Mitigating Performance Barriers & Challenges

Some Of The Main Forces Driving Demand Growth For Polyamides (Pa), Include More Design Flexibility, Safety, Production Gains (Easier Assembling, Integration Of Parts And Systems) And Comfort Features.

- Dr. Anuj Mittal

Corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards mandates for 2025 model year car average CO2 emissions to 95 g/Km from 130 g/ Km which is very aggressive and a challenging step. In order to remain compliant with BSVI or Euro VI emission standards, there is an increased push for more fuel-efficient vehicles, therefore easiest way out is to cut weight. However, today automakers are seeking thermoplastic composites capable of long-term performance (or thermally stable) at temperatures of 190°C and above. Polyamides (PA), one of the most versatile and largest family of engineering plastics in automotive components has grown significantly over more than two decades. Some of the main forces driving demand growth include more design flexibility, safety, production gains (easier assembling, integration of parts and systems) and comfort features. Therefore, with all regulations in place, passenger vehicles shall become more automatic, lightweight and advanced.

Among all, the most important PAs are PA-6,6 and PA-6, others include PA-6,12; PA-4,6; PA-6; PA-12 etc., providing an extremely broad range of available properties. Although both polymers are relatively similar from a structural point of view, the use of blends of both PA-6 and PA-6,6 presents some advantages. Nylon’s have a unique combination of stiffness, toughness, good dielectric property, lubricity, and resistance to abrasion, fatigue, and temperature. Thus, in all the applications, mechanical properties of thermoplastic polymers are of much importance for desired performance. However, for semi-crystalline polymers (example Nylons), it is well known that properties largely depend upon their morphology, further modified by using different processing conditions: temperature, pressure, etc.

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