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Replacing the front motor

pbmorrow

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so..... much..... PLASTIC
You would be surprised, we now have plastics that match the mechanical properties of cast aluminum while being A LOT more corrosion resistant. The thing holding these back has always been production costs, but that has dropped drastically in the last decade. I went to school for engineering and don’t have concerns about vehicles starting to use plastic structural components.

”Plastic” is not a specific material but a VERY broad family of materials. Some plastics have weaker properties than a sponge while others are stronger than many metals. For example polypropylene (Easter egg plastic) is quite different than a carbon fiber reinforced PEEK, which exceeds the structural properties of aluminum While being way lighter.
 


j.w.s

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Wait, what are these two leftover bolts? Oh no, get the tools again.
 

kern417

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You would be surprised, we now have plastics that match the mechanical properties of cast aluminum while being A LOT more corrosion resistant. The thing holding these back has always been production costs, but that has dropped drastically in the last decade. I went to school for engineering and don’t have concerns about vehicles starting to use plastic structural components.

”Plastic” is not a specific material but a VERY broad family of materials. Some plastics have weaker properties than a sponge while others are stronger than many metals. For example polypropylene (Easter egg plastic) is quite different than a carbon fiber reinforced PEEK, which exceeds the structural properties of aluminum While being way lighter.
to be fair, while the concept you're sharing is valid, that's mostly PC and ABS. coming from someone that worked for years in an automotive plastic injection molding site. it's not that special. it's more cost effective to reinforce the plastic design structurally than using such exotic materials.
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