Mazda develops resin material for vehicle parts for weight reduction

Mazda Motor Corporation has developed, jointly with Japan Polypropylene Corporation, resin material for vehicle parts that maintains the same rigidity as parts made with conventional materials while achieving significant weight reduction. Using this material, the parts manufactured are thinner than those using conventional resin, resulting in a significant reduction in the resin required to manufacture parts. When the material is used for both front and rear bumpers, it contributes to weight reduction of approximately 20%. In the bumper production process, this reduced thickness allows for a shorter cooling period for molding, and by using computer-aided engineering (CAE) technology, the fluidity of the resin material has also been optimized. As a result, bumper molding time, previously 60 seconds, has been halved to 30 seconds, leading to major reductions in the amount of energy consumed in the production process.