Plastic Fantastic

Borealis' high-performance Daplen™ thermoplastic olefin (TPO) polypropylene-based compounds were chosen by Volkswagen Group's Skoda Fabia Roomster generation. Apart from attaining a high quality perception in Fabia's interiors, Skoda's Tier 1 suppliers Faurecia and Cadence Innovation worked closely to reach desired results including haptics, scratch resistance levels, low gloss, no odour or fogging and excellent colour performance for consistent, accurately-aligned parts.

Daplen EE189AI, a 17% talc filled grade developed especially for the automotive industry, was the preferred choice of French supplier Faurecia for the dashboard and trunk claddings. Its excellent scratch resistance, low gloss and consistent quality made it well-suited to Skoda's request for a smooth finish on the lower dashboard and grained version for the upper section. The need for extra impact strength and stiffness in the integrated instrument panel area was met with Daplen ME268AI, a 20% mineral filled grade. US supplier Cadence Innovation selected Daplen EE158AI, a 13% talc filled grade, for the interior surface cladding because of its combination of high stiffness and very good impact behaviour. The material's outstanding scratch resistance further added to its appeal for this application.

All three grades ensured low thermal expansion for the finished parts, delivering a consistent high quality fit between parts. Overall ease of processability contributed to a reduction in scrap rates, enabled thinner wall sections to be used and allowed faster moulding speed to meet Skoda's demands. The lower scrap rate alone provided a cost saving of 1.5%, while Borealis light weight Polypropylene provided a weight reduction of 5%, contributing to improved fuel consumption.

Cereplast, manufacturer of proprietary bio-based plastics has received confirmation of the low carbon footprint of its Biopropylene® resin. Biopropylene®-a patented compound manufactured using traditional polypropylene and up to 50% starch content-has shown 42% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions relative to traditional polypropylene, according to Ramani Narayan University Distinguished Professor of Michigan State University and an independent testing laboratory.

The independent study has found that approximately 1.82 kilograms of carbon dioxide are produced for each kilogram of Biopropylene® used, compared to 3.14 kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted for the same amount of polypropylene.

As per a senior authority with the company, the Biopropylene® also replaces up 50% of the petroleum content in traditional PP with bio-based materials adding to its environment-friendly characteristics. The converters can reduce green house emissions by 1.32 kilos which is a noteworthy milestone.

Progressive Components, America's leading supplier of components to the production tooling industry, introduces its new Friction Puller for parting line control.

Progressive's Friction Puller advances parting line control by improving mold life cycle and performance over other methods. The new Friction Pullers have been tested are proven to be extremely durable, with limited adjustment even after a million cycles. This combined with the exclusive venting and self-centering features proves provides added value to the customers. Unique features not found with competitors' models include:

1. Internal venting: - no extra through holes and no additional machining in the back of the mold is required.

2. Self-locating: - designed to allow the resin assemblies to self locate, even if plates shift due to thermal expansion or machining variances.

3. Indicator Arrows - remove guesswork during installation and adjustment

Each year thousands of tents are abandoned at festivals and end up in landfill but accommodation at these events could be about to go green.

Moulder JSC Rotational based in Worcestershire, the UK, has made a luxury ‘tent’ from a recycled compound developed by compounding and recycling firm Luxus.

Myhub is made from recycled plastics and waterproof cardboard and features a foam double bed while the base and end frames are moulded in 100% recycled MDPE.

If the idea catches on Luxus in Lincolnshire, the UK, hopes to introduce a “closed loop system” where the used myhub plastic parts are reclaimed and reused to produce more myhabs.

This story begins with a lost dog, and ends up in deep water. In between, there is collaboration between a diver with an idea for a better swim fin, the designers who brought his idea to life and materials suppliers who found the right resin blends to make it all work.

And there is also a bronze-level honor in the International Design Excellence Awards for the product they brought to the market: Omega Aquatics’ Amphibian swim fin with a blade that moves out of the way to make life easier for divers before they even enter the water. (The IDEAs are annual honors from the Industrial Designers Society of America.)

Fin creator Ronen Moyal, an avid diver, came up with a concept for a swim fin in which the blade would pop up and away from the foot bed.

The idea was to make it easier for divers to walk on the beach or a boat deck with the fins on, while getting ready to enter the water. But though he had gotten as far as putting his concept into computer-aided-design files, he did not know where to go next.

Enter the lost dog.

