ENGINEERING THERMOPLASTICS | MATERIALS
ourselves in the electric vehicle market.” New grade Technyl Blue D 218CR V50 goes up against polyphthalamides and polyphenylene sulphide, over which Solvay claims total system cost advantages. “It offers high mechanical strength, design flexibility, excellent surface aspect and easy processing for applications including thermostat housings and water pumps,” says Durski. Technyl Max is a brand-new advanced polyam-
ide that Solvay says represents a step change with its enhanced modulus and fatigue behaviour. The company Carbody is using a 60% glass reinforced grade for its Skeleton all-plastic brake pedal. Until now, plastics brake pedals have required a metal insert in order to pass very rigorous mechanical tests. But the new pedal can resist forces up to 3,000 N; the average force applied in case of emergency braking is around 500 N. Modulus is 20GPa; this compares with around 15GPa in competing materials. Fatigue resistance is between four and ten times better. Solvay is launching a 50% glass reinforced grade and a grade with 70% reinforcement is under development. Skeleton features a rod-shaped composite structure which is over-moulded with Technyl Max. In addition to car pedal systems, Technyl Max is
being targeted at semi-structural components such as transmission and motor mount cross beams, air shutter grills and seat structures. Its relatively low density offers significant weight savings over typical die-casting metals at comparable tensile strength. “This is of importance for applications in EVs which
require even greater rigidity and fatigue resistance due to higher [vibration] frequencies,” Solvay says.
Transparent PA BASF’s semi-crystalline PA Ultramid Vision, unveiled to the industry at Fakuma 2017, has been used in a car interior for the first time, in the window regulator module of an unnamed German automobile manufacturer. Compared to opaque standard polyamides, Ultramid Vision displays very high light transmis- sion with low light scattering – “perfect conditions for use with the illuminated symbols on the window regulators and for setting the exterior mirrors,” says BASF. The material is ideal for semi-transparent and
translucent components, says the company. “Its high UV and temperature resistance, scratch resistance and chemical resistance make Ultramid Vision an important building block wherever visual control or light design play a role,” it says. “In multi-component injection moulding processes, it can be easily combined with other polyamide materials. This enables easy production of multi- functional components with transparent or illumi- nated areas.” “In the 2K injection moulding process used here,
Ultramid Vision demonstrates good adhesion to the switch housing, which consists of glass fibre- reinforced polyamide,” says Rainer Xalter, product developer in the Performance Materials division at BASF. “A further selection criterion was the homo- geneous light transmittance. The requirement was to allow as much light to pass through as possible, with high colour fidelity of the transmitted light. Ultramid Vision B3K WT15490 emerged as the right solution for the white symbols and Ultramid Vision B3K DLT UN [DLT = diffuse light transmis- sion, UN = uncoloured] for the red status displays.” As the material can be repeatedly exposed to
aggressive media such as sun cream, cleaning agents and solvents without sustaining damage, it is very suited for switches and buttons. This is an important advantage for the semi-crystalline polymer over amorphous transparent materials, BASF notes. RadiciGroup was at K2019 with a new high
temperature application product, Radilon NeX- Treme. Erico Spini, Global Marketing Manager of RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers, says the material was initially developed for automotive
www.injectionworld.com November/December 2019 | INJECTION WORLD 53
Left: BASF’s semi-crystalline PA Ultramid Vision has been used in the window regulator module of an unnamed German
automobile manufacturer
Left: Skeleton brake pedal produced by Carbody
PHOTO: BASF
PHOTO: SOLVAY PERFORMANCE POLYAMIDES
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