Teknor Apex presents three halogen-free FR glass-reinforced polyamide compounds with UL94 ratings of V0.

Application example: engine cover in the automotive industry

Elektronik

Automotive

Polyamide

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Thermoplaste

Technische Kunststoffe

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

Faserverbundwerkstoffe

Andere Werkstoffe

Glass-Reinforced and Halogen-Free Flame-Retardant

Continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites have also become established with thin-walled housings for consumer electronics and information technology. Not only do they offer high stiffness and help to reduce weight, but also enable the integration of classy appearance and functions. What is more, if the housings are produced using the hybrid molding process, costs, processing steps, and cycle times can be reduced.

The Carbon 1 Mark II smartphone from Carbon Mobile was developed in Germany. The matt-black carbon fibers lend the smartphone a classy high-tech look

16:9

Composites Reduce Weight and Simplify Production of Electronics Housings

Composite-Halbzeuge

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Glasfasern / -matten

Verstärkungsstoffe

Kohlenstofffasern / -matten

Kunststofffasern

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Lightweight to Fit in a Pocket

Electrical architecture in an E-car is significantly more challenging than for conventionally powered vehicles. Particularly for insulation of high-voltage (HV) components, the demands on the materials used are increasing. With specially-tailored materials for electric vehicles, challenges in automotive high-voltage technology can be overcome.

Insulation of high-voltage components in electric vehicles makes high demands on the materials used

Polyamide Specialties for Electromobility

Elektromobilität

Mobilität

High Voltage in Cars

CFRP components are often in continuous use under harsh environmental conditions, for example in aircraft and motor vehicles. If any damage occurs, the CFRP structures are simply replaced by new components in most cases. This is mainly due to the high cost of established repair methods. With a newly developed process, defective CFRP structures can now be repaired locally much more easily.

Fig. 1. Overview of the simulation-based repair method for CFRP components: the method enables targeted repair of the damaged area

Process for Repairing CFRP Components without Machining

Repairing instead of Replacing

The process chain of the direct coating process has now been optimized. Self-healing, fast-curing PU casting coatings and polycarbonate compounds are now available for this manufacturing process.

The DC process makes it easier and faster to produce sophisticated-looking components with integrated sensors and light elements

Direct Coating with Polyurethane Coatings Creates Opportunities in Design and Functionality

Oberflächentechnik

Polyurethan

Polycarbonat

Short Cycle Times and High Productivity for Smart Components

The new mobile communications standard 5G is advancing steadily. This development is also increasing the demand for materials that facilitate and ensure the high transmission rates for 5G signals. Plastics manufacturer Covestro has presented a corresponding thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).

Covers for cell phones must not only protect the devices from shocks, but also allow mobile signals to pass through without interference

Cell Phone Covers Made from TPU

Optics play an increasingly important role in plastic components. Glossy and even surfaces are decisive for an attractive appearance. With glass fiber-reinforced polyamides (PA), these requirements can usually only be achieved with an additional coating. A PA specially developed for surface design offers an alternative approach.

For visible components, an even, glossy surface is often desired, which is often difficult to achieve with glass fiber-reinforced PA. PA Grivory G7V from EMS now solves this problem

Aliphatic High-Performance Polyamide for Plastic Surfaces

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Glossy Components without Painting

The central issue in all polyurethane applications is the conversion from the past linear economy into a circular economy, and the use of sustainable raw materials in manufacturing. To do so, manufacturers are taking measures such as using bio-based raw materials, chemical recycling, and CO2 as a synthesis component. Digitalization, electromobility, autonomous driving and the construction industry are also driving PU development.

Insulation boards and metal composite elements are the primary applications for PU in the construction industry. Since buildings are  responsible for 40 % of global energy consumption, more efficient materials in this area can generate big savings, such as through improved insulations

Polyurethane (PU)

Bauchemie

Polyurethan-Schaumstoffe (PUR)

Baubetrieb / Bauwirtschaft

Windkraft

Energieerzeugung

Erneuerbare Energie

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Sustainable Growth

Styrenics can be polymerized using different technologies and it can be modified with a range of copolymers. The resulting plastics offer a wide range of properties allowing to customize them for different applications. Because of this range of properties they are suitable for many industries. Strong demand is for example driven by the automotive industry, healthcare and the packaging industry.

Styrene copolymers are frequently used in the exterior of vehicles. The Chinese manufacturer Lixiang, for example, uses an ASA for the radiator grill of its electric vehicles

Styrenic Polymers

Verpackungsmaterial

Logistik

Polystyrol

Styrol-Copolymerisate

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Diverse Shapes and Applications

Lightweight construction, functionality and design are characteristic of material development in all areas of application for PC compounds, composites and films. The range of materials has enormous opportunities when it comes to the mobility of the future, lightweight structural construction with continuous fiber-reinforced composites, 5G technology and medical technology.

In electric vehicles, the original function of the radiator grille, namely to supply air to the engine, is no longer needed. It can therefore be used entirely as a design element, for example by integrating luminous logos and fade-out effects

Polycarbonate (PC)

Recycling

Umweltmanagement

Present in a Multitude of Trends

Leonhard Kurz’s “Iconic Space Grille”, does not only illustrates modern vehicle design but was also produced in a new production process.

