Polyamides for e-mobility

At the ASEAN Automotive & Motorcycle Parts Summit 2018 held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and organised by Ringier Trade Media through its Ringier Events, a new breed of performance polyamides was the topic of a presentation of Jean-Yves Grand, SEA and Japan Development Director at Solvay. His presentation focused on Solvay Performance Polyamides under the Technyl® range, a heat stabilised material family for automotive thermal management combining superior hydrolysis and thermal ageing performance in presence of aggressive coolants.

 

With powertrain efficiency, lightweighting and e-mobility identified as key ways to drive down emission, plastics, in particular polyamides, can help by providing solutions that will enhance thermal management, fluid barrier and fire protection. 

 

Built on the proven strengths of Technyl® 34NG series, Technyl® Blue is a wide range of products offering a 15% - 60% enhanced hydrolysis resistance versus standard polyamides 66 (PA66). It also includes a compound which provides resistance to road salts used in low-temperature regions. Main immediate applications are radiator end tanks, oil filter housings/modules and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) heat exchangers. 

 

Major global automotive OEMs and Tier 1 already trust Technyl® Blue and are currently evaluating these materials for highly demanding components such as active cooling valves and e-water pumps. In turn, Solvay Performance Polyamides supports customers with a complete array of technical services designed to speed the time to market of new applications, from advanced material characterisation to application validation. This offering includes predictive simulation with MMI® Technyl® Design1, 3D printing of PA6-based functional prototypes in Sinterline® PA6 powders as well as part testing at fully equipped APT® Technyl® Validation centres. 

 

 

Replacing metal as goal

The partially bio-based Technyl® Blue D218CR V33 grades are very high hydrolysis resistant PA66/610 with strong resistance to salts and can withstand extreme conditions, according to the presentation of Mr. Grand. This material demonstrates high chemical resistance to calcium chloride, the preferred road salt used in countries with lower freezing temperatures. Technyl® Blue G2 grades are high hydrolysis resistant PA66 with superior or very high modulus and tensile strength, and available with 30% and 50% GF. And Technyl® Blue 34NG grades are hydrolysis resistant PA66 with market reference of more than 20 years, and available with 25%, 30% and 35% GF.

 

With an attractive cost/performance ratio compared to metal or alternative plastics, Technyl® Blue is one of the preferred solutions for thermal management in the automotive industry. After rigorous testing at OEMs and Tiers level, the material obtained full approval for use in parts such as radiator-end tanks, expansion tanks, electronic thermostat housing, oil filter housings/modules, kick connectors, cooling pipes and EGR heat exchangers.

 

Many steel, aluminium and even magnesium automotive components have already been successfully replaced by light, strong, durable and cost-effective  high-performance polyamides which facilitate design freedom allowing for complex function integration and ease of processing. The oil filter module is one key application example that demonstrates how Technyl® PA66 can effectively replace metal, resulting in major weight savings (around 35%) and total cost reductions (approximately 30-40%) and greater functionality as well as reliability through part integration.

 

In plastic oil filter module housing, for instance, Technyl® Blue enables cost and weight reduction and facilitate cost and weight reduction. Another major benefit of replacing metals with plastics is lower vibration and noise generation, as the sound dampening characteristics of polymers help with the acoustic performance of the car, extremely important for smaller engines and quieter xEVs.

 

The Technyl® array of advanced services for OEMs and Tier 1’s to quickly shift from metals to plastics includes a Material Database on Technyl® which is considered the most comprehensive in the industry, speeding proper material selection and design optimisation. The MMI Technyl® Design, a multi-scale modeling, mechanical calculation and injection molding simulation (MMI) helps engineers understand the real behaviour of materials, and enables them to gain the right level of confidence in component performance before moving forward with prototyping and physical production. The Digimat powered CAE service, which already included advanced predictive simulation tools and failure analysis models,now allows customers run fatigue analysis simulation testing of parts. Another service is the Sinterline® Technyl® where the range of Sinterline® PA6 powders for rapid prototyping also includes glass-filled grades, and together with efficient 3D printing technology delivers parts that enable manufacturers to evaluate and test their designs without the need for costly tooling. Thanks to Sinterline® powders they can use additive manufacturing for mini-series and spare parts production. Another service is the APT® Technyl® Validation where at Technyl®’s Application Part Testing (APT®) centres, OEMs and Tiers are supported with a wide scope of test benches and validation equipment developed in close collaboration with customers to meet the most demanding industry standards. The extensive capabilities at the Shanghai APT® centre, opened in late 2016, complement the light-weighting materials and service offering.