Jan
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If the new material works well in those door applications, GM is expected to approve its continued use on the next generation of Corvette models due out in 1998 while also evaluating it as a replacement for steel in the doors for certain high-volume car lines.
Since the Corvette already is a plastic-body car, the new material is not a threat to steel on that high-powered sports car. What makes it a promising material for other vehicles, according to the GM engineers, is the surface quality of finished parts made of the composite, along with the fact that those parts would be more corrosion- and dent-resistant than steel.
Developed by GenCorp of Akron, Ohio, the material, called Flexion, is a resilient form of glass fiber-reinforced plastic that can be transformed into body components by compression molding. This, plus the fact that the material is being made available in the form of sheet molding compounds (SMCs), appeals to the automaker for styling and productivity reasons. SMCs are the preferred class of plastics for automotive body parts. Most plastic materials that have tried to compete with SMCs in such applications have failed to approach either those materials or steel in surface quality, although they have been approved for production applications in some instances because of their resilience, or flexibility.
