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August 11, 2005

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Plastics Offer Aerodynamics For Truck Components

Seattle, WA, USA--(Jobwerx News)--Truck manufacturer Peterbilt selects extrusion thermoforming plastics grade resin from GE for top performance and superior aerodynamics.

During development of the newest addition to its product lineup, Peterbilt Motors Company was driven to design the Model 386 for top performance and superior aerodynamics. To achieve its goals, it employed the use of GE's Cycoloy* CE 1820 resin for several key components, including fairings and a contoured sun visor.

Peterbilt's New Model 386 Delivers on Aerodynamics, Quality with the Help of GE's Cycoloy* Resin

Based on years of successful collaboration with GE Advanced Materials, Peterbilt - a division of PACCAR Inc (Nasdaq: PCAR) and North America's premium quality truck manufacturer - worked with GE's team to develop a material that would enable greater design flexibility and support increased aerodynamics for the new model. Peterbilt targeted several components, including quarter fenders, kick panels, and chassis fairings. The company also had specific performance improvements in mind: better heat stability, higher rigidity, and excellent surface appearance. Working with Peterbilt's engineers, GE developed a new extrusion thermoforming plastics grade of its mineral filled Cycoloy polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC/ABS) resin that helps provide these and other desirable properties.

The high modulus of GE's Cycoloy CE resin contributes to the stability of the fairings so they do not wobble at high speeds or shift under pressure from the wind. In turn, minimizing fairing wobble and shift helps maintain the aerodynamics of the Model 386. High modulus also contributed to the new design of the contoured sun visor, which was exhaustively tested for optimal aerodynamic performance.

According to Landon Sproull, Peterbilt chief engineer, "We have a longstanding collaborative relationship with GE, and their team has consistently delivered innovative materials solutions for our new vehicles. In this case, the Cycoloy resin GE developed helped us create a new model that was 10 percent more fuel efficient than its predecessor and also provides enhanced performance for the demanding environment of long-haul trucking."

Key attributes of Cycoloy CE 1820 plastics resin include: high modulus of 434,000 psi for excellent rigidity; excellent heat properties, including a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE); high temperature stability and cold temperature impact; paintability; and excellent processing characteristics.

Peterbilt Motors Company, Model 386 is slated for availability later this year.

For the Model 386, which is slated for availability later this year, Cycoloy resin was used in the sun visor, kick panels, quarter fenders, and chassis fairings. Other applications for this new plastics resin grade are appliance parts, auto aftermarket, refrigeration, transportation interiors, business equipment, and buses.

"GE's new Cycoloy CE 1820 resin offered Peterbilt a winning combination of benefits that not only improved part performance, but also created production efficiencies to help the company get the new product to customers quicker," said John Srouji, product marketing manager for GE Advanced Materials. "We are proud of the design and development resources that allow GE Advanced Materials to partner with some of the leading companies in the world."

GE Advanced Materials is a world leader in providing high-technology material solutions. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., its businesses include Plastics, Silicones, Quartz, Automotive, Specialty Film & Sheet, Polymershapes, and Sealants and Adhesives.

Peterbilt Motors Company, a division of PACCAR Inc (Nasdaq: PCAR), manufactures premium quality trucks for a wide range of markets, including over-the-road, construction, municipal, and medium-duty. Based in Denton, Texas, Peterbilt combines classic styling, innovative design, and superior-quality features in a custom-engineered truck that stands as the "Class" of the industry.

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