasion resistance. The pony logo is ground out, and the B surface of the parts is selectively coated with primer and paint-said to be the first time Use paint-a hard coat for automotive exterior applications.
According to reports, this is the first time that an integrated parking assist sensor has been successfully integrated into a blow-molded bumper assembly. Compared with stamped steel, blow-molded PP beams are lighter, lower in cost and provide optimized design freedom. Compared with injection-molded beams, they have excellent structural rigidity, lower assembly complexity and lower tool costs . The resulting full-featured, light-weight bumper system utilizes a snap function, eliminating the additional hardware to hold the sensor in place.
The third-row seat backrest replaces the 16-piece steel component with a single plastic component that is injected and transported. The weight is reduced by 30%, the cost is reduced by 15%, the collision performance is doubled, and the workload for passengers is reduced by 63%. % Raise the seat to an upright position without the need for a seat motor. This is the industry's first all-plastic freestanding seat back, which provides excellent energy absorption without the need for a metal bracket. A new 35% short glass, impact modified PA6 resin was developed for this sequential injection application.
A useful feature of this entry-level model is the front driver and passenger seats, which can be fully reclined while supporting the neck and chest (via a special chest pad with five lockable positions) as well as the hips and lower back (via Cushion lifting mechanism). Plastic is the key to achieving a proper balance of comfort support and flexibility, and provides a durable solution without BSR issues in cushion lifting components. So far, the design has obtained six patents/innovations.
In order to provide truck owners with an in-vehicle working area that is not affected by the weather, the multi-functional, multi-position flat workbench (models with benches) behind the middle front seat can be used for writing, computer work, etc., while leaving The cup holder and power supply charge electronic devices. The device provides 121 lockable positions for every 4.5, which can withstand rough use by customers, but can be put away when not needed. Approximately 95% of the components use plastic. The design has obtained four patents.
This foldable work surface with injection-molded dual-pivot hinges produces a completely flat 56 x 34 cm work surface that can be deployed along the center console but stored in the armrest. The new two-layer super soft touch paint system on the ABS panel provides a pleasant touch. Compared with metal piano hinges, plastic hinges are 30% lighter and their cost is estimated to be 15% lower.
A hybrid composite structure is used to replace multiple stamped and welded ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS) components. The structure is composed of PUR pultrusion (80% FVF glass fiber) injection and overmolding, high-strength GR PA6 and integral installation hardware. This tunnel Reinforcement reduces component mass by 40%, subsystem weight by 20%, system cost by 2.9%, tool cost by 18.5%, and all functional requirements are met or exceeded. The application uses new materials, new simulation tools, and a new method of mechanically bonding thermoset and thermoplastic composites to overall hardware. Although light in weight, the structure carries high loads and is easier to assemble.
This hybrid rear leaf spring combines a high-strength steel main package and HP-RTM glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin composite auxiliary components, which can reduce mass by 30% while providing the same stiffness and durability as traditional leaf spring systems sex. Other benefits include increased payload capacity, reduced number of parts, reduced friction between leaves, smoother joints, lower noise and lower carbon footprint.
This embedded solution that uses any "cylinder on demand" approach to reduce engine vibration provides closed-loop vibration control. Compared with passive mass dampers mainly made of metal, the new system provides greater design flexibility and can be adjusted for a wider range of low-frequency vibrations, reducing mass by 27%, increasing fuel efficiency by 1%, simplifying assembly and improving Occupant comfort. The composite shell and bracket are the key to the success of this device.
It is said that this is the first thermoplastic solution for the battery cover and meets the stringent new fire safety requirements that took effect in China earlier this year. The non-halogenated FR 30% GR polypropylene copolymer (PPc) is 40% lighter than the external metal solution, provides inherent electrical insulation, is sealed to prevent moisture intrusion and will not corrode. The 1.6-meter-long injection molded part has a thickness of 2.0 mm, which reduces cost and quality, improves safety, and contributes to extended mileage and sustainability.
This foldable console shift lever is the key to another application function, which is a flat work surface. Press the button to retract the shift lever. Novel wired parking technology provides automatic return to parking function. Plastic/metal hybrid adopts 30% GR PPA and PTFE overmolded sintered metal gears, which can reduce quality, noise, CLTE and friction.
According to reports, this is the first time PA11 produced from a monomer derived from castor oil has been used in a crankshaft exhaust pipe. Biomonomer-based resins have high thermal stability (1,000 hours at 160°C), chemical resistance and flexibility. Castor beans are grown in a soil that hardly supports anything else, providing an additional source of income for poor farmers in India without competing with food/fodder crops or deforestation. Compared with steel/rubber components, PA11 vent pipes are 50% lighter in weight, cost less than $5 per piece, and are more flexible, easy to assemble, and help decarbonize the supply chain.