One afternoon, one of the workers at Designcraft Inc’s offices in Lake Zurich, Illinois, found a dog wandering in the business park, took it in and started looking for the owner.

The dog belonged to Moyal’s wife, who had another business in the park, and who mentioned that her husband had an idea for a new product, said designer Casey Stahl in a 13 September interview at the IDSA´s annual conference in Phoenix.

The diver and the designers hooked up, and Designcraft quickly saw the potential of Moyal’s concept.

“He’d been kicking the idea for a while, and when we saw it, it was almost one of those, ‘Why didn’t we think of this?’ projects,” Stahl said.

Walking with fins is awkward. Putting them on when the diver is already loaded down with scuba tanks and a weight belt can be dangerous, he said. Pulling them on in the water wastes time.

The Amphibian is designed so the diver can put them on right away, move comfortably on land, and swim away quickly once he enters the water, with the flexible motion of the fin itself pushing the blade into place.

Through the two-year development, the companies faced two major issues, Stahl said - which materials to use, and the mechanics of getting the fin to flip up out of the way when on land, but pop into use easily in the water.

Material choices were limited, as the fin and its movable parts needed to be able to stand up to salt water and the cold of a subarctic dive, but also move easily in the water.

The final product relies on two small stainless-steel springs on either side of the fin, and a polypropylene hinge molded into the PP substrate structure. The PP hinge also can be pushed down to release the blade with the heel of the other foot, which makes it easier to move the blade out of the way and climb a boat ladder at the end of a swim.

GLS Corp of McHenry, Illinois, was brought in to provide the right thermoplastic elastomer to add flexibility to the structure, with the companies taking advantage of the chemical bond of a TPE overmoulding on the PP substrate.

“It needs to be both flexible and robust,” Stahl said.

The fin uses two blends of GLS’ Dynaflex TPE to tweak the flexibility where it’s needed to give the fin the best possible performance in the water, said Dyana Hunsaker, GLS sales representative. The Amphibian also uses GLS TPE on the sole of the foot bed, to give more secure footing on slippery surfaces.

“Initially we called in GLS to help us on the bonding issue, but they helped us troubleshoot when we were running into problems in processing,” Stahl said. “We were able to find where we’d designed the PP a little too thin for what we needed in moulding.”

The Amphibian hit the market in late 2007, and Omega and its partners are working on future projects now, including a military-grade version, he said.

* Rhoda Miel is a journalist at Plastics News, a sister title of PRW and EPN

By the summer of 2009, consumers can expect to see plastic photovoltaic roof tiles on the market. The product will feature an injection moulded tile with a compression laminated photovoltaic layer.

Getting the tiles to market hasn’t been easy. Peter Bressler, founder and principal of Bresslergroup, a Philadelphia-based industrial design and product development firm, explained how he did it in this video report. He is speaking at the Industrial Designers Society of America’s recent national conference in Phoenix.

PRW's sister title Plastics News is teaming up with the 3,500-member IDSA to deliver a series of videos from the event.

PN reporters interviewed students, educators, inventors and design/innovation leaders from such firms as Lenovo, Nike, Dell, Navistar, HP, Bayer, GLS, Hong Kong Polytechnic and many more.

The series is called “Design Briefs: An original video series on collaboration, education, sustainability, China & more.” The interview with Bressler is the first in the series. Watch for at least 12 video clips, to be released one per week, on the IDSA.org and Plastics News Global Group Web sites.

A £12m project to develop the technology that will eventually allow e-readers to display in colour has been launched by Liquavista and Plastic Logic.

The three year research programme will allow the two companies to develop next generation flexible electronic displays using Liquavista’s patented electrowetting technology.

Applications could include e-magazines, watches, phones, secondary displays on laptops, and consumer or medical devices with an electronic display.

Liquavista, a spin-out company of Philips Research Labs, is expanding its scientific and engineering team in Cambridge by recruiting 15 technical and five commercial staff members.

It launched its first display platform using its electrowetting technology earlier this month, aimed at watches and mobile phone secondary displays.

Liquavista vp marketing and sales, Simon Jones, told PRW.com: “It’s great news for the UK. It’s showing we have the continued ability to create these leading technologies, and build and maintain a national competence in plastic electronics and display.”

The research will be partially funded by the government sponsored Technology Strategy Board.

“There will be some commercialisation phase after, and possibly parallel, with the back end of the development project,” Jones added. “It’s not going to be one big leap because there will be simple flexible displays first and then gradually more complex displays.”

