Polycarbonate had earned the tag because most suitable material for usage within the automotive industry. However, in recent years, Polymethyl Methacrylate, the PMMA polymer or commonly known acrylic plastic, has efficiently risen towards the growing demands from the automotive industry in replacing polycarbonate for important used in the market, namely, automotive glazing.
Long established for usage in a variety of vehicle applications including decorative trim, ambient lighting and door entry strips, automotive glazing is among those fields offering the highest growth potential for PMMA.
Related key popular features of acrylic plastic that make it well suited for the operation of automotive glazing are discussed below.
Light-weight
To create a comparison over a very basic level, PMMA is half the weight and much more transparent than glass, thereby providing superior visibility even during true of fluctuating and unstable temperatures. Because of its molecular structure, thermoformed polymethyl methacrylate are actually used almost mainly for car window glazing where all of the necessary requirements for light-weight materials that are safe, easy to process and perform in all weathers are met.
At the top of Scratch Resistance
Another important requirement of glazing is scratch resistance. Standard PMMA already contains the highest surface hardness of all thermoplastics even when uncoated. However, for automotive glazing, you’ll find stringent conditions to become fulfilled to satisfy the ideal state of scratch resistance. The effective use of a coating is therefore mandatory. Given that PMMA is intrinsically UV along with weathering-resistant, a single-step coating is successful. In comparison, thermoplastics who have low potential to deal with weathering require a two-step coating system. This leads to relatively expensive for coating.
New design possibilities
PMMA glazing is Forty to fifty percent lighter than conventional glass, which piques a person’s eye of automobile manufacturers. With all the advantages being immediately obvious, PMMA has become viewed as the proper fit for automotive glazing. Weight savings apart, the transparency of acrylic plastic as well as its quite high weathering resistance, pleasant acoustic properties, and exceptional form ability allow freedom enabling entirely new design possibilities.
Less anxiety birefringence
PMMA exhibits little or no stress birefringence this also operates as a major benefit over other thermoplastics including polycarbonate, that was primarily employed for glazing before. In comparison with traditional materials including polycarbonate, moulded PMMA, provides a distinct potential for functional integration – reducing recess depth and assembly costs.
Environment-friendly
The new goal within the automotive marketplace is to develop clean low fuel consumption vehicles. Given the awareness and also the requirement for eco-friendly initiatives in the current general scheme of things, PMMA operates as a perfect replacement for glass within the automotive glazing segment. As vehicle manufacturers push the boundaries of design, so too is automotive glazing evolving.
SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer offers characteristics that fulfill the latest challenges within the transportation sector. It’s a monumental challenge for auto makers that are looking for to sit in recent environmental requirements and so are thinking about alternatives that reduce greenhouse gas and save fuel. Oahu is the perfect partner within this movement as it can make cars lighter.
Like a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is satisfied to work with you understand its properties and the way it suitable to automotive glazing.
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