SPE announces Hall of Fame winner.
Press Release Summary:
First use of engineering thermoplastic on a vertical body panel was Hall of Fame winner of SPE® International's 39th annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition. The 1987MY Buick® LeSabre® T-Type sports coupe produced by General Motors Corp used Noryl GTX® 910 resin, an MPPE/PA copolymer supplied by GE Plastics. Thermoplastic body panels have since been translated into fenders on other vehicles as well as tractors and lawnmowers for home and agricultural use.
Original Press Release:
SPE® Names Hall of Fame Winner for 39TH-Annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition
TROY, (DETROIT) MICH. - The Automotive Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE®) International today announced the Hall of Fame winner for its 39th-annual Automotive Innovation Awards Competition, the oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. To be considered for the Hall of Fame Award, a part must have been in continuous service in some form for at least 15 years and preferably have been widely adapted within the automotive or ground-transportation industries. This year's winner meets these qualifications: it is the first use of an engineering thermoplastic on a vertical body panel - the front fenders on the
1987MY Buick® LeSabre® T-Type1 sports coupe produced by then General Motors Corp (GM) using Noryl GTX® 910 resin, an MPPE/PA2 copolymer supplied by then GE Plastics (now SABIC Innovative Plastics, Pittsfield, Mass.).
The automaker's success with this application was quickly translated into thermoplastic fenders on the 1987MY Buick Reatta® sports coupe, then other 1988-1995 C&H-platform vehicles, and in GM's 1989-2005 Saturn® passenger vehicles, all of whose exterior vertical body panels were thermoplastic. In fact, over 45 platforms and 20-million vehicles globally have used or currently use this material. Thermoplastic body panels have since been translated beyond automotive to tractors and lawnmowers for home and agricultural use.
1 The T-type designation indicated a performance package on GM's H-platform vehicles in the late-'80s-to-mid-'90s
2 MPPE/PA = Modified-Polyphenylene Ether / Polyamide (nylon)
A team at GE worked for more than 5 years to develop a polymer that would fulfill GM's
requirements for a material that was high quality, lightweight, damage and corrosion resistant, and compatible with then current body-build practices and paint systems. GM's own engineering group reviewed, tested, and rejected 160 different materials from 17 resin suppliers before settling on the MPPE/PA grade.
Noryl GTX resin had the thermal stability to endure online priming and painting, allowing them to be assembled to the body-in-white (BIW). Furthermore, the polymer alloy offered low-temperature impact strength, very-good thermal stability, broad chemical resistance, low mold shrinkage, low moisture absorption (vs. nylon alone), and good dimensional stability. The injection-molded parts produced a Class A surface out of the tool, eliminating multiple secondary operations required with steel, SMC, or RIM prior to painting. Making the switch from steel to thermoplastic enabled GM to
reduce part weight 40% (4 lb/1.8 kg vs. 7.3 lb/3.3 kg in steel) and eliminate denting and corrosion.
GM's Buick Factory 8 in Flint, Mich. molded the first fenders for the Buick LeSabre T-Type sports coupe and Delta Tooling (Auburn Hills, Mich.) produced the original injection molds for this program. Dave Malik, director-Front & Rear Closures, and Henry Brockman, lead engineer, both from General Motors Co., will accept the award on Nov. 12 at SPE's annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala at Burton Manor (www.Burtonmanor.net) in Livonia, Mich. At 5:30 p.m. the main exhibit area will open
for general admission and guests can review this year's Automotive Innovation Awards part nominations, as well as enjoy the specialty and antique vehicles that are always a highlight of the show. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the program itself runs from 7:00-9:00 p.m. For those who wish to extend merrymaking and networking, the ever-popular Afterglow -sponsored by Ticona Engineering Polymers - will run from 9:00-11:00 p.m.
The mission of SPE International is to promote scientific and engineering knowledge relating to plastics worldwide and to educate industry, academia, and the public about these advances. SPE's Automotive Division is active in educating, promoting, recognizing, and communicating technical accomplishments for all phases of plastics and plastic based-composite developments in the global transportation industry. Topic areas include applications, materials, processing, equipment, tooling, design, and development.
For more information about the Automotive Innovation Awards Competition and Gala or to
download nomination forms and rules, visit the SPE Automotive Division's website at
www.speautomotive.com/inno.htm , or contact the group at +1.248.244.8993, or write SPE
Automotive Division, 1800 Crooks Road, Suite A, Troy, MI 48084, USA. For more information on the Society of Plastics Engineers International or other SPE events, visit the SPE website at www.4spe.org, or call +1.203.775.0471.
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