Rethinking Materials for Automotive Aftermarket Parts

Automotive aftermarket parts have long been involved in helping consumers customize and enhance their vehicles. This trend continues growing as people seek additional accessories to support personal interests, aesthetic preferences, and vehicle function while maintaining value and performance for their pick-up trucks and SUVs.

Historically, metal has been used to manufacture parts such as running boards, side steps, bed extenders, and mounting kits (levers, brackets). However, growing demand for production and processing efficiency, as well as lightweight high-performance parts, is leading automotive aftermarket designers to explore metal alternatives.

Long fiber thermoplastics (LFT), also known as long fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT), are revolutionizing the industry by replacing metal and other underperforming polymers. These injection-molded materials combine high levels of stiffness, strength, and toughness, allowing for innovative parts and designs. Using these composites can help OEMs increase product performance, reduce processing steps, and meet the specific needs of the applications and automotive enthusiasts:

• Less weight
• Reliable strength and stiffness
• Resist corrosion or rusting
• Attractive and durable finishes
• Fewer secondary processes and faster cycle times

Below are two real-world examples to demonstrate the benefits of converting to long fiber composites in very practical terms. Each case study summary defines the application requirements and explains how Avient supported the aftermarket part manufacturers through material technologies and expertise in computer-aided engineering (CAE) modeling simulations to validate the design and performance of two aftermarket structural parts.

Aftermarket Side Step

Key Requirements:

• High strength
• Low moisture absorbance, reduced warpage
• Pleasing cosmetic finish
• Strong flexural modulus

Material Solution & Impact:

• Offered long glass fiber thermoplastic with 3x the strength of incumbent short fiber material without a need for retooling
• Resolved a major disadvantage of moisture uptake with a Complēt™ moisture-resistant PA66 LFT formulation
• Facilitated part consolidation and design freedom
• Modeled performance of the design with advanced testing (Finite Element Analysis, mold flow, burnoff)

Aftermarket Motor Mount

Key Requirements:

• Reduced part weight with retained performance
• High strength
• Corrosion resistance
• Fatigue resistance

Material Solution & Impact: 

• Facilitated lightweighting with a 50% long glass fiber PA66 thermoplastic that matched the performance of the incumbent metal part
• Met strength and corrosion requirements while achieving cost savings and reduced processing steps versus a die-cast aluminum part
• Relieved performance fears with mold flow analysis and hands-on technology support

To discuss how long fiber thermoplastics technologies can benefit your aftermarket application, contact an expert at Avient today.

If you want to better understand the capabilities of advanced modeling for improving product performance, please read our article on “Optimizing Automotive Structural Component Designs with Advanced Modeling.”