Automotive | materials


in a truck air filter system from Mercedes-Benz. “The advantage of our structural material is that it


significantly reduces costs compared to the previous component design in steel, but still meets the high demands on dynamic strength,” says Jürgen Horst- mann, key account manager for the commercial vehicle industry at Lanxess. ”In addition, the weight of the components can be reduced by a total of 2.9 kg, or considerably more than 50%.” The air filter, together with the fender mounted below


it, weighs 7.9 kg at installation. In operation, the weight of this assembly can increase as a result of dust in the air filter and dirt on components in the wheel arch. The two filter carriers must not only bear this weight and that of the fender attached to them, but also withstand the extremely high dynamic forces to which they can be exposed, for example vibrations caused by hitting deep potholes on construc- tion sites. The two structural parts passed road tests with flying colours, says Horstmann. The carriers also stand up to the high static loads that occur, for instance, when a truck driver puts his entire weight on the air filter when making repairs.


Cast metal replacement Also looking very hard at metal replace- ment is DSM. In the middle of last year, it extended its range of ForTii high perfor- mance polyphthalamides based on polyamide 4T with ForTii MX grades that it says “provide a more cost-effective alternative than ever” to die-casting metals. It sees potential for the new range in structurally loaded parts such as housings, covers and brackets in the automotive powertrain, air and fuel systems, chassis and suspension. DSM says the potential for replacing die-cast metal parts still remains “enormous.” The market around die-


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cast replacement is currently growing at close to 10% per year, it says. “The increasing availability of high performance materials like ForTii MX will ensure that high growth continues and possibly increases well into the future.” Grades are available with glass fibre reinforcement


ranging from 30 to 50%. Ralf Ponicki, program manager for die cast replacement, says that in terms of heat deflection temperature (HDT/A is 305°C) and toughness, they are considerably better than most other PPAs currently on the market. “Injection mouldings in ForTii MX will be able to compete advantageously with parts die-cast in aluminium, magnesium and zinc,” he says. Injection moulding with high performance thermo-


plastics already provides a cost reduction over metal die-casting of typically 20 to 30%, but use of ForTii MX allows cost savings up to 50%, Ponicki says. The potential for improvements in weight savings is on a similar level. ForTii MX also provides extra possibilities for functional integration, product safety improvements, and


simplification of logistics and handling efforts. “ForTii MX exhibits a comprehensive


property profile that some competitive solutions can only partially cover with using additional blend


technology,” Ponicki further notes. “Many pure PPA based compounds


keep their good mechanical strength and dimensional stability up to around 100° C but in environments with temperatures above 130° C, the mechanical strength drops severely. This effect sometimes is compensated by using blend technology, but sacrificing dimensional stability as well as mechanical strength up to 100° C. ForTii MX combines the best of two worlds.” At K 2016, DSM took a step further into the metal


Left: Truck air filter carrier in Durethan AKV 50 H2.0 from Lanxess


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