PLEXIGLAS® MOLDING COMPOUNDS FOR AUTOMOTIVE AND TRANSPORT APPLICATIONS

PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds are a popular and high-quality plastic in automotive construction, offering a wide variety of properties for exterior and interior lighting, car body parts and decorative trims for vehicle interiors, as well as transparent dashboard covers and black panel displays.

BENEFITS OF PLEXIGLAS® MOLDING COMPOUNDS IN AUTOMOTIVE CONSTRUCTION

Röhm offers a complete portfolio of PMMA molding compounds under the PLEXIGLAS® brand, with properties tailored to the highly specialized technical requirements and design trends of the automotive industry: For example highly transparent PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds for dashboard covers, varieties with special light-guiding and light-scattering properties for vehicle lighting,  black, glossy PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds for class A surfaces, as well as special molding compounds with an increased heat deflection temperature or impact resistance.

Listed by AMECA for vehicle lighting

Because polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is initially completely colorless, it can be colored accurately in all standardized signal colors. Röhm offers a variety of special colors. These include further colors for signal applications and lighting engineering, as well as variants with a good covering power for coextrusion. More information on the availability of special colors can be provided on request.

The colorings listed by the Automotive Manufacturers Equipment Compliance Agency (AMECA) are available for signal equipment in vehicles. These meet the requirements of SAE J576.

AMECA list and plastic specifications

• AMECA List of SAE-J576 Diffusing Plastics Used on Motor Vehicles
• AMECA List of Acceptable Plastics for Optical Lenses and Reflex Reflectors Used on Motor Vehicles

Properties of PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds for automotive construction

• High brilliance and transparency (92 percent light transmittance)
• Outstanding UV and weather resistance
• Very low birefringence
• Highest surface hardness of all thermoplastics
• High abrasion resistance
• Good heat deflection temperature
• Can be processed with all thermoplastic procedures
• High reproduction accuracy of the smallest structures
• 100 percent recyclable

PLEXIGLAS® is weather-resistant and durable

PLEXIGLAS® is a high-quality and highly durable plastic. Thanks to its excellent resistance to UV and weathering, its high optical quality and high-class appearance are retained permanently. Even after being used for a long time, transparent components made from PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds have the same light transmittance as on day one, as the material remains transparent and does not yellow. This means that the signal colors on the covers of taillights, brake lights and turn signals retain their original colors throughout the vehicle’s entire lifespan. Even jet-black car body parts keep their elegant look for the entire life of a vehicle.

PLEXIGLAS® can be made into virtually any shape

The brand PMMA from Röhm has very good processing properties in injection molding and extrusion. Accordingly, PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds offer great design freedom and enable both delicate elements and very large components with complex forms to be produced.

PLEXIGLAS® is a resource-efficient and recyclable material

Contemporary automotive design entails using resource-efficient and recyclable materials, which can ideally be completely recycled in a circular economy. PLEXIGLAS® meets these criteria. The material’s lightness helps optimize fuel or energy consumption. Moreover, its longevity guarantees that components made from the brand PMMA retain the same quality and function throughout the useful life of a vehicle. And at the end of that useful life, components made from PLEXIGLAS® are fully recyclable.

Röhm also offers automotive manufacturers and suppliers special PLEXIGLAS® products that allow them to reduce their carbon footprint in production still further: PLEXIGLAS® proTerra molding compounds, which offer a reduced carbon footprint while maintaining their proven performance.