Basell is supplying its high performance Hostacom advanced thermoplastic (TPO) resins to several major North American OEMs for use in the production of their latest generation automotive instrument panels. Three Hostacom grades -TKC717N, TYC727N and TRC787N - have been selected as the substrate materials for several new instrument panel designs now being launched.
Basell’s Hostacom resins provide economical processing, reduced mass, uniformity in gloss and color stability, as well a unique balance of stiffness, impact resistance and aesthetics to meet the demanding operational requirements of today’s instrument panel designs. Hostacom resins are used in designs involving seamless and discrete air bags, molded-in-color instrument panels, and painted and skin/foam technologies.
Andrew Dargavell, Director of Engineering for Intertec Systems, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, said, “Basell’s collaborative approach to providing support to Intertec Systems enabled success throughout the timeline of the program. We will be launching three platforms at two OEMs with Basell Hostacom TYC727N between June and October, including a seamless PAB construction. A fourth platform will be launched in 2007.”
“We are a global leader in supplying materials to automotive instrument panel manufacturers,” said Stephen Dwyer, senior vice president of Basell Advanced Polyolefins. “We are currently supporting roughly two dozen major car and truck platforms, and working with eleven different OEMs.”
The requirements for each OEM instrument panel is typically specific to each platform, and have become more stringent in recent years as larger instrument panels with more significant horizontal surfaces have placed ever-increasing demands on material suppliers. Instrument panel designs can be, depending upon the design, hard (no padding over the substrate) molded-in-color, painted, or soft (padded skin over the substrate). Flexural modulus requirements range between 1600 and 2200 Mpa, with 15 MPH multiaxial impact performance ductility from 0° to -30°C. Overall temperature performance must be achieved from -30°C to 85°C. The Hostacom grades cover the performance range and also have melt flow properties from 12 to 29 g/10min.
Instrument panels typically must provide a low gloss finish with excellent scratch and mar resistance, as well as excellent surface aesthetics. Whether molded-in-color or painted, the substrate must provide good color harmony with either PVC/ABS or TPO skins.
In new generation, seamless instrument panel and integrated airbag designs, TPO resin characteristics such as vibration or laser welding, laser score and multiaxial impact performance are very important. These characteristics as well as design enable the instrument panel system to perform in the passenger air bag deployment event at both cold and hot deployment.
Jane Horal, Basell Automotive Interior Segment manager, said, “Basell’s Hostacom TRC787N extends the impact performance to -30°C ductility at 15 MPH, while maintaining all other properties like that of good melt flow for processing, laser score capability and vibration weld integrity. This product is being evaluated not only for instrument panels, but also throughout the interior to enable harmony for some OEMs that are interested in using single interior material approaches.”
Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.
For more information contact Michelle Harrell, Basell Corporate Communications, at
+1 410 996 1366, +1 302 438 6574 or michelle.harrell@basell.com
