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As automotive manufacturers continue to increase their use of thermoplastics for interior and exterior components, there is a likelihood of squeaks due to material contacts. To address this issue, Ford's Body Chassis NVH Squeak and Rattle Prevention Engineering Department has developed a tester that can measure friction, and any accompanying audible sound, as a function of sliding velocity, normal load, surface roughness, and environmental factors. The Ford team has been using the tester to address manufacturing plant issues and to develop a database of polymeric material pairings that will be used as a guide for current and future designs to eliminate potential noise concerns. Based upon the database, along with a physical property analysis of the various plastic (viscoelastic) materials used in the interior, we are in the process of developing an analytical model which will be a tool to predict frictional behavior.

The presence of a foreign substance on or within a polymer often affects the mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of the material. The change in strength and rigidity of a polymer resulting from the plasticizing action of a sorbed chemical or due to the withdrawal of an added plasticizer by the leaching operation can seriously affect the useful life of the material. In the real engineering world, incompatible chemicals and lubricants get onto various plastic components unexpectedly through design, manufacturing processes, customers services and repairs. This paper presents a number of case-studies which illustrate how undesirable chemicals found on plastic parts can affect product performance and cause damage to the parts.

Nonlinear crash finite element analysis was performed to simulate the dynamic response of the instrument panel substrate in the head impact test. The finite element software used for this study was LS-DYNA3D. This paper describes the modeling strategy such as boundary conditions and loading condition. Energy absorption rate and deflection of the instrument panel substrate were investigated. The impact performance of various substrate designs were also simulated and compared with the baseline design. It was found that thinner substrate in the areas of impact can give substrate additional compliance which results in a greater crash energy absorption.

A process was developed and commercialized by Ford Motor Company, ACD for the recovery of S/MA-GR (glass fiber reinforced styrene maleic anhydride copolymer) resin from trim offal and rejected composite foam instrument panels, SAE# 93005. This high quality, low contaminate level “Reclaim”, S/MA-GR resin, has very good physical property retention through the manufacturing cycle. It compares favorably to post consumer “recycle” S/MA-GR resin recovered from Arizona. Acrylic (PMMA) resin recovered from manufacturing tail lamp lenses, etc. and post consumer applications was compounded with S/MA and fiberglass. This S/MA-GR compound has improved acrylic dispersion, uniform fiberglass content and improved mechanical properties: Dylark ® 378 P20A. The adverse effects of acrylic regrind on S/MA Boss/Joint Performance as described in SAE# 95810 should be minimized by reducing the variability incurred by blending regrind acrylic at the molding machine.