In this PP headlight housing, 20% of coffee bran biochar replaces 40% of talc, while providing better mechanical properties (including better impact strength), higher HDT, more compact size, Lighter weight (17% reduction in SG), no odor/outgassing and lower carbon footprint-meet or exceed all Ford performance requirements. In addition, the cycle time is shortened, the cost is reduced, the energy required to manufacture the headlight housing is reduced by 25%, and there is no need to modify the existing tools for this plug-in application.
These 15% GR rPA6 harness clips are injection molded from 100% PCR marine plastic. Fishing gear (fishing nets) are collected by fishermen in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea to provide employment opportunities, more sustainable livelihoods and healthier marine life. The performance of this material is comparable to that of petroleum-based primer resins, while saving 10% of costs, lower energy consumption, improved supply chain stability and LCA advantages. This plug-in change does not require tool changes and minimal process changes.
In less than 18 days, the team purchased materials, manufacturing tools, incorporated dimensional quality into specifications, automatically installed 48 brass insert nuts (verified by a vision system), modified manufacturing facilities, trained labor, and expanded tight tolerance production breath The chassis parts ranged from thousands/year to thousands/week, and finally 30,000 were delivered within 154 days. Although previous suppliers have been struggling to meet accuracy, but with faster production time, FTQ has increased to 98.7.
The team developed a unique TPE that provides improved fluidity, high adhesion to PC/ABS substrates, and excellent chemical resistance-and shipped it within 24 hours. Rapid production of high-altitude molds to ensure adequate supply. A solid supply chain has been established to meet the needs of the entire 2020.
In less than a week, PEEK resin was fully characterized as a CAE material card, and a tool for a key ventilator component was redesigned using mold deformation/wind resistance technology to solve the warpage problem that previously required post-mold fixation and machining . The new tools were produced and the first parts were shot 9 days later. This allowed the team to maintain extremely tight tolerances without post-mold countermeasures. This enables production to expand from thousands/year to thousands/week to meet high demand. By eliminating post-processing of molds, costs are reduced by 30-40%.
The team used its automotive technology to transform processing equipment, convert from optical-grade silicone to traditional liquid silicone rubber, solve the void problem, build new tools in just 19 days, and increase the output of key ventilator diaphragms from 1,000 to 4,000 per year /week.
The team produced what is said to be the first all-plastic PAPR, which converts the previous metal parts into plastic, to reduce the quality and cost of this personal protective equipment, and to improve user comfort (PPE_ by caring for COVID-19 patients) Used by medical staff. The lighter, more efficient design improves battery life, allowing workers to complete 12-hour shifts without charging. The first attempt only took three days to obtain NIOSH certification. Production increased from 650 units per week to 8,500 units/ The supplier of the previous week has been achieved. All sales profits have been donated to the COVID-19 relief fund, and four patents for the device are pending.
In order to meet the NIOSH certification requirements, the team used automotive tools to achieve all project goals in less than 30 days. Developed a new snorkel design, one of which size fits from 5% of women to 95% of men’s bodies in various postures. The design uses quick connections to ensure a stable connection and provides 25% greater airflow, but consumes 24% less current, thereby extending battery life. It is also lighter and has eight decibels less noise. The team delivered 42,000 breathing tubes during the project.
Two different programs-Operation Airbridge and #TyvekTogether-have significantly increased the production capacity of hospital gowns and overalls for medical workers and emergency personnel. In addition, a new fabric was formulated in just three weeks to optimize use and increase downstream production. The spare capacity and resources of 15 US partners were used. In total, the team produced and shipped 17.6 million garments to supplement the national inventory.
In response to the shortage of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic, the team reused airbags and seat upholstery materials, and used idle cutting and sewing facilities to produce 50 times more washable isolation suits for front-line workers. In less than two weeks, two different fabrics (PA6/6 with silicone coating and PET with paraffin/C6 fluorocarbon coating) were developed and approved, and the protective clothing design was modified to Prevent workers from lifting their sleeves when wearing gloves. To date, 1.32 million dresses have been shipped. Efforts to reduce the cost of gowns for health care providers.
According to reports, this is the first mass production of such PPE equipment. Within two days, the team developed the first transparent mask, and produced and delivered 1.1 million masks within 13 days. To address supply constraints and potential failure modes, the material was changed from RPET to APET, and the pin attachment replaced the binding. The production capacity of the supply stream and manufacturing team exceeds 5 million pieces per week. In total, more than 21 million devices were shipped to protect frontline workers.
A new low-odor fabric launched in November 2019 was reused to produce washable and reusable non-woven masks in response to the pandemic. The key to the material's efficacy is that the zinc ions are embedded in the polymer matrix during the polymerization process, so the antibacterial treatment will not wash off or wear out, and it will remain active during the entire life cycle of the product. The technology can also be used for knitted fabrics, woven fabrics and engineering plastics. So far, more than 100 patents have been obtained.
