Proposal for programme of VIAQ activity to be included in
Premium Vehicle Materials Applications
Centre of Excellence
The University of Warwick, WMG has been working in collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover, automotive
suppliers and a number of other partners to investigate the scientific and legislative issues surrounding Vehicle
Interior Air Quality. This subject has emerged from concerns raised regarding the emission of Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOC) from the materials used in the manufacture of components for vehicle interiors and also as a
consequence of early investigations into windscreen fogging and ‘new vehicle smell’.
The programme at WMG concentrated on establishing a correlation between an accelerated microanalysis and
the industry standard method for determining emission levels of components. Work was also done to understand
the influence of manufacturing location, process, design and decay related effects. At the conclusion of the
latest phase of the project, all partners agreed that momentum in the project should be maintained and a number
of partners expressed strong interest in continuing to support the next phase of research.
Having discussed the specific areas of interest with potential partners, which include vehicle manufacturers and
component suppliers, the following topics have been identified as key to the next steps:
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Consolidate correlation between OEM test methods, industry standards and accelerated methods
Generate materials database for specific component applications
Develop component to vehicle interior correlation
Explore potential for using SYFT technology for real time analysis of vehicle interior emissions
Provide input to ISO standard for vehicle and component testing
Further areas of research interest include:
 Understand the influence of environmental factors and sample geometry on VOC performance
 Assess the effect of using recycled material
 Explore the influence of alternate polymer additive packages
 Measure the effect of long term ageing and the effect of polymers in contact under service conditions
Other outputs possible using facilities available at WMG:
 Component performance assessment and analysis
 Development of realistic specification for interior components based on actual component performance
variation
 Development assistance and analysis of new and modified material formulations.
M P Pharaoh / G J Williams
WMG
February 2009