Plastics interior components

Engineering design with polymers starts with stiffness. But strength is also important, sometimes overridingly so. A plastic chair need not be very stiff - it may be more comfortable if it is a bit flexible - but it must not collapse plastically, or fail in a brittle manner, when sat upon. There are numerous examples of the use of polymers (luggage, casings of appliances, interior components for automobiles) where strength, not stiffness, is the major consideration. 

PCs are processed by conventional injection molding and extrusion. The impact resistance of molded or extruded PCs is decreased when they are exposed to solvents which tend to craze these plastics. Considerable care must be exercised in the extrusion process in order to obtain impact-resistant PC sheets. PCs are used for interior components of aircraft, household appliances,... 

There is a lot of competition among plastics manufacturers for car interior components although, however, this area is not expected to show much growth [26,27]. ABS plastics continue to dominate the instrument panel market, while newer materials like Dow Chemical s pulse PC/ABS and Bayer s Bayblend PC/ABS alloys have been introduced for use in dashboard housings, interior mirror surrounds, and steering column covers. The alloy s high heat stability allows pigmentation in pastel colors. 

Polymers (plastics) and polymer-matrix composites 9 Interior components, electrical and electronic components, under-the-hood components, fuel line components... 

Recyclability and sustainability All PO-based plastic interior or exterior part systems, theoretically at least, allow potentially easier recovery and reuse of components or shredder "fluff" when a vehicle s lifetime is over. Reduced environmental footprints are also being sought with the use of plant-based fillers and fibers for plastics. 

Highest concentrations of contaminants including plasticizers in air were reported for test chambers built to identify and quantify emissions from products used indoors. In test chamber studies evaluating the emission of phthalates from PVC coated wall coverings maximum concentrations of 5.1 pg/m (= 5,100 ng/m ) for DBP, of 0.50 pg/m for DiBP and of 0.94 pg/m for DEHP were observed in a 14 day test period (Uhde et Organophosphates (TBP, TBEP, TCEP, TCPP, TDCPP, TEHP, TPP) used for car interior components and evaluated in emission test chambers led to the highest concentrations for TPP of about 2 pg/m (= 2,000 ng/m ). ... 

Interior components make up the largest use of plastics in automotive vehicles, in applications such as instrument panels (IPs), body panels, door panels, dashmats, seat backs, seat bases, steering wheels, and airbag covers. 

Interior components of a vehicle consist mainly of IPs, door panels, and seats together, these account for the largest share of plastics in a car at 38% [53]. These components are primarily expected to cater to comfort, odor, aesthetic appeal, ergonomic layout, and durability requirements. For example, most interior panels must sport a Class A finish. From a safety perspective, all materials used to make interior components must prescribe to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 302, titled Flammability of Interior Materials. As per this standard, the material shall neither bum nor transmit a flame front across its surface at a rate greater 4 in/min [54]. In addition, interior components are also required to possess fogging [55,56] and acoustic properties [57]. A detailed description of the plastics used for important interior components is given next. 

Pore dimensions may have a more subtle effect on decay rate depending on component dimensions and production method of the manufactured material. Products made from pasted starch, LDPE, and EAA (2) typically appeared as laminates of starch and plastic when examined by scanning electron microscopy (Figure 1). The dimensions of inter-laminate channels (i.e., pores) were not uniform and ranged from about 50 to 325 m in cross-section (22). Since flux is dependent on diffusional path area, the smaller pores can be an impediment to movement of solutes from the interior to the surface of the films. Figure 5 illustrates two films in which the laminate units are the same thickness, but differ in length. When the starch is removed... 

The major chemical components of emulsion explosives are fundamentally the same as those of slurry explosives, as shown in Table 9.4.[i l Instead of the sensitizers used for slurry explosives, a large number of hollow microspheres made of glass or plastics are incorporated to formulate emulsion explosives in order to obtain successive detonation propagation after the initiation of detonation. During detonation propagation into the interior of the explosives, an adiabatic compression results... 

Nowadays the electronic appliances used for entertainment, telecommunications and data processing are widespread in daily life. Typical examples include televisions, video recorders, hi-fi systems and fax machines, not to mention computers with their peripherals such as monitors and printers, scanners and copiers. These devices are predominantly made of polymeric components and materials which might contain additives, such as flame retardants and plasticizers (Wensing, Uhde and Salthammer, 2005) to obtain specific desired properties. In addition, there will also be chemical residues from production and processing aids, such as residual monomers and solvents. Especially under operating conditions these compounds can be released from electronic equipment into indoor air due to the heating-up of the device interior. In many cases, such emissions can be monitored via simple odor tests (Walpot, 1996). 

Automotive Components Tires, Plastics Rubber Brake Products Transmissions Suspensions Vehicle Interiors Sealing Systems Aviation Products Protective Clothing... 

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