Session Details
Session 7: Decorative Automotive Considerations
Abstract Number:
14
Unanswered questions from OEM’s, Customers, Colleagues and myself regarding the process of Plating on Plastics will be the focus of the paper.
Topics:
Automotive Industry
Plating on Plastics/Decorative Technology
Over the past 37 years of plating on plastics, I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge and understanding of the Plating on Plastics process. However, there are always those questions that never get fully answered or really don’t make sense to me. This paper will investigate and try to answer some of those questions to share with the community to promote understanding and assist with future developments.
OEM specifications with respect to part performance are well documented and quantified which result in a high-quality product. Process parameters resulting in final part performance are known but not always fully understood. The purpose of this paper will be to dive deeper into the understanding of processes and parameters that influence part performance and why.
Specific topics dealing with polymer selection, part fabrication, chemical etching, adhesion mechanisms, catalyst adsorption and others will be investigated. The use of state-of-the-art analytical equipment will help show just how and why those parameters are effective and what might be done to improve.