All

The top prize for the 2022 Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Innovation Awards has gone to a part most car owners will never see.

The Grand Award and Chassis/Hardware division winner, presented during a Nov. 2 event in Livonia, Mich., went to General Motors Co. for the first all-composite leaf spring for light trucks, used on the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.

Produced with exoxy and prepreg layup with compression molding by German supplier Muhr und Bender KG (Mubea), the leaf spring reduces mass by up to 75 percent vs. an all-steel spring and up to 58 percent compared with a hybrid steel and composite part.

In the award, SPE noted the fiberglass-reinforced also doubles durability, eliminates corrosion and improves ride comfort.

The SPE event also honored previously announced winners.

Probir Guha, who retired in 2021 after spending much of his career with Budd Co. and Continental Structural Plastics, received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Hall of Fame award went to the first molded-in-color weatherable grille, used on the 1987 Volkswagen Golf using materials supplied by Ineos Styrolution.

Other category winners:

• Additive Manufacturing: GM for the 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon for a spoiler closeout seal produced by HP Inc. and AMT Ltd. with GKN Additive, using materials from BASF Corp. and GKN Additive.

The powder-bed fusion process was used to print, process and install 60,000 thermoplastic polyurethane closeout seals as a bridge solution while tooling for the part was in production.

• Aftermarket and Limited Edition/Specialty Vehicles: Ford Motor Co. for a carbon fiber C-brace on the 2022 Bronco Raptor. Montaplast of North America was the processor, using material from BASF Corp. and tooling from Commercial Tool Group.

The C-brace was developed to meet offroad desert durability requirements for some versions of the Raptor. The sandwich composite part came in 55 percent lighter than aluminum and 85 percent lighter than steel.

• Body Exterior: Hyundai Motor Group for the 2022 Kia Sorento for a panoramic sunroof frame supplied by Inalfa Roof Systems Korea, injection molded using nylon 6 from GS Caltex Corp.

Weight was reduced 51 percent and the number of parts in the system dropped to four vs. 33 for a steel frame. Weight also dropped by 51 percent.

• Body Interior: Toyota Motor Corp. for the second row seat backs and cushions in the 2022 Toyota Tundra. Flex-N-Gate Corp. worked with Adient and L&L Products to make the composite seat structure using injection overmolding and pultruded continuous fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane and nylon 6 supplied by BASF and SyBridge Technologies.

The structure replaces a 60-piece steel frame with a four-piece molded composite structure while also reducing costs and mass. In addition, more than 100 welds at 16 weld stations were eliminated, improving quality control, while Toyota was able to add under-seat storage.

• Electric & Autonomous Vehicle Systems: Ford for the high-voltage power distribution system in the 2022 F-150 Lightning. Aptiv plc and Yazaki North America Inc. are the tier suppliers and processor, using Craston FR684 and HR5339 PBT from DuPont Co. with injection molding and silicone over molding.

The shielded power distribution system allows for up to 64 possible configurations from a single tool, allowing for flexibility and scalability in future programs.

• Materials: General Motors' 2023 Cadillac Lyriq for a thermoplastic battery electric vehicle thermal management solutions supplied by Cooper Standard Automotive Inc. using nylon 6/12, nylon 6/6 and polypropylene from DuPont, Dow Inc. and LyondellBasell Industries.

Multilayer tubing provides a lightweight thermoplastic option for EV thermal management systems vs. EPDM.

• Powertrain: GM's 2022 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra for a high pressure oil cooler gasket seal supplied by Uchiyama Marketing & Development America LLC. Uchiyama and DuPont supplied materials for the project.

To elminate leaks in the oil cooler gaskets, the companies used a new ethylene acrylic thermoplastic vulcanizate. Costs were reduced by 66 percent and the thermoplastic material is recyclable, improving sustainability.

• Process/Assembly/Enabling Technologies: GM for direct exposure laser welding on light guides for the 2022 Chevrolet Blazer. Magna International Inc. is the Tier 1 supplier using injection molding and laser welding with a Makrolon polycarbonate.

Direct exposure welding was developed to replace hot-plate welding to meet customer styling requirements. The process reduced the clearance needed between internal components, allowing for more complex geometries.

• Sustainability: GM for the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra for using reclaimed thermoplastic polyolefin in a foam system. Inteva Products LLC used its Inteather material that reclaims more than 680,000 kilograms of TPO each year.

The process uses post-industrial scrap from TPO cover skins to replace 50 percent of virgin TPO, reducing landfilled scrap by 93 percent.

• Vehicle Engineering Team Award: A team working on General Motors' 2023 all-electric Cadillac Lyriq were recognized with the award first developed in 2004 to honor participants throughout the supply chain.

Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

Please enter a valid email address.

Please enter your email address.

Please verify captcha.

Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

View the discussion thread.