SABIC, Dongfeng Motors produce composite truck-mounted toolbox

SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) has collaborated with truck manufacturer Dongfeng Motors (Wuhan, China) on the development of a novel plastic composite hybrid solution to produce a strong, lightweight truck-mounted toolbox. The application is made with a combination of SABIC’s Stamax resin, a long glass fiber polypropylene (PP), and continuous glass fiber composite laminate inserts via a single overmolding process. The finished part is lighter by up to 30% compared to a similarly designed part in steel, and use of the solution enables Dongfeng to benefit from resulting production efficiencies.

“This plastic composite solution is a great example of how SABIC helps automotive customers expand design options and simplify production so they can achieve their goals,” says Abdullah Al-Otaibi, general manager, ETP  and Market Solutions, SABIC. “By combining two different materials, our solution improves both performance and processability. Now that this composite technology is validated and in mass production with Dongfeng, we see many other automotive applications that could benefit, and we are excited to help manufacturers seize those opportunities.”

In addition to truck toolboxes, other automotive applications can potentially include tailgates, seating, front-end modules and battery housings for electric vehicles (EVs). Moreover, SABIC notes that advantages such as weight reduction, lowered carbon emissions, controlled cost through production efficiencies and higher performance can be realized.

SABIC’s hybrid solution combines Stamax resin — known for their high stiffness and impact strength, excellent structural performance, easy flow for thin walls and 10-25% lower density — with thermoformed composite inserts made of unidirectional (UD) glass fiber-reinforced PP tape from China-based Qiyi Tech (Danyang City), a company dedicated to the development and production of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite materials.

The laminate inserts are pre-heated before being placed in the tool and overmolded with Stamax resin in a single operation. The inserts add stiffness and strength to critical areas of the part, enabling the use of thin-wall geometries that can reduce weight.

Compared to steel, the conventional material for truck toolbox applications, SABIC’s plastic composite hybrid solution reportedly expands design options, enables the consolidation of parts and avoids secondary operations that can add costs and prevent high-volume production.

Total toolbox weight was reduced by approximately 30% (4-6 kilograms) without sacrificing the stiffness, toughness or strength required for this utility application.