On-Line Paintable Polypropylene Compounds for Automobile Body Panels

The use of plastics to make the bumpers, doors, fenders and other exterior body panels has increased greatly in recent years. Efforts have been made to achieve on-line paintability so that plastic and steel body parts can be painted at the same time. This has already been accomplished for polyamides and certain polymer alloys such as polyphenylene ether/polyamide.

In the field of general-purpose plastics such as polypropylene, recent advances in composite material technology have made it possible to develop general-purpose plastics that display properties comparable to those of engineering plastics.

We have succeded in developing new polypropylene compounds which combine excellent thermal properties, high impact strength, and low coefficient of linear expansion. In addition, they can be painted on-line in lamp finisher and front bumper applications.