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.‎