An image is formed on an electrowetting display when a voltage is applied to a coloured oil – this makes the oil contract. The technology will create thin, flexible and light screens that display bright, colourful images and show video content with low power consumption.

More than 90% of the manufacturing cycle uses standard LCD manufacturing equipment and processes.

The majority of Liquavista’s next generation display research is currently carried out in its Eindhoven facility in The Netherlands. The company has 60 staff worldwide – this number does not include the new hires.

The new jobs would be split between the company’s office in Abbotsley, outside Cambridge, and Plastic Logic’s Cambridge offices.

The displays will initially use plastic substrates as the carrier for the TFT backplane. Jones said there could be a plastic backplane on products within two to three years.

“It’s the subject of active development,” he said.

“Some of the research from [the Plastic Logic joint project] and some of our own research independent of that project will together help to develop [a plastic backplane].”

DuPont has developed the first oil pan module for serial vehicle manufacture which will be used on Daimler’s 4 cylinder diesel engines, initially on the Mercedes C Class.

The company highlighted the engineering polymer breakthrough, for its Zytel 70G35 HSLR nylon, at this week’s Fakuma show. The 6 litre capacity oil pan comprises a die cast aluminium upper shell and multi functional lower shell made from the nylon.

The component, moulded by automotive supplier Bruss, offers a 1.1 kg weight saving over an entirely aluminium design and offers scope for further functional integration in future.

The pan involves a sophisticated sandwich design with a second injection moulded part welded onto the pan’s flat section. This design helps to calm the oil churned by the crankshaft while high ribs in the sump, which act as baffles, also help to achieve this calming.

The project involved close cooperation between DuPont and the moulder with finite element analysis techniques used to refine positioning of the ribbing, improving the stiffness of the critical flat section of the plan.

Flow studies carried out by DuPont showed the impact of wall thickness, gate number and positioning and weld line formation and warpage behaviour.

In fact, DuPont noted, the high flow rate of the Zytel enables one single gate to fill the mould cavity completely, resulting in reduced tooling costs and simplified process control.

Tests at DuPont’s technical centre at Geneva involved the combined engine and transmission “being dropped forcefully by a fork lift truck”. Real life tests at Bruss also confirmed the performance of the polymer-based component.

A new laundry detergent pack designed in the UK demonstrates efforts being made by brand owners to answer criticism about over-packaging.

Breaking away from the usual bottle shape, the compact packaging for Ariel’s new Excel Gel is described as a “pebble”. Design features reduce waste in the packaging and also the detergent dosing by the consumer.

Structural packaging design firm Studio Davis, based in Bath, worked on the project with in-house design managers at Procter & Gamble, owner of the Ariel brand. Will Davis at Studio Davis told PRW that as Excel Gel is a new product, P&G wanted to have a new type of pack.

The result is a headstanding format, which uses 45% less packaging than the current Ariel dilute liquid. It has various integrated components that also help its environmental credentials.

The container is topped by a snap-on/snap-off doser, which is two-shot moulded from polypropylene and a TPE. An integrated “visi-strip” gives consumers a clear gauge on how much gel they have remaining in the pack.

Precision dosing by the consumer is helped by a squeezable form designed to be intuitive. The packaging is optimised to spring back into shape and ensures the consumer has complete control in dispensing the gel.

Davis said project time was spent on material flow simulation to make the polypropylene “squeezy” and avoid the buckling that often happens with other detergent containers.

No information about the packaging manufacturer has been made public by P&G.

Sabic Europe has launched a conversion efficient polypropylene flowpact composite for thin wall packaging, pails and containers plus caps and closures markets.

The chemicals giant said PP FPC55 provides faster moulding cycles with excellent flow behaviour and an exceptional balance of impact and stiffness, allowing for thinner wall options.

It added that the key issues facing the packaging industry are increased cost pressure driven by rising energy prices and a stagnating demand in a mature market.

Sabic argued that improving conversion economics was therefore “vital” to manufactures within the packaging industry.

PP technical marketing engineer for packaging, Diederik Goyvaerts, said the material could help speed up moulding cycles by 15%. He added that the material also offered “superior flow behaviour” similar to 70MFI due to its “unique rheology”.

Sabic also offered the material with an additive package. Increased crystallisation speed enabled shorter cooling times and more efficient conversion. Sabic added that parts down gauging options become a reality using the improved rigidity while the impact performance remains at a “superior” level.

