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This paper traces the development of stainless steel clad aluminum for bumper faceplate applications. Use of this material on trucks has increased due to its performance characteristics. A wide range of tests have been used to evaluate mechanical and environmental affects on the materials system. Now field results are available and will be reported in this paper.

In order to confirm the behavior of various bumper materials, Texas Instruments conducted a performance field survey of existing bumpers in service. A large fleet of trucks equipped with stainless steel clad aluminum bumpers was identified in order to maximize the data obtained on this material system. The fleet owned and operated by E. W. Wiley Co., Fargo, North Dakota was chosen because of the large number of accessible bumpers in service, the severity of the location and the extensive service of trucks in that fleet. Bumper system included in the survey were stainless steel clad aluminum, chrome plated steel and chrome plated aluminum.

Stainless steel clad aluminum has been used for exterior automotive trim for many years because of its unique bright, corrosion resistant properties. Recent styling trends have led to the use of black plastic to partially cover the stainless steel surface providing a “black on bright” trim system. The most economical process for manufacture of these systems is coextrusion of PVC onto bimetal during the roll forming process. This paper describes the process for manufacture of stainless steel clad aluminum and for coextrusion of PVC onto the bimetal. Important process steps which are covered include roll bond preparation, roll bonding, buffing, coextrusion preparation, surface treatment, adhesive application and coextrusion.