INOVATIONS IN AUTOMOBILE PRODUCTS

WITH THE USE OF TECHNICAL TEXTILE

Raju Krsushna Kupelur
Abstract

An automobile is Motorized vehicle consisting of four wheels

and powered by an internal engine. Automobiles are used to
transport peoples and items from one location to another location.
Variousdesigns, inventorswere ableto developa functionalgeneral
design that is utilized by major automakers as the foundationof
their designs. Automobiles generally use gasoline to fuel the
internal engine, but technological advances have led to the
design of cars that run on electricity and even waterAutomobile
today covers not only isolations and safety aspects but also focus
on comfort and style. The customer looks for aesthetically
pleasing interiors, great comfort and fuel economy.
Introduction:
Even today, the average car has around 30 kilograms of textiles, according to the German
Textile research board of trustees. And this is a growing trend, as high-performance and
intelligent fibers, yarns and compound materials are assuming anever greater number of comfort,
safety, acoustic and fuel-saving functions in the age of lightweight construction. The textile
sector is developing ever more innovations. In Germany alone, around 50 medium- sized textile
companies with 10,000 members of staff working as automobile sector.
Automobile isalifeline of present society. Trade, industry and commercial activity
extremely depend on this sectors Therefore it is no exception that tremendous growth and
developments is taking place in this sector. This automotive sector consumes a lot of textile
materials that may be visible or concealable in automobile. The global consumption of textile
used in automotive industry is estimated to be over 4.5 lake tones. Textile in transport are
classified as technical textile because of the very high performance specifications and special
properties required .e.g. seat coverings are not easy to remove for cleaning and are fixed in many
automobiles and must last the lifetime of the car without ever being washed. In additional, they
have to withstand much higher exposure to day light damaging ultraviolet radiations and must
have stringent safety requirements such as flame retardant. The global market for industrial
textiles is expanding considerably and automotive construction is the number one consumer.

Some Special Fibers Used for Automobile:

1) Polypropylene (PP):Polypropylene is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of
applications. A saturated addition polymer made from the monomer propylene, it is rugged
and unusually resistant to many chemical solvents, bases and acids.
Application: automotive bumpers, chemical tanks, cable insulation, gas cans, carpet fibers.
2) Polyurethane (PUR): Solid Polyurethane is an elastomeric material of exceptional physical
properties including toughness, flexibility, and resistance to abrasion and temperature.
Polyurethane has a broad hardness range, from eraser soft to bowling ball hard. Other
polyurethane characteristics include extremely high flex-life, high load-bearing capacity and
outstanding resistance to weather, ozone, radiation, oil, gasoline and most solvents.
Application: flexible foam seating, foam insulation panels, elastomeric wheels and tires,
automotive suspension bushings, cushions, electrical potting compounds, hard plastic parts
3) Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (PVC): PVC has good flexibility, is flame retardant, and has good
thermal stability, a high gloss, and low (to no) lead content. Polyvinyl chloride molding
compounds can be extruded, injection molded, compression molded, calendared, and blow
molded to form a huge variety of products, either rigid or flexible depending on the amount
and type of plasticizers used.
Application: automobile instruments panels, sheathing of electrical cables, pipes, doors.
4) ABS: Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene is a copolymer made by polymerizing styrene and
acrylonitrile in the presence of polybutadiene. The styrene gives the plastic a shiny,
impervious surface. The butadiene, a rubbery substance, provides resilience even at low
temperatures. A variety of modifications can be made to improve impact resistance,
toughness, and heat resistance.
Application: automotive body parts, dashboards, wheel covers.
5) Polyamide (PA, Nylon 6/6, and Nylon 6): Nylon 6/6 is a general-purpose nylon that can be
both molded and extruded. Nylon 6/6 has good mechanical properties and wears resistance.
It is frequently used when a low cost, high mechanical strength, rigid and stable material is
required. Nylon is highly water absorbent and will swell in watery environments.
Application: gears, bushes, cams, bearings, weather proof coatings.
6) Polystyrene (PS): Naturally clear, polystyrene exhibits excellent chemical and electrical
resistance. Special high gloss and high impact grades are widely available. This easy to
manufacture plastic has poor resistance to UV light.
Application: equipment housings, buttons, car fittings, display bases.
7) Polyethylene (PE): Polyethylene has high impact resistant, low density, and exhibits good
toughness. It can be used in a wide variety of thermoplastics processing methods and is
particularly useful where moisture resistance and low cost are required.
Application: car bodies (glass reinforced), electrical insulation.
8) POM (polyoxymethylene): POM has excellent stiffness, rigidity, and yield strength. These
properties are stable in low temperatures. POM also is highly chemical and fuel resistant.
Application: interior and exterior trims, fuel systems, small gears.

9) Polycarbonate (PC):Amorphous polycarbonate polymer offers a unique combination of

stiffness, hardness and toughness. It exhibits excellent weathering, creep, impact, optical,
electrical and thermal properties. Because of its extraordinary impact strength, it is the
material for car bumpers, helmets of all kinds and bullet-proof glass substitutes.Application:
bumpers, headlamp lenses.
10) Acrylic (PMMA):A transparent thermoplastic, PMMA is often used as a lightweight or
shatter-resistant alternative to glass. Its cheaper than PC but is also more prone to scratching
and shattering.
Application: windows, displays, screens.
11) PBT (polybutylene terephthalate):The thermoplastic PBT is used as an insulator in the
electrical and electronics industries. It is highly chemical and heat resistant. Flame-retardant
grades are available.
Application: door handles, bumpers, carburetor components.
12) Polyethylene Teraphthalate (PET):PET is mostly used to create synthetic fibers and plastic
bottles. You may recognize it on clothing labels under the name polyester. Application:
wiper arm and gear housings, headlamp retainer, engine cover, connector housings.
13) ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate):Similar to ABS, ASA has great toughness and rigidity,
good chemical resistance and thermal stability, outstanding resistance to weather, aging and
yellowing, and high gloss. Be careful not to burn this material. It will cause a toxic smoke.
Application: housings, profiles, interior parts and outdoor applications.

