Application of Thermoplastic Elastomers in Automotive Instrument Panels

Although pvc/abs alloy materials for vacuum forming instrument panel skins occupy most of the market for automotive instrument panel skin materials worldwide, in order to adapt to the development trend of lightweight auto parts and for environmental protection considerations, The research of thermoplastic elastomer (TPO) has gradually become the focus of many experts and scholars, and there are many patents, such as US5962591, US5390785, US6001455 and so on.

Compared with PVC/ABS, TPO material has the advantages of easy processing, odorless and tasteless, and can be processed repeatedly, and is more and more popular among people. Some cars in Germany and the United States have begun to use this material for the dashboard skin. For example, Adam Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors, was the first to produce a thermoplastic elastomer approved by DuPont on a vectra car——thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO alloy ).

This alloy is made of modified PP with cross-linked EPDM and DuPont's surreal ionomer. They are used with another polymeric grafting agent that cross-links with the ionic polymer to allow ingredients to overcome incompatibility between the main phases. Crosslinking reduces the crystallinity of PP. This alloy has quite good stretching performance and pattern retention. Compared with PVC/ABS alloy, TPO's UV resistance is much better. During the aging test, its elongation loss is 2% to 6%. The cost is comparable to PVC/ABS. The instrument panel of China's Jetta will soon use TPO as the instrument panel skin material.