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Home ›Press Release› Grupo Antolin reduces the plastic frame of the vehicle's panoramic sunroof by 60%
Products with multiple competitive advantages, starting from sustainability and innovative design, reduce weight, and improve the production process, assembly tolerances and overall finish of parts
Panoramic roofs have a clear upward trend in all markets. The proliferation of models containing spectacular panoramic satellites is one example. This trend coexists with the need to reduce the weight of all car components to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Grupo Antolin is a global supplier of automotive interior technology solutions, responding to these two trends by developing new technical plastics for interiors.
The advanced engineering of the roof business department, in cooperation with the Grupo Antolin project team and BASF, successfully verified the use of Ultradur® series materials in solar energy and panoramic window plastic frames. Similarly, the company has made novel designs for these plastic frames, including technical details, and compared with other traditional solutions on the market, the weight of the product can be reduced by up to 60%. This solution is an example of the company's commitment to helping its customers develop more sustainable vehicles by reducing weight and emissions. In the entire life cycle of a model, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere can reach 25,200 tons*.
One of the main advantages of the new plastic part design is to change the process of connecting and adjusting the frame to the ceiling, thereby eliminating extra steps in the process and improving assembly tolerances, as well as the overall finish of the part. In addition, the new bonding process is completely sustainable because it does not involve solvents or generate emissions.
The material selected from the polyester series is PBT-ASA-PET with glass fiber to increase the rigidity and stability of the parts. The main advantages of this material are:
In order to increase the mechanical strength of Ultradur® PBT, high-load glass fibers are added and modified with a copolymer of acrylonitrile and styrene. The result is a rigid material with low molding shrinkage, ensuring compliance with tolerances, especially when the frame is fixed to the ceiling in the mold during the molding process.
"Due to its good injection performance and excellent surface quality, PBT-ASA-PET is very suitable for manufacturing large and slender parts for automotive interiors. In addition, due to its good workability, we have managed to reduce the weight without losing Loss of rigidity or dimensional stability at high temperatures,” said Enrique Fernández, Senior Director of Engineering, Ceiling Business Unit, Antolin Group.
After pre-development work with a German customer, the first pilot project of this material was launched in a mass vehicle project and achieved extraordinary results. With the success of this project, many automakers around the world have launched plans to adopt this solution.
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