1. The future development direction of materials for the automotive industry
The future development of my country’s automobile industry will shift from pursuing production capacity, output and scale to paying more attention to quality and level. Lightweight, green and environmentally friendly, and comfortable and safe will become the three major themes for the future development of my country’s automotive materials.
The rapid development of my country’s PU industry has created necessary conditions for the rapid development of my country’s automobile industry.
PU material products used in the automotive industry mainly include soft, hard, semi-rigid, foam plastics, PU elastomers (including CPU, TPU microcellular elastomers), adhesives, sealants and coatings (see Table 1).
Table 1 List of automotive polyurethane products
| Variety | Auto Parts | Main performance and usage |
| High resilience cold molded soft foam | Seat cushion, backrest, headrest, decorative strips | Excellent resilience, low hysteresis loss, high compression load ratio, good hand feel, good breathability, good self-extinguishing properties, low energy consumption during production, now more popular |
| Thermal molded soft foam with filler | Seat cushion, backrest, headrest, foot pad | Inorganic fillers can be added when raw material prices are low to improve product performance and reduce costs. Molds with simple structures and lower costs can be used |
| Semi-hard foam | Dashboard filler, door pillar covering, control box, speaker seat cushion, armrest, headrest, sun visor | It has high density and compressive strength, excellent energy absorption function, can absorb shock and resist impact, and is currently used in many applications |
| Self-skinning foam | Arrests, steering wheels, air spoilers, headrests, door pillars, control boxes | It has a smooth and high-density self-skinning surface layer, and the core is a low-density and elastic foam, which is commonly used |
| Microcellular elastomer | Steering wheel, filter gasket, sealing strip, anti-vibration pad | It has a softer density than rubber, good dimensional stability, excellent wear resistance, flex resistance, and good aging resistance |
| Hard foam | Door panel lining, headliner lining, small refrigerator, imitation wood trim, sound deadening mat, sun visor | Light weight, high strength, good automotive stability, excellent insulation performance (the best organic insulation material), good anti-aging performance, currently used in many applications |
| Pouring elastomer (CPU) | Dust seals, bearing sleeves, steering knuckle bushings, incisor blocks, leaf spring lug bushings, car tires | Large load-bearing capacity, high tear resistance, wear resistance, oil resistance, wide adjustable hardness range |
| Thermoplastic elastomer | Shock absorbing pads, leaf spring spacers, spring coil boots, gear units, headliners and body parts | High modulus, high strength, high elongation and high elasticity, excellent wear resistance, oil resistance, low temperature resistance and aging resistance. General plastic processing methods (injection molding machines) can be used to produce various products, and waste materials can be recycled, and there is a trend of expansion |
2. PU is the key material to achieve lightweight automotive materials
Application of PU foam in automobile interior parts: In 2010, the consumption of PU soft foam for automobile interior parts in my country was 152,000 tons, and the consumption of PU hard foam was 67,000 tons. Mainly used in automobile dashboards, seat cushions, backrests, headrests, doors, armrests, steering wheel assemblies, car ceilings, door inner panels and seals. Reducing the density of PU foam is an important technical way to achieve lightweight automotive interior parts. At present, the main technical approaches adopted in China are: high solid content, low viscosity POP (grafted polyether) and high functionality, high activity polyether and other technical approaches.
Application of RIM (Reaction Injection Molding), RRIM (Reinforced Reaction Injection Molding) and SRIM (Structural Reaction Injection Molding) PU products in automobile lightweighting: RIM, RRIM and SRIM have been widely used in the European and American automobile industries, mainly Used for bumpers, steering wheels, body panels, hoods, trunk lids, radiator grilles, fenders, spoilers, etc. The weight of RRIM products is only half that of steel, which is an important way to achieve lightweight automobiles. At present, there is still a certain gap in the usage and quality of technologies such as RIM in the domestic automobile industry compared with Europe and the United States, and further development needs to be strengthened.
PU material is an important and promising material for automobile plasticization. At present, the development direction of world automobiles (mainly cars and new energy vehicles) is lightweight. Lightweighting is an important technical measure to improve fuel combustion efficiency and reduce automobile exhaust emissions, and to achieve automobile energy conservation and emission reduction. The plasticization of automobile materials, replacing steel with plastic, is an inevitable trend and important technical approach to the development of lightweight automobiles. Auto parts made of different materials consume different energy.
<img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1196" src="https://www.bdma.com.cn/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/sfh-1.webp" width="310" height="231" title="China Automobile UseThe wave energy is greatly absorbed and attenuated. This sound-absorbing material can effectively absorb the sound energy incident on it, which gives it good high-frequency sound absorption performance. Due to the action of friction and viscosity, a considerable part of the sound energy is converted into heat energy, thereby attenuating the sound wave and weakening the reflected sound to achieve the purpose of sound absorption; secondly, the heat exchange between the air in the small hole and the hole wall and the fiber causes The heat loss also attenuates the sound energy.
(7) Halogen-free flame retardant PU interior parts
The flame retardant performance of PU foam used in car interiors is also an important indicator of car safety performance. This kind of flame retardant material requires halogen-free flame retardant technology, which has been used in some high-end cars at home and abroad.
6. Conclusion
The rapid development of my country’s PU industry has created necessary conditions for the ultra-high-speed development of my country’s automobile industry. On the contrary, my country’s automobile industry will greatly promote the rapid development of my country’s PU industry.
1. my country’s automobile industry is already a large manufacturing and consuming country in the world, but it is not a manufacturing power. The future development of my country’s automobile industry will gradually shift from pursuing production capacity, output and scale to paying more attention to quality and level.
2. Lightweight, green, environmentally friendly, comfortable and safe automobiles will become the future development direction of materials used in my country’s automobile industry.
3. PU material is the key material to achieve lightweight and plasticization of automobiles.
4. PU plastic alloy and TPU composite materials will be an important technical way to realize plasticization of automobiles.
5. PU materials for automotive interior parts, PU foam plastics, PU adhesives, PU coatings and PU synthetic leather must follow the path of green and environmentally friendly development.
6. PU automobile tires and biomass vegetable oil polyols are automobile PU green materials with huge development vitality.
7. PU materials include interior parts (seats, backrests and headrests), microporous PU elastomer shock-absorbing pads, shock-absorbing springs, bumpers, airbags and PU noise reduction technology. PU flame-retardant materials are the key to achieving car comfort and safety. important technical approaches and development directions.
