Largest ever roof module made of PC
Canadian Plastics
It sounds like a joke told between two car designers: What do you get when you cross one of the world's smallest automobiles with the largest polycarbonate (PC) roof module ever fitted in a vehicle pr...
It sounds like a joke told between two car designers: What do you get when you cross one of the world’s smallest automobiles with the largest polycarbonate (PC) roof module ever fitted in a vehicle production line?
The answer is the new “smart fortwo” car from the Smart automobile manufacturing company, but the technology behind the 1.2 square metre roof module is nothing to laugh at.
Made of Makrolon AG2677, a PC custom designed by Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) for automotive glazing, the roof module is manufactured by Munich, Germany-based Webasto AG with a two-component injection molding on a swivel-platen machine. In the first shot, the transparent outer skin is produced from Makrolon AG2677, and in the second the large-area frame is made of BMS’ Bayblend DP T95 MF blend of PC and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS).
According to BMS, the roof module not only provides a weight saving of over 40 per cent compared to a comparable glass module, but also allows the vehicle’s centre of gravity to be placed as low as possible, thereby improving its handling and agility.
Bayer Inc. — Division of Bayer AG (Toronto);
www.bayer.ca; 866-770-1102
