Development of a 200,000 Langley Vinyl Skin for Instrument Panels

A cast skin instrument panel has been developed that passes a heat age test of 21 days at 121 degrees centigrade, 1993 kJ/m Xenon Arc exposure and 200,000 Langleys of Arizona exposure. The instrument panel showed acceptable color change and no cracking or shrinkage of the skin was seen after the Arizona aging. This panel was developed by careful selection of the vinyl compound and polyurethane foam and no topcoats were used on the PVC skin to control color or gloss.