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Light weighting is a critical objective in the automotive industry to improve fuel efficiency. But when redesigning parts for light weight, by changing from metal to plastic, the resulting design gives NVH issues due to differences in part mass and material stiffness. Many parts were not converted from metal to plastic because of NVH issues that could not be solved. Many engine parts such as cylinder head cover, air intake manifold, oil pan and etc. previously made of metal have since long been replaced with plastic. But timing chain cover has not been replaced because of the aforementioned issue. Sealing performance due to the dynamic characteristics of the application is another challenging factor. In this paper, the key aspects of the plastic timing chain cover as well as its advantage are presented.

Most of car makers nowadays produce Cylinder Head Cover with Thermoplastic to get the benefit of weight and cost reduction. The production of Cylinder Head Cover with Thermoplastic brings a number of benefits such as enhancement in productivity, design freedom, integration with other parts and reduction in weight. However, NVH characteristics, sealing performance issues possibly caused by design of cover and gasket and loss of properties of materials when used for long-term period still remain as critical tasks to be solved. Especially in case of car OEMs strongly insist that we have to meet their severe specifications requirements so as to satisfy their customers' growing demand. Sealing performance is one of the core factors, which require continuous effort and studies to meet the OEM's specifications.

The thermoplastic automotive pulley has been developed and will be commercialized to high volume production that achieves cost saving and weight reduction over other automotive pulleys in the metal and thermosetting resin by Hyundai Motor Company. Design feature incorporated in this automotive pulley allow it to be manufactured and assembled onto the water pump more efficiently in consequence of design integration with the water pump and power steering pulley. However, the harsh environment and dynamic loads that the thermoplastic pulley has to withstand required extensive CAE analysis and testing of the molded parts and the standard glass reinforced PA was selected for the application to maximize cost savings. The key aspects of the plastic automotive pulley as well as its advantage are presented.