Application Areas of the textile Material for the Automobile products

1. Car Body Covers:

Car body covers are used to cover the car if no cover space for parking is available. Itprotects
the car from dirt. The car body cover is 100% technical textile product based on the raw material
used. The car body covers are made of variety of fabrics including canvas, HDFE, PVC
reinforced cotton material and nylon.

2. Seat Covers Fabrication:

Seat covers are made from cotton, vinyl, velvet and leather. The
cotton or synthetic yarn is woven on power loom to produce fabric
which is further converted on machine to smooth out the fabric. The
fabric is further laminated to provide desired protection
characteristics. Woven seat covers is one of the important
contributors of technical textile in an automobile. With gradual improvement emphasis on luxury
and comfort, the seat cover market has witnessed uptrend in the market.

3. Interior Carpets:
The automotive interior carpets are nonwoven technical textile, made primarily from
polypropylene fibers. The carpet is laid on
the vehicle floor above which rubber mats are
placed.The
desired
characterstics
of
automobile interior carpets typically are as
given below: 1. High durability
2. High
abresion resistance 3.Tensile strenght- warp
around 50 KGF and weft around 45 KGF
4. Low in-flammability 5. Good compression
recovery. The fabric is around 500 GSM with a thickness of about 3mm.

4. Interior Designing:
The color, textured and overall
appearance of the car interior, especially the seat,
has become extremely important in attracting a
potential buyer attention There is only one
opportunity to make a first impression.The textile
designer must be able to produce innovative
interior appearances which reflect or even set
current fashion trends, social and economic
moods and customer lifestyle.

5. Nylon Tire Cord Fabrics:

The nylon tire cord is prepared from high tenacity continuous filament yarn by twisting and
plying. There are two main types of nylons used as tire cords are, they are1.Nylon-6 and 2 .nylon-6,6
The characteristic of nylone-6 and nylon-6,6 differ
slightly and are controlled by the manufacturing
process, types of stabilizers and additive used.
Nylon tire cords fabric provides strength to a tire.
The tire industry consumes nearly 98% of the total
nylon tire consumption.
Nylon 6 grey is dipped tire cords fabrics having 1.High strength 2.Fatigue resistance 3.Impact
resistance 4.High adhesion. The tire cords are generally available with the fabric characteristics
of 930dtex, 1400dtext, 1870dtext, 2100dtext.

6. Seat Belt Webbing:

Seat belts function as a safety harnesses which secure the passenger in a vehicle against harmful
movement during collision or similar incidents. Seat belts are woven narrow fabric made from
nylon filament yarns or high tensile polyester filament yarn.

In Bangladesh all 4 wheelers drivers and passenger must use seat belts. At nearby, the seat belts,
which are used in the cars called three points which has single continuous length of webbing.
They are called three points for the reason that these belts help spread out energy of the moving
bogy in an accidents over the chest, pelvis and shoulder.

7. Air Bags:

An air is an elastic bag cushion like make p which inflates and deflats quickly in some stage in
certain types of accidents. It is a safety device aimed
at preventing or minimizing injury to passenger
when accidents occurred. Air bags have been
efficient to put a stop to sever head and chest injured
in adults when auto mobile accident has occurred.
Air bag can located in both the front and rear
vehicles.
Front air bags: The air bag components for the
driver slide are situated in the center of the steering
wheel, whereas the passenger slide component (if
required) can be found in the dash board above the
glove box.
Side air bags: There are three different types of side air bag system currently available:
1.Roof-mounted slid air bags designed to protect the heart and neck 2.Door-mountedslide airbags
designed to protect the chest 3. Seat-mounted airbags designed to protect the chest and head.

8. Headliners:
Headliners are used in passenger cars and multi/sports utility vehicles as non-woven light weight
roofing material. The car was earlier fitted with knitted /woven fabric with cardboard type of
backing. The trend has changed and increasingly non-woven headliners are being used in
vehicles.
Product characteristics:
A headliner is a compound stuff that is ingredient of a face fabric
with non-woven of foma back up that is stick on to the in the interior
roof of automobiles. The majority headlines made of a tricot knit
fabric that is knapped to offer a flexible feel and uniform look. The
cloth is heald fast with meltedpolyurethane foam.

9. Insulation Felts:

Insulation felts often known as NVH products (Noise, vibration and hardness parts) are used as
for acoustic and thermal insulation in the automobiles. These are bonnet liners, wheelhouse and
outer floor under the shield. These parts are
not only provides noise protection inside the
car but also reduction in the noise emission
outside.
Product Characteristics:
The NVH products or insulations felts 100%
polyester non-woven technical textile
products. These products are classified based on the manufacturing process needle punched,
phenol resin bonded and thermoplastic. The NVA products combine noise and heat protection
function into the integrate comfort system.

10. Sun Visors/Sun blends:

The sun visors are located in the interiors of a four wheeler just above the windshield. The sun
visors are used to block the light from the sun from entering through the windshield. The blinds
can also be turned to the front side window to reduce lateral sun exposure.
Product Characteristics:
Sun visor needs to effectively reduce the sun
obstruction to the drive and passenger. Nowadays,
a small is fitted on the two sun visors (on one
side). The fiber of polypropylene, kenaf and
polyethylene tetra fluoride or blend of these
used for formation of the core. The core is
further reinforced with scrim and then the unit is
upholstered to for the sun visor unit.