Name: Syed Osman Shah

Roll # MY-004

Course Code:

Course Title:

Assignment

Submitted to:

Department of Metallurgical Engineering

Objective

Select a material for the manufacturing of car headlights on the basis of performance and
properties. Furthermore, what are the basic criteria or requirements that need to be the
consideration?
Headlights
Headlights are lights that are installed on the front of an automobile. They are designed to help
the driver see all types of moving objects, including pedestrians and traffic signals, in the dark,
as well as alert other drivers to the car's presence and its movements size, speed, and direction on
the road.[14]

Material Selection for Car headlights

Problem:

The Glass Was Used to Make Car’s Headlight:

Until 1980’s, engineers used to make car headlights from glass due to good optical transparency
and being inexpensive but Glass had also disvantages i.e. low impact strength & creep resistance
and poor machinability (not easy to shape & design).[9]
Shifting Towards Plastics:

Efforts were made and all above factor led to major shift towards plastic .Such a shift brought a
number of advantages: ease of design and shaping, high impact resistance, significant potential
for lightweight, better resistance to heat generated by lamps (applicable in the case of
headlights), and reduction in production cost due to use of injection molding at high volumes.{2]
[10]

Criteria

 Material to be chosen should be mechanical (Impact strenght,fracture

toughness) ,thermal (temperature) and chemical (corrosion) resistant.[11]
 Be easy to shape & design and possesses good optical properties.[9]
 Be transparent ,resistant to UV radiation ,has light weight and be inexpensive.[12]
 Long lasting (high durability).[15]

Selection Of Material:

Given the aforementioned requirements, poly methyl methacrylate(PMMA) and polycarbonate

(PC), both of which are transparent, were evaluated for usage in headlights. PMMA lacks impact
resistance but is inexpensive and extremely scratch and UV radiation resistant. In contrast, PC
has great dimensional stability, stiffness, and creep resistance along with a high resistance to
impacts and temperature, but has a low resistance to UV radiation and abrasions . PC with
coatings (such as on a silicone base) became the favored material for use in headlight lenses
because it was simpler to improve UV and scratch resistance through coatings.[9][13].

Properties of Polycarbonate:

Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic polymer. This indicates that it has a high degree of heat
resistance and can endure the high temperatures produced by the lighting component.[16]. The
polycarbonate material is also strong enough to protect an automotive LED from damage. Since
LEDs are typically sensitive, they need to be covered with a sturdy covering. Even the thinnest
polycarbonate sheet is still stronger than thick layers of glass Because less material is utilised in
the production process, this offers economic benefits.[18]Additionally lightweight,
polycarbonate lowers the overall weight of an automobile, enhancing both its performance and
fuel economy.[17].It is easy to shape and design. The polycarbonate products give lighting
designers the technical freedom to create LED products of virtually any design.[19].Although PC
headlights gets deteriorated to Uv radiation but UV stabilisers are incorporated into
polycarbonate to assist shield it from the damaging effects of sun exposure.[20]

Comparison of Polycarbonate with Other Plastic Material

1. Polycarbonate and Acrylic (PolyMethyl Methacrylate)

Table 1 [1]

Polycarbonate Acrylic (PolyMethyl Methacrylate)

It has 30 times impact resistance of glass. It has between 10-24 times impact
resistance of glass.

It can withstand upto 240 degree C It can withstand upto 190 degree C

It is good chemical resistant than Acrylic. It has low chemical resistance.

It’s edges cannot be polished It’s edges can be polished

It is very expensive It is less expensive than PC.

Poor resistant to Uv radiation Good resistant to Uv radiation

Why choose PC over PMMA?

Both PC and PMMA have good transparency while in some aspects PMMA is better than PC
like PMMA has good Uv resistance than PC .it can be polished and it is cheaper than PC which
is an important factor in material selection. Despite these, it isn’t selected because of it’s low
impact resistance and thermal properties as different temperatures exist at different part of
internal structure of car.The temperature of decorative ring and reflector reach high[2] and can
damage the acrylic which can withstand 190 degree C .In contract PC can withstand 240 degrees
celsius and for protection from uv radiation, PC is coated by silicon base. [3]

2.Polycarbonate and Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) 

TABLE [4][5]

Polycarbonate Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol

(PETG) 
Glass transition temperature of PC is around Tg temperature of PETG is around 85 degree
147 degrees celsius celsius

Polycarbonate is highly transparent to visible Has good transparency but not good as PC
light, with better light transmission than many
kinds of glass.

