Polyurethane body panels withstand vehicle painting process
Canadian Plastics
On the 2003 GMC Sierra Denali, polyurethane body panels on the truck box have to prove their mettle even before the truck hits the road. The panels, made of Bayer's Bayflex 190 reinforced reaction inj...
On the 2003 GMC Sierra Denali, polyurethane body panels on the truck box have to prove their mettle even before the truck hits the road. The panels, made of Bayer’s Bayflex 190 reinforced reaction injection molding system, stick with their metal counterparts right through the assembly and high-temperature painting process.
“For the Denali pickup truck, the PU panels were installed on the vehicle during normal assembly, and painted along with the rest of the vehicle,” says Bob Rowley, manufacturing engineer with Venture Industries, which molds the Denali body panels for GM. “The surfaces of the parts molded with Bayflex 190 take coatings very well, assuring a uniform finish with surface quality comparable to coated steel parts.”
“The Bayflex 190 system gives us excellent parts that offer reduced weight, increased design freedom, rapid prototyping and improved surface quality,” says Rowley. “But most important is the ability of these parts to be assembled on the vehicle and to go through the normal ELPO painting process.”
Unlike many other non-metal body panel materials, parts made using the Bayflex 190 system do not blister or decompose in the high temperature of the curing bake that is part of the vehicle painting process. Bayflex 190 is able withstand temperatures in the range of 200C with no change in mechanical properties or performance.
Bayer Polymers 800-268-2554