Ukrainian packaging producer Hekro PET is reported to be preparing to manufacture a new barrier food packaging film by the end of this year.

Hekro is based in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine, and is a specialist in PET bottle preforms and polyethylene stretch film.

The company was planning to launch its new barrier film - claimed to be the first such product produced in the Ukraine - next month, according to Ukrainian investment company Alfa Capital.

The former Soviet country currently imports all barrier film for use in wrapping meat and other fresh food from Western European countries.

Alfa Capital believed Hekro will benefit from being the Ukraine's first domestic manufacturer of barrier flexible packaging. It is unlikely to be challenged immediately by other local film producers because of the higher technology required for such a development, the investment firm predicted.

In 2006, Hekro installed a high speed 5-layer cast stretch film line supplied by Battenfeld Gloucester Europe GmbH.

The Ukrainian firm is a leading bottle preform producer employing Husky injection moulding machines. It is a major supplier to the Ukraine's beverage sector.

Hales Tool & Die, the Maldon-based supplier of components to mouldmakers and injection moulders, has started some new services and launched a new website.

The company is now able to purchase mould hose by the metre, and supply with crimped ends, fittings and coupling to suit specific requirements of customers. This is a free in-house assembly service offered by Hales and the company says it is one of many initiatives designed to benefit its customers.

Hales is also now supplying ejectors ground to the customer's required finished length. The company said: "We take a standard length ejector from our vast stock and cut it to any length that the customer needs."

It uses a special in-house machine to supply ejectors cut to a tolerance of -0/+0.05mm. As well as offering DIN standard ejector pins, Hales also cover a wide range of ejectors including sleeves, blades and stepped pins, plus special ejectors made to order.

The company's new website at www.halesmastip.co.uk has easier navigation, a download section and an online catalogue. The website and the company's Global Strength, Local Knowledge initiative, first seen at PDM 08, reflects its position as a worldwide supplier to the industry with an image that reflects on the company's Australian roots, it said.

The British Plastics Federation has launched its new website this week featuring an industry ‘facebook’ plus an exciting new tool called Plastipedia – an on-line plastics encyclopedia.

The website takes the industry into the plastics equivalent of social networking. Plastbook will facilitate exchange of experience between personnel in the industry.

It will also provide a facility to ask and provide answers to particular questions which could lead to business development opportunities for the respondents, said the BPF.

Public and industrial affairs director Philip Law described Plastipedia as “the world’s largest on-line plastics encyclopedia”. The tool covers polymers, additives, processing technologies and products and will feature animations of processes.

Other features include an Exporters’ Toolbox, with plastics market data for 80 countries, and an Industry Directory, containing profiles on some 2,000 UK plastics companies.

“The site has been entirely re-styled,” Law added. “Major new additions include downloadable buyers’ guides to the major players in the industry. Featuring BPF members they represent a tangible, new, membership benefit.”

The BPF's earlier website was already very popular with 1.5 million unique visitors per annum. The BPF website is at www.bpf.co.uk

Despite recent collapses in waste plastic market supplies, the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised increases in waste plastics that must be collected and prepared for recycling across the EU.

A new waste management framework directive has been approved boosting minimum recycling rates for plastics and other household wastes, saying that by 2020, the EU’s 27 member states must recycle half (by weight) of this refuse.

The same potentially applies to industrial plastic waste as well, where municipal waste collection is used by companies and “these waste streams are similar to waste from households”, said the legislation.

Also, by 2015 separate waste collection systems must be established for plastics waste, along with paper, metal and glass. Welcoming the legislation, a council communiqué said: “By promoting the use of waste as a secondary resource, the new legislation aims to reduce landfill and greenhouse gas emissions in landfills”.

It also lists compulsory priorities for waste management within national programmes and policies as follows: waste prevention (the preferred option); re-use; recycling materials; recovery (including energy recovery), and safe disposal (only to be used as a last resort), potentially pushing even more plastic into a recycling stream, whose market is currently in deep trouble through mass exports to China ending.

Governments across the globe agree that BPA is safe in the current allowed levels despite the concerns that have emerged from the US this week.

Trade body PlasticsEurope made this argument to head off a panic after the evidence used by the US government on BPA safety was judged “inadequate” (PRW.com 30 October).

PlasticsEurope said BPA safety was “of the highest concern” for its PC/BPA Group and that the group would continue to comply with Europe’s regulatory authorities.

