[arachne] Re: O.T. Panel beaters

Arachne at FreeLists---The Arachne Fan Club!

On Sat, 4 Feb 2006 16:23:10 -0500, Eric S. Emerson wrote:

> The bumpers are not really plastic...
> the plastic is just a veneer over a steel bumper.

Maybe they are where you live, but not here on most small to
medium size cars. They use 100% plastic which splits or shatters
in a collision.

> Also, most plastic deteriorates much faster than
> steel that is not allowed to rust. Most plastic in
> use in cars today gets more brittle with age so
> that the plastic parts are deteriorating even
> though they aren't rusting.

But the manufacturers don't want the cars to last too many years,
so the disintegration of the plastic is considered by them to be
an advantage.

>  We cannot get by
> without plastic but it isn't a cure-all. And is often
> misused to replace parts that need to be made
> of a stronger material, but that can be made more
> cheaply and lighter with plastic.  The engineers
> design the parts for the stresses that the parts
> are supposed to receive

The engineers design the parts in the "crumple zone" to collapse
at a controlled rate, rather than to resist the stresses of a
collision.

Not only does it protect the people in the car, but it adds to the
number of parts that have to be replaced after a collision. 

.   ,-./\      from Greg Mayman, in Adelaide, South Australia
.  /     \     "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E
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.       v     homepage http://users.tpg.com.au/gmone/index.htm
                  Arachne at FreeLists                  
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