Use of glass-reinforced thermoplastic composites in automotive
industry has grown gradually during the past decades because of an
appropriate combination of properties such as high stiffness, high
heat performance and lower specific gravities at a relative low
cost. These materials have found applications in semi-structural
parts such as instrument panels, door structures, underbody-shields
and front-end module carriers.
Front-End Module is one key application, which has shown a
development from pressed metal sheet assemblies towards SMC or GMT,
pressed parts. Hybrid Steel + Plastic system is also explored for
front-ends to balance weight and stiffness of the part. However
presently the key trends in FEM design have been to improve
performance/weight ratio by reducing the metal content.
The present paper demonstrates full plastic Front-End Module
designs using long glass-reinforced PP material such as SABIC®
STAMAX®, processed by injection molding. Mechanical performance of
these Front End Modules (FEM) under different loading conditions is
discussed. The full plastic FEM can show advantage such as
lightweight front-end construction, integration of functionality,
which in turn saves assembly time, reduces costs and lowers
mass.