Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division and Sumika Polymer Compounds Europe (SPC Europe), a leading manufacturer of thermoplastic compounds, have partnered to digitize the performance of new sustainable automotive-grade PP compounds.

This enables engineers to design components that are more recyclable and offer a lower carbon footprint for future vehicles. Sumika is exhibiting its sustainable PP compounds at the upcoming PlastIndia 2023 in New Delhi from February 1-5.

Sumika Polymer Compounds’ short glass-fiber polypropylene (GF-PP) THERMOFIL HP and recycled polypropylene (GF-rPP) THERMOFIL CIRCLE materials benefit from sustainable manufacturing and recycling processes and offer carmakers performance equivalent to incumbent engineering plastics, but with an up to 60% lower carbon footprint.

A growing proportion of today’s PP components are recovered and recycled compared to polyamides (PA), of which up to 70% are utilized in waste-to-energy initiatives or finish up in landfill, but there remains substantial room for improvement.

Sumika partners with Hexagon to enable 60% plastic carbon reduction for new vehicles by digitizing sustainable compounds for engineers.

These new Sumika recycled PP compounds are designed for the circular economy, contributing to plastic waste reduction at vehicle end-of-life.

Plastics can contribute up to 20% of the total weight of a car, and their application is escalating with the continuing replacement of metals. The automotive industry’s shift to eMobility has increased the need for lightweighting components to maximize the energy efficiency of vehicles and mitigate the considerable weight of battery packs, but their environmental performance throughout the lifecycle must also be considered by product development teams.

Hexagon conducted a detailed and rigorous testing and physical validation programme with SPC Europe to produce highly accurate multi-scale behavioral models of its THERMOFIL HP grades and THERMOFIL CIRCLE portfolio of recycled PP grades.

Each material grade has a model that simulates the materials’ mechanical and environmental performance throughout a component’s lifecycle. The encrypted proprietary material models can be accessed by SPC Europe customers through Hexagon’s Digimat software.

Digimat is interoperable with popular computer-aided engineering (CAE) software tools, such as MSC Nastran, Marc, and third-party software, empowering engineers to perform accurate analyses using established digital engineering workflows.

The vital engineering data is the result of a long-term partnership between the two companies, providing product development teams the ability to evaluate the suitability of GF-PP compounds in new designs to address carbon-neutral targets by replacing traditional engineering plastics.

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division and Sumika Polymer Compounds Europe (SPC Europe), a leading manufacturer of thermoplastic compounds, have partnered to digitize the performance of new sustainable automotive-grade PP compounds.

This enables engineers to design components that are more recyclable and offer a lower carbon footprint for future vehicles. Sumika is exhibiting its sustainable PP compounds at the upcoming PlastIndia 2023 in New Delhi from February 1-5.

Sumika Polymer Compounds’ short glass-fiber polypropylene (GF-PP) THERMOFIL HP and recycled polypropylene (GF-rPP) THERMOFIL CIRCLE materials benefit from sustainable manufacturing and recycling processes and offer carmakers performance equivalent to incumbent engineering plastics, but with an up to 60% lower carbon footprint.

A growing proportion of today’s PP components are recovered and recycled compared to polyamides (PA), of which up to 70% are utilized in waste-to-energy initiatives or finish up in landfill, but there remains substantial room for improvement.

Sumika partners with Hexagon to enable 60% plastic carbon reduction for new vehicles by digitizing sustainable compounds for engineers.

These new Sumika recycled PP compounds are designed for the circular economy, contributing to plastic waste reduction at vehicle end-of-life.

Plastics can contribute up to 20% of the total weight of a car, and their application is escalating with the continuing replacement of metals. The automotive industry’s shift to eMobility has increased the need for lightweighting components to maximize the energy efficiency of vehicles and mitigate the considerable weight of battery packs, but their environmental performance throughout the lifecycle must also be considered by product development teams.

Hexagon conducted a detailed and rigorous testing and physical validation programme with SPC Europe to produce highly accurate multi-scale behavioral models of its THERMOFIL HP grades and THERMOFIL CIRCLE portfolio of recycled PP grades.

Each material grade has a model that simulates the materials’ mechanical and environmental performance throughout a component’s lifecycle. The encrypted proprietary material models can be accessed by SPC Europe customers through Hexagon’s Digimat software.

Digimat is interoperable with popular computer-aided engineering (CAE) software tools, such as MSC Nastran, Marc, and third-party software, empowering engineers to perform accurate analyses using established digital engineering workflows.

The vital engineering data is the result of a long-term partnership between the two companies, providing product development teams the ability to evaluate the suitability of GF-PP compounds in new designs to address carbon-neutral targets by replacing traditional engineering plastics.