ETPs | materials
ene matrix but it does not have polyamide types that could rival products such as Tepex Dynalite from Lanxess or BASF’s Ultracom package. At Celanese, Global Sales General Manager Todd Elliott points to the rapid rise in the number of projects that the company is securing in its engineering thermoplastics business as an indicator of the success of its strategy of getting closer to customers. While not long ago the company was closing fewer than 1,000 projects a year, the number rose to around 1,200 in 2015 and the target is 2,000 for 2018, he says. “This reflects the company’s ability to match its materials and engineering solutions to customer needs,” he says. One of the strategies Celanese is using involves
increasing its compounding ability and its ability to modify polymers that it does not necessarily make itself. A few days before K2016, the company announced that it was buying independent compounder So.F.teR, which is based in Italy but has an increasing number of production locations across the Americas. The acquisi- tion is due to close before the end of the year. So.F.teR started life producing SBS compounds for shoes, but has since expanded its offering to include numerous thermoplastics and thermoplastic elasto- mers. Its acquisition comes two years after Celanese acquired Cool Polymers, which specialises in thermally conductive compounds. While Celanese ramps up its compounding capability, it is not ruling out growth in polymers; Elliott says the company would like more polyamide capacity, for example. On the new materials front, Elliott highlights Celapex PEEK PKX-102, which is said to offer particularly good flow. Celanese obtains its PEEK from an unspecified source and carries out some polymer modification; Elliott provides no detail, beyond saying that it is using experi- ence it has gained over the years with its Vectra liquid crystal plastics, LCPs. Celanese uses its compounding capability to produce flexible (or at least not as rigid as normal) grades of Fortron polyphenylene sulphide (PPS)
On the roads, it is not only cars that are the focus for lightweighting - cyclists too are looking to shed a few grams. And this trend even stretches to the humble trouser clip. EMS-Grivory claims to have the lightest trouser clips in theses demonstrator parts (you will not find them in the store just yet). The clips combine the extremely high cyclic bending strength of transparent Grilamid TR 90 with the high stiffness of EMS Tape Technology using Grilamid LCT-35H. ❙
www.emsgrivory.com
for parts such as clips, fasteners, and cable ties. Also being showcased at K 2016 was Celanese’s
capability to produce compounds with special surface effects. MetaLX compounds, available based on polyamides and also acetals, offer distinct metallic surfaces straight out of the mould.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.basf.com ❙
www.dsmep.com ❙
www.emsgrivory.com ❙
www.radicigroup.com ❙
www.technyl.com ❙
www.plastics.dupont.com ❙
www.ascendmaterials.com ❙
www.lanxess.com ❙
www.akro-plastic.com ❙
www.advan6.com ❙
www.invista.com ❙
www.sabic.com ❙
www.celanese.com
Daimler changes up to Zytel
German oil filter systems maker IBS Filtran is using DuPont’s Zytel 70G35 HSLRA4 grade PA to produce the oil pans for the latest NAG3 nine- speed automatic transmissions used on Daimler group passenger cars. Replacing a metal part on the previous gearbox design, the PA part is said to result in an estimated weight saving of 1.3kg as well as greater design freedom and improved oil filtering perfor- mance. DuPont says the Zytel grade offers low warpage, easy processing, dimensional stability to 150°C and can be laser welded. ❙
www.plastics.dupont.com
www.injectionworld.com November/December 2016 | INJECTION WORLD 35
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