New material aids higher-precision gap management for body panel

Tag : Resin Fillers
In a bid to counter rising steel prices, SABIC Innovative hasintroduced Noryl GTX resin that delivers 25% lower coefficient ofthermal expansion (CTE) than previous grades, enablinghigher-precision gap management for automotive body panels, at thesame time helping to reduce overall vehicle weight. SABICInnovative Plastics' investment in high-performance materialssolutions such as sheet-metal replacement technologies providesautomotive suppliers and OEMs with innovative solutions forimproving quality and reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gasemissions.

The new conductive Noryl GTX 977 resin grade enhances dimensionalstability for consistently precise part alignment in hot weather orsunlight. Improved CTE combined with retention of good impact andstiffness properties makes Noryl GTX resin the ideal candidate forlarger vertical body panels such as fenders and tailgate skinswhere weight savings can be significant.
Lowering the CTE of a resin through the use of mineral fillersoften leads to reduced impact resistance. However, throughproprietary technology, the SABIC Innovative Plastics team was ableto achieve a significant reduction of Noryl GTX resin's CTE -dropping 25 percent from nine to seven - while largely maintainingits excellent impact resistance and stiffness. This balance ofproperties provides enhanced dimensional stability to minimizeexpansion behavior of large parts in hot weather or strong sunlightwithout sacrificing the high performance required by body panels.

Unlike competitive solutions that lack conductivity and requireeither offline painting or primers, Noryl GTX 977 resin is designedfor on-line electrostatic painting and delivers a Class A finish.Its conductivity improves paint transfer efficiency and coverage,and it can be processed using e-coats at bake temperatures of200-210