The six brackets for the detachable hard-top and soft-top roofs were converted from investment cast steel to 30% ultra-short carbon fiber (USCF) reinforced PPA, providing comparable component strength, while reducing cost by 38% and quality by 79%. The powder coating is eliminated, scratches and abrasions are improved, and weather resistance, MIC, A-level finishes are provided, and intermediate program replacement and backward service compatibility are allowed. USCF composite molds are similar to pure polymers, but have better performance than LFT materials, are fully recyclable, and have a lower carbon footprint than metal/alloy parts. Drop valve gates and T-nut fasteners are also key drivers.
A new PA resin has been developed for the mounting bracket of the drive unit of the EV, which can enhance the damping/NVH without loss of mechanical performance. This allows the structural support bracket to be adjusted together with the elastic bushing to provide a wide range of vibration filtering while reducing the quality by 34% and the cost by 19.5%. The material must provide stable performance under high stress and changing environment and load conditions.
Careful part design and tool considerations, coupled with evenly distributed carbon fiber-based spot fillers, provide internal TPO parts with a unique appearance compared to pure colors. This eliminates the need for harder polymers for paint/film formation, eliminates the environmental impact of paint, reduces the cost of each vehicle by $12, and saves $400,000 in avoiding paint/film formation equipment. The pure color and spot color in the program only need one tool.
Advanced coating technology with graphene-enhanced PA 6/12 has been used to significantly improve the wear resistance and corrosion resistance, thermal performance and NVH of brake lines. When the PA 6/12 coating is used alone, the metal is only exposed after 8,000 cycles, while the graphene-enhanced coating shows no exposed metal after 400,000 cycles, without the need for an additional protective coating. Although the total pipe weight has been reduced by 25%, there is no change in the outer diameter of the pipe.
Instead of the multi-component metal/plastic interface that makes the precise adjustment and balance of the door chain of the active air intake module more difficult, this single-piece injection-molded adjustment plate not only has strict tolerances (±0.025 mm), but also provides 0.040 mm Adjusted, and while improving performance, it also reduced quality by 12% and cost by 10%. The key innovation is the use of low-wear 30% GR-PA6 resin, the molding is very flat, each left and right plate uses 10 tuning columns for precise balance, and the cavity pressure sensor is used for precise process control and data-driven micro-processing adjustment.
This challenging 780 mm long and 18 mm thick transparent red blade for the rear taillight function provides a unique appearance and uniform lighting appearance. The key to the success of the patent application is advanced simulation tools for design and function optimization and warpage control; complex runners, parting lines, shut-off valves, and multiple injection process control; plus custom-formulated optical grade PC, there are Helps manage quality, cost, and molding capabilities, and meets all legal taillight requirements. Despite the technical challenges, the procedure time was shortened by three months and the $250,000 prototype tool was avoided through virtual prototyping.
This MIC LFT-PP injection molded lifting door adopts a clamshell design, with overall interior integration and enhancements, as well as styling flexibility that allows design studios to change. Compared with the steel design, this composite material can save 35% of the cost and 15% of the quality, and reduce the carbon footprint. The high-flow copolymer is filled with designs, with wall thicknesses ranging from 2.0 to 4.5 mm. The six-axis robot inserts metal reinforcements for overmolding and removing parts. The highly controlled process uses sequential hot runners with PSP sensors and part presence sensors for overmolding.
In order to achieve the ideal appearance of a series of fabric-wrapped speaker grilles on IP and doors, many technical challenges need to be overcome, including finding the right size of speaker holes and fabrics and adhesives that have not yet interfered with sound performance to meet customer abuse, cleanliness and flame retardancy Requirements and other automotive industry performance standards. In the end, this industry's first fabric-wrapped speaker grille application met the appearance, audio performance and assembly requirements.
Compression-moldable natural fiber/PP mixed wool panels, containing up to 25% recycled PP and injection-molded LFT-PP substrates, used in various interior panels (for example, door frames, uppers, pillows and armrests; IP-based Material, top pad and middle board; and hard decoration). Compared with injection molded plastic panels, the quality is reduced by 50%, a large number of secondary operations including welding, adhesive application and insert molding are eliminated, and renewable materials are used in a single efficient process. More than 320,000 cars can be produced. The use of non-contact infrared heating for the first time in North America supports fast cycle times.
On November 10, 2021, at the 50th Annual SPE Automotive Innovation Awards Gala held in Burton Manor, Livonia, judged by a group of journalists, academics and retired industry chief engineers, and selected from these finalists Out of the category and grand prize winner, Michigan.
The Vehicle Engineering Team Award (VETA) will also be awarded to recognize automotive designers and engineers, level integrators, material suppliers, tool manufacturers and other work in research, design, engineering, and/or manufacturing that lead to polymer materials in The person with the major integration in the car. Famous vehicles. A lifetime achievement award will also be awarded to recognize those who have made significant contributions to the industry.
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