Automobile industry interiors

Products made from sisal are being developed rapidly, such as furniture and wall tiles made of resonated sisal. A recent development has even expanded the range to car parts for cabin interiors. Other products developed from sisal fibre include spa products, cat scratching posts, lumbar support belts, rugs, slippers and cloths. In recent years sisal has been utilized as a strengthening agent to replace asbestos and glass fibre, as well as an environmentally friendly component in the automobile industry. 

A major role of the chemist in interior design is to utilize coatings and stabilizers to improve the appearance and life of the product and protect the part from physical and chemical stress. The automobile industry is setting higher standards to fulfill the stabilization requirements for vehicle interior coatings. Some of the materials utilized in interior applications were listed in Chapter 3. 

All of the plastics, rubbers and composites described previously for their use in the automobile industry may or may not show any health hazard, depending on their preparation and contents. In this context, certainly the ones that are used in interiors are of the utmost importance and should be considered and examined more critically. On the other hand, the ones used in exteriors, should also be considered, not for their health hazard considerations, but mainly on different grounds (i.e., the loss of light stabilisers by migration from automotive finishes, which can significantly reduce the durability of coatings on plastic substrates [14]). 

WPCs are mainly used for interior and exterior floor covering, but also for the construction of patios, stairs and terraces (Figure 9.4.10). Furthermore, WPCs are used for promenades, noise barriers, docks, fences, railings, window frames and doors.Future markets could be found in the furniture and automobile industry. ... 

While cellulose fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) is already used by default for example in the automobile industry for interior parts (Karas and Kaup, 2005), the conventional use of cellulose fiber reinforced PLA is still at the beginning. But there are also some products such as biodegradable urns, mobile phone shells or prototypes of spare tyre covers made from natural fiber reinforced PLA at the market (Anonymous, 2007 Iji, 2008 Grashom, 2007). Maty studies deal with the use of natural fibers as reinforcements in PLA composites. An overview about the mechanical characteristics and apphcation areas of natural fiber-reinforced PLA can be foimd for example in Bhardwaj and Mohanty (2007), Avella et al. (2009), Ganster and Fink (2006), Jo-noobi et al. (2010), and Graupner et al. (2009). For the improvement of the composite characteristics it is still necessary to carry out optimization processes for fibers, PLA matrix and the interactions of both. Moreover the processing parameters, force elongation characteristics of fibers and matrix as well as the use of additives like plasticizers or adhesion promoters have decisive influences on the mechanical characteristics of the composites. 

Injection onto textile linings, or in-mould lamination (IML), has seen continuing development in recent years because of demand from the automobile industry. This method is used to mould strips, covers, screens and linings for vehicle interiors from PP, ABS and ABS-PC with a textile surface. 

Keywords automobile industry thermal desorption degassing automotive interior materials VOCs SVOCs VDA 278 ISO 11890-2... 

There are many chemically reacting flow situations in which a reactive stream flows interior to a channel or duct. Two such examples are illustrated in Figs. 1.4 and 1.6, which consider flow in a catalytic-combustion monolith [28,156,168,259,322] and in the channels of a solid-oxide fuel cell. Other examples include the catalytic converters in automobiles. Certainly there are many industrial chemical processes that involve reactive flow tubular reactors. Innovative new short-contact-time processes use flow in catalytic monoliths to convert raw hydrocarbons to higher-value chemical feedstocks [37,99,100,173,184,436, 447]. Certain types of chemical-vapor-deposition reactors use a channel to direct flow over a wafer where a thin film is grown or deposited [219]. Flow reactors used in the laboratory to study gas-phase chemical kinetics usually strive to achieve plug-flow conditions and to minimize wall-chemistry effects. Nevertheless, boundary-layer simulations can be used to verify the flow condition or to account for non-ideal behavior [147]. 

Recent work by the USDA and Kcnaf International (Texas) has demonstrated the potential of both growing and processing kcnaf fibers for newsprinl and other paper products in the United States. Another promising potential use for vegetable fibers is in the new lignocellulosic-hased composites under development in various parts of the industrialized world. Such products are already utilized in the automotive industry for automobile interior door and head liners and as trunk liners. 

In recent years starch, the polysaccharide of cereals, legumes and tubers, has acquired relevance as a biodegradable polymer and is becoming increasingly important as an industrial material (Fritz Aichholzer, 1995). Starch is a thermoplastic polymer and it can therefore be extruded or injection moulded (Balta Calleja et al, 1999). It can also be processed by application of pressure and heat. Starch has been used successfully as a matrix in composites of natural fibres (flax, jute, etc.). The use of starch in these composites could be of value in applications such as automobile interiors. An advantage of this biopolymer is that its preparation as well as its destruction do not act negatively upon the environment. A further advantage of starch is its low price as compared with conventional synthetic thermoplastics (PE, PP). 

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