En estas sesiones CEP Auto Tech Meeting se presentarán soluciones, casos de éxito e innovaciones que destacan en el ámbito de los materiales plásticos para el sector automoción. Son jornadas en streaming que tienen el objetivo de ser un foro donde compartir experiencias y desarrollos diversos, que responden a la realidad de una industria en transformación. En las ponencias, se expondrán avances que responden a los múltiples retos del sector, que debe conjugar sostenibilidad, competitividad y requisitos de calidad, entre otros.

La cultura de la innovación forma parte de lndustrias Alegre desde sus inicios. Actualmente, las líneas de innovación se centran en:

• Nuevos materiales. Incorporación de plásticos reutilizados para contribuir a la sostenibilidad. Investigación en compuestos reforzados y ligeros para reducir el peso del vehículo. Eliminación de la pintura con materiales sustitutivos de inyección directa.
• Plastrónica. Alegre ofrece el desarrollo de piezas de plástico con electrónica integrada, una tecnología que permite crear superficies inteligentes, reduciendo el espesor, la complejidad y el peso respecto a la electrónica convencional.
• Componentes para baterías. Alegre ofrece el desarrollo de carcasas plásticas con sobreinyección de aluminio mediante procesos altamente tecnológicos y eficientes.

Avient aims to highlight the key challenges in the automotive industry and how they can be overcome by adopting sustainable solutions The session will focus on three main areas: reducing vehicle weight, using recycled materials and reducing the carbon footprint of the product. In terms of weight reduction, innovative metal replacement strategies and part design optimisation techniques will be explored, with the aim of improving fuel efficiency and reducing material use.

In addition, the incorporation of high quality recycled materials to meet sustainability targets and regulations, such as the End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) Directive, will be discussed. It will also discuss the importance of transparently calculating the product carbon footprint (PCF) along the entire value chain, following ISO 14067, 14040 and 14044 standards, and compare primary and recycled content solutions.

Avient will demonstrate how its expertise and solutions can help automotive equipment manufacturers (OEMs) overcome these global challenges by driving sustainability without compromising performance.

As the automotive sector intensifies its focus on electrification, NVH reduction, and lightweighting, engineering-grade polymers are becoming critical in gear system design. Delrin® acetal homopolymer (H-POM), known for its exceptional mechanical performance and dimensional precision, is increasingly the material of choice for demanding plastic gear applications across powertrain and chassis systems.

Delrin® offers superior fatigue resistance, low creep under sustained mechanical load, and high tensile strength—key for gears subjected to repeated torsional stress and dynamic cycling. Its inherent lubricity and low wear rates under dry sliding conditions make it particularly effective in minimizing friction-induced noise, a growing concern in battery electric vehicles (BEVs). These properties translate to consistent gear mesh integrity and longer service life in components used anywhere in automotive door locks, to steering systems or other safety and comfort related actuation such as window regulators, sunroofs, and tailgate drive systems.

For engineers focused on material-process-performance relationships, Delrin® DEL100P and DEL111PA offer excellent moldability with consistent flow characteristics, enabling tight dimensional tolerances. Higher viscosity grades—such as DEL300CPE and DEL500P—deliver enhanced creep strength and thermal stability with improved cost-performance ratio.

New innovations like DEL51HSE are engineered to push performance boundaries in torque-intensive systems focused on metal replacement and drive-by-wire system, offering improved notch impact and enhanced stiffness at elevated temperatures. These grades also support integration into monobloc gear designs, offering weight savings without sacrificing mechanical reliability, especially creep and fatigue performance.

Delrin is committed to support designers engineering gear applications. Strategic growth initiatives emphasize digital design support, NVH modeling datasets, and processing guidance tailored for Tier 1 molders and component designers. As material performance thresholds continue to rise, Delrin® offers plastics engineers the toolkit to meet tomorrow’s gear performance and manufacturability demands.