The Iconic Space Grill can be adapted to the design of electric vehicles. With different lighting, it enables communication with other road users and an individual design according to the request of the user

Award-Winning Front Panel Combines Exciting Design with an Efficient  Manufacturing Process

An Eye-Catching Addition  to Electric Vehicles

Two new inorganic yellow pigments based on iron oxide and zinc oxide respectively are designed for coloration in a temperature range of between 220 and 260 °C.

The yellow pigments are used for all common polymer materials as well as for engineering thermoplastics even at the highest production temperatures

Pigmente, bunt

Additive

Farbstoffe und Pigmente

Farbstoffe

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Yellow for High Temperatures

Polymaker will offer the Polymaker PC-r 3D printing filament made from recycled polycarbonate (PC). The PC for the filaments comes from materials supplier Covestro and consists of a combination of recycled plastic waste and virgin material.

The combination of recyclates and virgin material reduces the carbon footprint of the polycarbonate and still allows it to be extruded into filaments

Filamente für additive Verfahren

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Additive Fertigung

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Water Bottles Become Filaments

Bipolar plates are one of the key components of fuel cells and redox flow batteries. They consist of plastics compounds highly filled with electrically conductive materials. To save space, cut costs, and reduce weight, there is increasing demand for the production of thinner plates without compromising robustness and service life. This can be achieved using modified polymers. With a new technology, bipolar plate films based on these modified polymers can be processed as coils.

The modified polymers enable films to be processed  as coils

Modified Conductive Compounds Make It Possible to Manufacture Bipolar Plates from a Bipolar Film Coil

Compound

Brennstoffzelle

Stromversorgung

Brennstoffzellen

Folien

Ultrathin Bipolar Plates for Fuel Cells

Atomic force microscopy can be used to determine various properties of polymer surfaces. However, until now it was still necessary to change the hardware on the probe for different measurement methods.

With the Tosca series, all AFM measurements can be carried out with only one actuator body and thus without hardware exchange

Characterize Plastic Surfaces More Easily with Atomic Force Microscopy

Messtechnik

Prüfen von Kunststoffen

Polymethylmethacrylat

Measurements without  Hardware Exchange

For lightweight applications e. g. in automotive engineering BASF developed carbon fiber-reinforced polyphthalamide (PPA) grades with fillings of 20, 30 und 40 %.

BASF is now expanding its polyphthalamide (PPA) portfolio of Ultramid Advanced with carbon-fiber reinforced grades with fillings of 20, 30 and 40 % . They make for extremely lightweight parts, can safely replace aluminum and magnesium without loss in stiffness and strength and are electrically conductive.

The new grades show high dimensional stability due to low water uptake, excellent chemical and hydrolysis resistance, high strength and modulus. The new carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced grades can be used to manufacture automotive structural parts for body, chassis and powertrain, for pumps, fans, gears and compressors in industrial applications as well as for stable and ultra-lightweight components in consumer electronics.

The mechanical performance of the new carbon fiber-reinforced PPA grades can be tuned by the choice and the content of the carbon fiber as well as by the additive technology. Ultramid Advanced N3HC8 with 40 % carbon fiber filling shows a better strength and modulus at 80 °C (conditioned) than magnesium or aluminum. “Our new PPA compounds with carbon fibers are the ideal metal replacement”, says Michael Pilarski from PPA business management at BASF. “And this not only from a material property point of view. Lately, we have seen safety issues at magnesium producers in different countries, which makes the supply rather unpredictable. Producing parts out of magnesium or aluminum also requires additional post-processing and tooling which increases system costs. Given the opportunities for 25 to 30 % weight reduction with our new PPA grades, we can offer a safe, cost-efficient and high-performance alternative for parts traditionally manufactured from metal.”

The materials reportedly can contribute to functional integration and weight reduction in different industries: the range of cars with e-drive or fuel cell engines can be increased by weight reduction of structural or powertrain parts; lightweight, thin precision structures in consumer electronics benefit from the high stiffness and strength, the excellent dimensional stability as well as the extremely low weight and the good processability of the new PPA materials; heavy, highly loaded and long-lasting industrial equipment like pumps and compressors can be easily produced because of the good dimensional stability as well as the high chemical, heat and abrasion resistance of the new CF grades.

The carbon fiber-reinforced PPA compounds also show a lower weight and higher tensile modulus than glass fiber-reinforced polyamides (PA) with similar reinforcements. PPA grades reinforced with 20 wt. % carbon fibers are about 20 wt. % lighter than PA6 or PA66 filled with 50 % glass fibers. According to the company, the tensile strength of a 20 % carbon fiber-reinforced Ultramid Advanced compound is either better or equivalent to a glass fiber-reinforced polyamide filled with 50 % while showing better processability.

BASF SE  

https://www.basf.com

The carbon fiber-reinforced PPA e. g. can replace aluminum and magnesium 

2021-06-01 PN BASF

issue 04/2022

issue 03/2022

issue 02/2022

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