Interior/Exterior Material
What is Automotive Interior/Exterior Material Testing?
Automotive interior/exterior material testing evaluates the performance of materials used by both domestic (Hyundai, Kia, GM Korea, Renault, KG Mobility) and global (European, American, Japanese) automotive brands. Tests are conducted according to international standards, association regulations, and customer-specific methods, reflecting the diverse characteristics of automotive interior and exterior materials.
Domestic Automotive Test
| Mechanical Properties | Weight, Thickness, Specific gravity, Density, Hardness, Tensile strength, Elongation, Tear strength, Flexural strength, Compression strength, Compression modulus, Burst strength, Izod/Charpy impact strength, Drop ball/drop dart, Compression set (recovery rate), Permanent compression set, Absorption rate, Sound absorption, Stiffness, Anti-static properties |
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| Thermal Properties | DSC, TGA, Ash content, MFR, MVR, HDT, Vicat |
| Electrical Properties | Insulation strength, Dielectric strength, Surface resistance, Volume resistance, Dielectric constant, Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) |
| Environmental Durability | Lightfastness, Weather resistance, Heat resistance, Humidity resistance, Cold resistance, Hydrolysis resistance, Temperature cycle resistance, Ozone resistance, Water resistance, Salt spray resistance, Abrasion resistance, Scratch resistance, Chemical resistance, Stain resistance, Adhesion, Pencil hardness, Sunscreen resistance, Flexural resistance, Vibration resistance |
| Heavy Metals and Hazardous Substances | Heavy metals, Harmful substances, VOCs, Odor, Fogging (condensation) |
| Flammability | Horizontal/vertical flammability |
Overseas Automotive Test
| ABREX Abrasion Test | Simulates chemical contamination and mechanical wear from finger contact with ergonomic design |
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| Stick-Slip Test | Evaluates friction (squeak, noise) between specimen materials |
| Scratch Test | Assesses coating hardness under various materials (disk, tungsten carbide) and loads (1N~20N) |
| Chipping Resistance (Gravel Test) | Evaluates coating damage from gravel impact during driving, exposing or damaging underlying layers |
| Scratch Test (Five-finger Jig) | Uses five finger-shaped jigs with various loads to perform vertical scratch tests on specimens |
International Standards & Association Test
| UL94 Vertical/Horizontal Flammability | Evaluates flammability of automotive interior/exterior materials; grades assigned after vertical/horizontal burn tests |
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| DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) | Measures heat flow difference between specimen and reference material as a function of temperature during heating/cooling |
| TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis) | Measures weight change of specimen as a function of temperature/time for polymer component analysis |
| HDT/Vicat | HDT: Measures temperature at which a specimen deforms under a specific load Vicat: Measures temperature at which a needle penetrates 1mm under a specific load |
| Charpy/Izod | Measures material resistance to sudden impact or load without breaking |
Representative Tests by Property
| Rotary Fatigue Tester | Repeated fatigue testing to cause failure from repetitive loads; rotary fatigue testing possible |
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| 3D Tolerance Measuring Instrument | Measures surface position using contact probes or non-contact optical/laser sensors |
| Insulation Breakdown Tester | Applies high voltage (AC/DC) to measure sudden discharge current and material breakdown |
| Contact Angle Tester | Measures contact angle, surface energy, and surface tension after precise droplet application |
| Metal Galvanic Corrosion Tester | Measures galvanic corrosion (electrochemical potential difference) between dissimilar metals in solution |