Has high-temperature resistance Has low temperature resistance

It’s very expensive It’s very cheaper

Why can’t use PETG for Headlights?

The thermal properties of PETG is very poor. Material should be good resistant in order to
withstand the temperature of reflector and decorative ring which have high
temperatures[3].Although it is cheaper but it’s durability is low .

3. Polycarbonate and Polypropylene

Table 3 [6][7][15]

Polycarbonate Polypropylene

Impact strength is high Impact strength is low

Easy to machine Difficult to machine

Highly durable polymer Durability is less tha PC

 It is slightly heavier than propylene Very light in weight

Costly than Propylene Less costly than PC

Why prefer PC over Polypropylene?

One of the most important factor in material selection is how strong the material is , which tells
the durability of material/polymer.In this case polycarbonate is better than the Polypropylene as
PC has good impact resisitant and easy to machine .Although PC is costly but it offers high
durability .

4. Polycarbonate and Polyvinyl Chloride

Table 4 [4][8]

Polycarbonate Polyvinyl Chloride

Has good temperature resistance Poor temperature resistant

Has good insulation property Has bad insulation property

has good transparency its transparency is not as good as PC.

Good impact resistant Impact resistance is less than PC

Why PC is used instead of PVC?

There could be many reasons but three factor play vital role in the material selection and compel
the selector to choose PC over PVC .These are impact resistance ,temperature resistance and
transparency and PC is good at all of these.

Conclusion
References

[1].http://www.veejayplastic.com/blog/comparison-polycarbonate-acrylic-material/

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-you-know-why-choose-raw-materials-automotive-lights-
bonnie-xu

[3] . Sehanobish K. Plastics in the exterior of the vehicle. In: Sehanobish K, editor. Engineering
plastics and plastic composites in automotive applications. Warrendale: SAE International; 2009.

[4] . https://www.copeplastics.com/knowledge-base/blog/comparison-of-see-through-plastic-
sheets/#:~:text=Polycarbonate%20(PC)%20is%20a%20synthetic,200%20times%20stronger
%20than%20glass.

[5] .https://knowledge.ulprospector.com/11442/pe-polycarbonate-an-overview/
#:~:text=Polycarbonate%20maintains%20its%20properties%20over,above%20about
%20155%C2%B0C.

[6] ./difference-between-polypropylene-and-vs-polycarbonate/#:~:text=Polypropylene%20vs
%20Polycarbonate-,Polypropylene%20is%20an%20organic%20polymer%20made%20from
%20propylene%20through%20a,between%20Bisphenol%20A%20and%20phosgene.&text=of
%20Hydrocarbon%20Polymer-,Methyl%20groups%20are%20attached%20to%20every
%20second%20carbon%20of%20polymer,it%20is%20an%20aliphatic%20hydrocarbon.

[7] .https://www.shunxinluggage.com/polypropylene-vs-polycarbonate-suitcase/

[8]. http://m.wallis-plastic.com/news/what-is-the-difference-between-pc-and-pvc-45286567.html

[9]. Maxwell J. Plastics in the automotive industry. 1st ed. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing
Limited; 1994.

[10]. Phlegm HK. The role of the chemist in automotive design. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Taylor
& Francis Group; 2009.
[11]. Mann D, Van den Bos JC, Way A. Automotive plastics & composites—worldwide markets
and trends to 2007. 2nd ed. Kidlington (Oxford): Elsevier Advanced Technology; 1999.

[12]. Abes Headlight Restoration Blog. The pros & cons about plastic headlights.

[13]. Headlight Facelift. Headlights—frequently asked questions.

[14]. Train P. Car headlight housings.

[15]. https://www.palram.com/blog/construction-architecture/skylight-material-choice-
polycarbonate-vs-other-materials/.

[16]. https://crosslinkers.evonik.com/en/products/product-stories/headlights-transparency-meets-
heat-resistance-171236.html.

[17]. https://www.embibe.com/questions/Which-plastic-is-being-used-for-covers-over-car
%E2%80%99s-headlights%3F/EM2501575.

[18]. https://www.ledsmagazine.com/leds-ssl-design/materials/article/16678141/excelite-plastics-
polycarbonate-materials-meet-performance-needs-of-automotive-led-designs.

[19]. https://www.ledsmagazine.com/leds-ssl-design/materials/article/16678161/excelites-
polycarbonate-products-meet-performance-and-design-requirements-for-led-lighting-materials.

[20]. https://www.advancedpolymersolutions.com/uv-polycarbonate.