However, the trade body added that in Europe BPA had one of the most “rigorous” and “conclusive” safety examinations of any substance. It said the updated European Union Risk Assessment published in June found that BPA was safe for its intended uses.

It said that this assessment involved government experts considering several hundreds of studies including both small exploratory and comprehensive, statistically-robust studies.

The trade body added that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) revisited BPA safety in a report published in July and confirmed the safety of existing food contact applications.

PlasticsEurope added that the EFSA has now assessed the American Medical Association (JAMA) report. It issued a statement last Friday saying that the JAMA report provided no grounds to revise the current allowed BPA levels.

North American company Beaumont Technology is extending its MeltFlipper and Max mould feed optimisation hardware with the introduction of iMarc in-mould adjustable rheological control system.

MeltFlipper and Max enable injection moulders to balance mould filling and to alter filling patterns within specific cavities, eliminating a variety of waste and part quality issues.

The iMarc system is a development of the MeltFlipper and Max technologies, but with the additional capability of dynamic melt flow adjustment from the parting of the tool. This can be achieved, says Beaumont, without the need to change gate locations, part geometry or process conditions.

www.beaumontinc.com

The European plastics caps and closures market amounted to 217 billion units in 2007, representing a value of €215bn, according to the latest study of the sector by UK market analysis group AMI.

Total production of plastics caps and closures has grown at a rate of around 6% a year over the past three years, says AMI. However, production of one-piece closures has expanded at a rate of 9% a year over the same period and this style now accounts for 64% of the standard beverage closure market. One-piece closures accounted for 55% of this market sector in 2004.

Cost reduction and light-weighting initiatives lie behind the move to one-piece closure designs, says AMI.

The beverage sector accounted for 64% of European closure production in 2007. AMI predicts that growth rates of around 4% a year will be seen in this market up to 2012. Key drivers will be the expansion of still sport and juice drink markets and substitution of cans by single-trip PET containers.

Plastics closure consumption will also benefit from the growing market for beer in PET in eastern Europe. In fact, AMI predicts that the countries of eastern Europe will see closure consumption grow at around 8% a year to 2012 against a 3% rate in the more mature western markets. Western European producers will, it says, focus more on non-standard and sports designs.

Custom closures, including non-standard diameters, sports caps and carton mechanisms, continue to present the greatest opportunity to add value.

European closure producers consumed 770,000 tonnes of polymer during 2007. PP accounted for 55% of this volume, with PE and PE/EVA based resins accounting for 44%.

AMI says one-piece closure growth has helped PE/EVA gain a five percentage point share on PP since 2004. For the same reason, it predicts PE will see 5% per year growth to 2012 against a 2% rate for PP.

www.amiplastics.com

UK-based Bronkhorst has launched a new range of liquid dosing systems able to cover flow rates from a few nanolitres to 1000kg/hr. The new units are claimed to provide high accuracy and pulsation-free delivery in a compact package.

Each integrated liquid dosing system incorporates a mass flowmeter from either Bronkhorst’s thermal mass Liqui-Flow or Coriolis-type Cori-Flow series. Onboard control, closely-coupled gear pump, liquid filter and check valve are included.

www.bronkhorst.co.uk

German hot runner supplier is now offering the wireless LAN option for all of its hot runner temperature controller.

Wireless LAN allows low-cost remote monitoring to be set up to track temperature controllers and operating conditions of hot runner systems. It also allows equipment to be adjusted remotely.

The system uses the normal wireless standards and provides a transfer rate of 54 Mbit/s.

www.gammaflux.com

The high cost of oil is hitting motorists hard in the pocket. But carmakers are looking at fuel economy from a very different perspective – regulators within both Europe and the US are tabling tough new laws designed to curb CO2 emissions.

The EC has drafted legislation aimed at reducing average fleet CO2 emissions from new passenger cars from today’s level of 160g/km to 130g/km by 2012, a reduction of 19%. In the US, regulators are looking for a 4.5% improvement in Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) performance each year until 2015, when it wants to see passenger cars averaging 35.7mpg (15.2km/l).

Achieving these targets will require a whole raft of new technologies, but one weapon in the armoury will be a renewed focus on weight reduction. And plastics will play a key part.

One of the key challenges will be to reverse the trend for cars to grow with each generation. Jean-Claude Steinmetz, vice president for the automotive and transport market at Rhodia points out that average vehicle weight increased over the period from 1995-2005 period from 1,100kg to 1,300kg.

