Characterization of an injection-moulded car audio chassis made of polycarbonate-(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)-based composite using metal-coated carbon fibre

Abstract

Engineering plastics are widely used as a substitute for stainless steel in the automobile industry to reduce weight and to improve fuel efficiency. In this paper, a polycarbonate-(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)-based composite with nickel-coated carbon fibre was developed, and the application of the composite to a lightweight car audio chassis was examined. The mechanical and electrical properties of the composite were evaluated through various physical tests, i.e. tensile, impact, flexural and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness tests. In addition, the characteristics of this material were compared with those of a material previously developed by the present authors, i.e. a polycarbonate(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)-based composite with metal fibre and glass fibre. Finally, the actual car audio chassis was made by injection moulding under various moulding conditions pertaining to the injection speed and the tool temperature to find the optimum injection-moulding conditions. Two required key tests, i.e. a full-scale electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness test and vibration analysis, were conducted to confirm the applicability of the polycarbonate-(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)-based composite with nickel-coated carbon fibre as a material for a car audio chassis.