These parts were originally made of steel, but now plastic is used.

In the past, people often said that the car was an "iron shovel" because most parts of the car were made of steel.

But perhaps you also discovered that many parts of the car are not made of steel, such as bumpers, front and rear fenders, fuel tanks, air intake grilles, etc. are usually made of plastic.

Speaking of this, perhaps you also think that if the car prices are "Just match"? In fact, this is not so simple. The reason why many parts of the car are made of plastic, and their advantages are inextricably linked, today's car suddenly claimed to speak.

- 1 - Plastic Bumper

Today, almost all family cars on the road use plastic bumpers, and some consumers also question why the plastic material is used since the bumper's role is to prevent collisions from endangering the safety of the car. This starts with the structure of the bumper and the advantages of the plastic bumper.

First of all, the bumper we usually refer to is the outer shell of the bumper, while the car bumper refers to a collision protection system, which consists of reinforced beams, cushioning materials, and a shell.

Second, different structures in this protection system play different roles and require different materials.

Reinforced beams are usually made of high-strength steel plates and aluminum alloys. Their yield strength is extremely high, and they are usually not deformed in the event of a collision, thereby protecting the safety of vehicle members.

The energy-absorbing cushioning material is easily deformed and absorbs part of the energy during a collision, Reducing the possible hazards of the collision.

The reason why the outermost bumper cover is made of plastic material is due to its many advantages.

First, plastic bumpers are less demanding on the industrial level, which facilitates mass production and thus facilitates cost control.

Second, the plastic bumper has energy absorbing effect, which can reduce the harm to pedestrians in the collision with pedestrians;

Third, the plastic bumper has certain flexibility, which can avoid minor bumps and reduce maintenance costs such as sheet metal painting;

Fourth, plastic bumpers are corrosion-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and they are more durable than metal bumpers.

In the end, plastics are more conducive to shaping and can create more beautiful shapes, together with bright car paint, making the body more stylish.

- 2 - Plastic Fender

The role of fenders and bumpers is very similar, there are two aspects of the role. One is to protect the hub and parts on both sides of the body from bumps, and the other is to make the body shape more fluid and dynamic.

Nowadays, automobile companies use plastic to replace steel, and because plastics have very strong plasticity, when manufacturing fenders, complicated processes such as stamping, crimping and electrophoretic coating of steel plates are eliminated. Beautifully shaped fender.

The fenders are surrounded by bumpers, tires, engine compartment covers, front and rear headlights, doors and other components, so that designers in the design of fenders, not only to consider its function and aesthetics, but also Consider the connection with the surrounding parts. Because of the plastic's strong plasticity, it can process any shape of plastic fenders, forming a perfect fit with other components. Otherwise, the use of steel plate manufacturing will greatly increase the work flow of stamping, curling, etc., and excessive seams will also seriously affect the appearance of the car, making people feel very low.

- 3 - plastic air intake grille

When we look at the car, we will habitually look at the front of the car to see if it is beautiful, so compared to other parts of the body, the shape of the front can be said to be very important. The air intake grille is located at the front of the car, so it is particularly important if its shape is good-looking, because a good-looking air intake grill directly affects the shape of the front end. So, almost all of today's car intake grille is made of plastic, and some also use the chrome plating process, which makes it particularly fashionable.

Whereas previous cars, especially trucks, generally used integrated steel intake grilles, without a high level of craftsmanship, the grilles produced were extremely ugly.

In addition, because the role of the intake grille is to ensure that fresh air flows into the engine compartment, allowing the engine to inhale fresh air while helping the engine cool down, it uses an open-hole design. At the same time, when the car is traveling at high speed, it is also necessary to prevent gravel, flying insects, etc. from damaging or blocking the radiator tank. Therefore, a dense hole design should be adopted to filter out gravel and flying insects.

However, if metal is used, not only is the stamping difficult to make, but the resulting grille can be very bulky.

- 4 - Plastic Fuel Tank

Readers who have studied physics know that, when bumps are encountered, petrol will generate static electricity due to friction with the tank wall, and static electricity will accumulate to a certain extent and produce sparks, which may ignite the petrol and are potentially dangerous. The fuel tank made of metal can play a conductive role, only need to be connected with the body frame, and then through a conductive tape, you can conduct static electricity to the ground to avoid the risk of occurrence.

However, metal tanks also have fatal flaws. One is that if the conductive tape is damaged, the electrostatic hazard cannot be eliminated. Second, if a collision occurs, the metal fuel tank will scorch out the spark and endanger the safety of the passengers.

As a result, almost all passenger car fuel tanks today are made of plastic, which not only avoids the possible hazards of metal tanks, but also enables different shapes to be adapted to the chassis structure to install larger-capacity tanks in confined spaces. .

Speaking, is it because you can't believe it?

- 5 - Plastic cooling fan

After 80 there is such a memory: When a child is home, fans usually use metal blades. The same is true in cars. Because of the backwardness of the process, the previous automotive cooling fans also used metal blades, which were strong and durable and stable at high speeds.

But there are also drawbacks: they are heavy and inertial, and they require the engine to drive directly, which results in a considerable loss of engine power.

After replacing the plastic blades, the inertia of the fan is even smaller, and the electric motor can be used, which consumes a lot less engine power, and can adapt to higher speed, speed up the air circulation speed, and thus improve the heat dissipation efficiency.

summary:

In summary, compared to traditional metal parts, the advantages of plastic parts include the following:

1. Lightweight, it can reduce the weight of the whole vehicle and improve the fuel economy;

2. Easy to shape, easy to design and produce beautifully shaped parts;

3. Reduce the cost, the toughness of plastic parts is high, the bumps only need simple treatment to restore the original appearance, and corrosion resistance, reducing the cost of use;

4. It is safer. When a collision occurs, it can act as a buffer to protect the safety of pedestrians.

In addition, in addition to the above-mentioned, some cars also use a plastic intake manifold, which can reduce the weight of the engine and improve the efficiency of intake; the engine radiator tank bracket is made of plastic structure, not only lighter, but also can achieve modular assembly. Increase productivity.

So, in your car, what plastic parts evolved from metal parts?