ABS closes the gap for bumpers
Canadian Plastics
The guide rails for the front and rear bumpers of the new BMW 3 Series are being manufactured with Lustran H801 ABS from Lanxess. Until now, these components were manufactured from glass fibre-reinfor...
The guide rails for the front and rear bumpers of the new BMW 3 Series are being manufactured with Lustran H801 ABS from Lanxess. Until now, these components were manufactured from glass fibre-reinforced polypropylene due to the material’s high stiffness and low expansion coefficient. However, parts made from polypropylene also displayed excessive flash and poorer dimensional stability. Automotive manufacturing has been moving for some time in the direction of tighter tolerances and a zero-gap requirement between mated components. The ABS grade used by BMW has greater dimensional stability and increased toughness over a broad temperature range, in comparison to polypropylene.
“Our material enables a close and consistent gap tolerance between the bumper and bodywork,” said Ludger Meinerding, Lanxess key account manager for BMW. “The experience gained with our ABS material for the far smaller bumper guide rails on the BMW 7 Series were incorporated in the development of these guides.” He predicts that this ABS grade will soon be used more frequently than PP in the manufacture of guide rails for bumpers.
Lanxess Corporation 412-809-1516
