Speaking at the Chinaplas pre-show press event in Shanghai, representatives from DuPont discussed the firm's progress in composites for automotive manufacture.
Vizilon is the brand name for the group's developmental thermoplastic composite technology aimed at the trend towards automotive lightweighting.
Specifically, DuPont is honing in on structural and load-bearing parts, including seat structures, lift-gates, cross members, bumper beams and suspension systems.
For its appearance at Chinaplas, the firm emphasised its strategy of collaboration with customers. For composite technology, PSA Peugeot Citroen worked with DuPont to develop a side-impact beam using Vizilon technology. Tests have reportedly shown a 40% weight reduction when compared with ultra high strength steel, while absorbing more energy than metal and short glass-fibre polymer beams - a result which passed PSA Peugeot Citroen's crash test.
Vizilon offers a stiffness performance in temperatures from minus forty degrees celsius up to ninety degrees celsius, and the group claims that it outperforms polypropylene-based composites above 80 degrees celsius.
In addition, DuPont says that Vizilon TPC sheets offer stiffness that 'can't be obtained' with standard thermoplastic resins, giving scope to reduce vehicle mass.
