High-tech plastics to rule

Lightweight materials and innovative application solutions will continue to be the focus within the plastics industry.  As companies in a variety of industries have been increasing their use of plastics for years now, growth in the use of high performance plastics is particularly prominent within the automotive industry.

From under the hood components to parts of the body, almost all car parts can be made of plastics today. High-tech plastics are also a crucial component in the development of modern electric vehicles – one with a very promising future market. "Coupled with technology availability and the increasing demand for lighter-weight cars due to their economical benefits, ie. fuel saving, many automakers and suppliers are searching for additional lightweight materials that can be used flexibly as substitutes for metal, while still offering the performance associated with the heavyweight material," according to Milan Vignjevic, director Sales & Marketing, Asia Pacific, High Performance Materials business unit at LANXESS.

Mr. Milan Vignjevic, Director Sales & Marketing (Asia Pacific) High Performance Materials business unit, LANXESS

In an attempt to bind these two requirements together, LANXESS has succeeded in combining plastics with metal, creating its patented innovative ‘hybrid’ technology. "This application does an excellent job of uniting the weight reduction associated with plastics, and retaining the stability properties of metal. Furthermore up to 20% of weight reduction is attained with the use of our hybrid technology. To date, roughly 100 production vehicles from leading automakers are using this technology.

One such application is in the spare wheel recess with integrated reinforcing channels in the Audi A8," Mr. Vignjevic explained. At Composites Europe, LANXESS showcased its range of products, which are improvements from its existing selection. These products are in response to future trends and requirements of processors. For one, the company has achieved an innovative process in the production of continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic Tepex composites. LANXESS' subsidiary – Bond-Laminates – which manufactures these composites is now able to continuously series-produce large semifinished composite products in which the continuous fibre layers can be oriented at almost any conceivable angle.

As a result, Tepex can now be used to design lighterweight composite components tailored even more specifically to the specific load requirement. "This new-generation of Tepex further strengthens our position as the leading supplier of thermoplastic highperformance composites for lightweight design," according to Mr. Vignjevic.

The demand for high performance polyamides has also pushed the proliferation of new materials. LANXESS has its own version, Durethan BKV 55 TPX, a new polyamide 6 reinforced with 55% short glass fibres and optimised for
overmoulding Tepex. With particularly good flow properties and outstanding mechanical attributes, this newly improved material offers a large processing window and forms a material bond with Tepex. These properties offer particularly good potential for very thin-walled lightweight composite parts with large flow length or wall-thickness ratios. Alternative to polypropylene (PP) through Durethan B 24 CM H2.0 (previously Durethan TP 173-007) has been developed by LANXESS in the DLFT process (Direct Long Fibre Thermoplastics).

Compared to conventional polyamide 6-based long-fibre compression moulding compounds, the melt of this heat-stabilised material exhibits much better flow properties. It can also be processed fumefree at extrusion temperatures of 280°C to 300°C. Unlike polypropylene, it can withstand the drying temperatures that follow cathodic dip painting (CDP).