Technical Paper
A Holistic Approach to Next-Generation Polymer Composite Pickup Bed Development and Prototyping
2024-04-09
2024-01-2432
As we move toward electrification in future mobility, weight and cost reduction continue to be priorities in vehicle development. This has led to continued interest in advanced molding processes and holistic design to enable polymer materials for demanding structural applications such as pickup truck beds. In addition to performance, it is necessary to continue to improve styling, functionality, quality, and sustainability to exceed customer expectations in a competitive market. To support development of a lightweight bed design, a cross-functional team objectively explored the latest materials and manufacturing technologies for this application. In Phase 1 of this work, presented in 2022, the team considered a variety of alternatives for each functional area of the bed, including thermoplastic and thermoset materials with a range of processing technologies.