engineering plastics | Innovation
Right: DuPont provided CAE modelling support to ErlingKlinger for this
structural
engine bracket moulded in its glass fi bre
reinforced Zytel polyamide
Below: Continental Automotive is using DuPont’s Crastin Super Fast resin to produce the housing for this sensor housing
In a separate application, DuPont says Germany’s
Continental Automotive has specifi ed Crastin Super Fast (SF) PBT resin for a series of thermal covers due to its shorter cycle time and enhanced fl ow properties compared to standard PBT grades. The housing is used to protect a delicate sensor module that controls the engine thermal management system. DuPont says Crastin SF PBT can be used as a direct drop-in replacement for standard PBT on existing injection moulding machinery and offers up to 30% improved fl ow. It enables moulders to run moulds on smaller clamp force machines due to the lower fi lling pressure requirement. This enhanced processing performance also enable designers to reduce part thickness and cut weight weight.
Away from Volkswagen
Group’s very public problems with emissions software, the company has been making good use of software simula- tion tools. The car maker used BASF’s Ultrasim simulation software to develop the latest all-polyamide front end carriers
Right: This
Legrand circuit breaker is moulded in
Durethan BKV 25 FN2 from Lanxess
for its latest Passat and Sharan models. The Golf VII was the fi rst car in the world to use an all-polyamide carrier in 2013. BASF says it was possible to transfer results from that model to the Passat and Sharan without problems because Ultrasim can be integrated seam- lessly into the computing environ- ment at the car manufacturer. VW had previously used hybrid
technology (polypropylene/steel), but the new parts in BASF’s Ultramid B3WG8 40% glass fi bre reinforced PA6 are considerably lighter and save installation time
74 COMPOUNDING WORLD | March 2016
as well as costs. The front end carrier in the Passat is the largest polyamide part in the vehicle and weighs around 2.6 kg. BASF says the Ultramid B3WG8 grade shows an excellent combination of fatigue and endur- ance strength, providing the part with the correct dynamic stiffness at defi ned locations and enabling it to meet specifi cations for crash acceleration and vibration behaviour of the whole front end and radiator system. The new part has also helped VW create a more aerodynamic design for the Passat, since it is more slender than its predecessor. Lanxess’s Head of Global Product and Application
Development for engineering plastics Hartwig Meier highlighted several innovative applications on the company’s Fakuma stand. These included a spare wheel well for the Audi A8 injection moulded in an easy-fl ow grade of Durethan B 60% glass reinforced polyamide 6. The 10kg part incorporates large ribs that are cored out with gas – if it were completely solid it would weigh around 2 kg more. Lanxess also showed a circuit breaker housing in a 25% glass reinforced halogen-free fl ame retardant PA6, Durethan BKV 25 FN27. Meier says that with such parts now considered as commodities, pricing is more important than ever, so the company has responded by developing a new grade that is particularly cost-effec- tive. Compared to the mineral-fi lled halogen-free PA6 grades typically used in low-voltage circuit breakers,it says this new option has higher mechanical strength and thermal stability.
“Our material also meets the requirements placed on a circuit breaker for higher performance classes,” says Alexander Radeck, an expert in fl ame-retardant thermo- plastics at Lanxess. “Only one
material is required for the manufac- ture of various parts. Producers benefi t from lower costs, for example for storage and logistic processes, but
www.compoundingworld.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
