Application of thermoplastic elastomer material testing data for automotive body seal analysis

摘要

Material recycling requirement gradually opens the automotive body sealing market to thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), which is primarily dominated by EPDM thermosetting elastomers. Due to special material behaviors of elastomers, careful attentions should be taken when analyzing the body seal performance using material testing data, especially for TPE materials. This paper will address some of the issues by analyzing body seal products using TPE materials. The general guidelines for body seal analysis and result evaluation will also be discussed.