Innovation | engineering plastics
3.5 kg (a saving of more than 0.5 kg). “This is the result of fine-tuning in close cooperation with the customer,” Hellmann says. Also on the stand was a front grille in Lexan SLX for the US-built Ford Taurus. The slats come out of the mould with a high-gloss piano black finish that requires no painting. In the consumer electronics sector SABIC highlights new additions to its range of Thermotuf compounds, which it says are designed with the needs of production of hybrid plastics/metal components using nano-moulding technology (NMT) in mind. Developed several years ago by Japanese company Taisai Plas, NMT uses a chemical etching process to create nano- sized pores in the metal, which are then filled with plastic during the insert injection moulding process to form a strong bond without the need for adhesives or complicated mechanical interlocks. It has been widely adopted by consumer electronics manufacturers but SABIC says the challenge in creating hybrid parts that meet required performance, processability and
aesthetics criteria has been finding compatible materials.
SABIC says this new series of special Thermotuf reinforced compounds based on PBT has been optimised to meet the specific requirements for NMT hybrids in consumer electronics. The compounds have been developed to compensate for the differences in coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE) between metal (typically alumini- um) and plastic. In addition, the high flow is said to be compatible with thin-wall moulds and
enables the melt to fill the nano-sized pores in the metal insert. A recent trial showed the bonding strength of the Thermotuf
material to be more than 25MPa. The new compounds have a low dielectric constant that meets antenna design needs (Dk of 3.5 at 1.9GHz) over a broad colour space, and has good colourability and colour stability after anodization (which is carried out after the moulding process); SABIC says the latter
Left: A CAD drawing of an NMT hybrid part produced using SABIC’s Thermotuf PBT compounds (the metal is shown in grey and the Thermotuf compound in green)
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