More specifically, he says the first Volkswagen Golf weighed 750kg. Today’s Golf weighs 1,400kg. “36% of emissions are due to weight. If 20% weight can be saved, it means 10-12g/km less CO2 emission,” he says.

Steinmetz believes a greater use of plastics could still cut around 35kg from vehicle exterior parts, 22kg from the engine compartment, and 63kg off the structure of a vehicle.

Expanded PP foam producer JSP also emphasises the emissions saving potential of plastics. It claims that the use of its foams in seating systems, for instance, can reduce weight by up to 35% – or 10kg per car.

“A 10 kg weight saving in a car that sells over 100,000 units annually and has a kerb weight of 1,200 kg is the equivalent of reducing the environmental impact of its production by over 800 cars a year,” says JSP Europe chief operating officer Paul Compton. “On an average car that’s a reduction of over 20,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.”

A review of sustainability carried out by Johnson Controls Interiors also underlines the critical role of weight reduction. It calculates that 77% of green house gases (GHG) occur during the usage phase of a vehicle, with fuel extraction, processing and distribution accounting for 11%, manufacturing 9.5%, resource extraction and transportation 3.4%, and end-of-life disposal 0.13%.

Faurecia’s CEO for automotive parts Yann Delabriere told EPN sister magazine Automotive News Europe that weight reduction is now a top priority. “We have been discussing weight for years, but not with the same cost consciousness,” he says.

Faurecia’s product portfolio – seating, cockpits, bumpers and exhaust systems – accounts for around 16% of the weight of a typical vehicle, so scope for it to influence vehicle weight is huge. “If we account for 16% of the weight of a car and the car weighs 1.2 tonnes, then our products represent about 190kg. If we reduce this by up to 20%, that means about 38kg,” he says.

Plastics headlamps and body panels have been a key contributor to weight reduction over the past decade– while also improving design flexibility. That combination of benefits is now ready to transfer to the vehicle’s glazing.

Sabic Innovative Plastics European automotive market director Derek Buckmaster estimates that replacing the side and rear glass on all the passenger vehicles on the road in Europe today with PC alternatives could reduce fuel consumption by around 2,100m litres a year and CO2 emissions by around 5.2m tonnes.

And US envirommental strategy group GreenOrder calculated that the Qarmaq concept SUV developed by Sabic IP together with Hyundai to showcase the potential of PC glazing resulted in a 60kg weight saving.

It is unlikely that Renault chose PC for the rear quarterlights and screen on the limited edition road-going version of its high performance Megane F1 Team R26 car to reduce emissions, but the weight saving it achieved – 5.7kg per car – shows what can be realised through the use of polymers.

German compound producer Peter Putsch launched a new PP-based compound at Fakuma 2008 that it claims will simplify production of injection moulded interconnect devices (MIDs).

The new compound contains a carbon-based conductivity component that is dispersed in the moulding material. This conductivity additive is exposed and activated by selective application of a laser beam to the material surface.

According to Putsch, the conductive tracks eliminate the need for metallization, taking MID production to a two step process of just injection moulding followed by laser melting.

Trials carried out at the Bayerisches Laserzentrum (BLZ) at Erlangen in Germany are said to have shown that good results are achieved using the same laser systems as used for current MID projects. Conductive pathways ranging from narrow tracks to large bands have been produced, with conductivity increasing with the laser intensity used.

Putsch said that the resulting tracks display a well defined edge along with long term stability over the typical operating range for PP.

German machinery maker Dr Boy introduced a new hydraulic drive option for its 55 and 90 tonne injection machines at Fakuma that it claims can reduce energy consumption by up to 50%, yet carries a price premium of less than Euro 3,500.

The energy saving E series technology, which will be offered initially on the company’s 55 and 90 tonne models, replaces the standard variable speed hydraulic pump unit with a servo-motor pump drive. This delivers only the volume of hydraulic oil required at any particular point in the moulding cycle; when no pump capacity is required, the motor shuts off completely.

The company says the E machine, which uses an otherwise standard hydraulic system, will reduce energy consumption by 50% compared to a full hydraulic machine with a variable speed pump. The specially developed servo motor and software control also provides a 10% improvement in operating dynamics and a 20% reduction in noise levels, according to the company, while the reduced load on the oil minimises cooling requirements.

Boy export sales engineer Hans-Peter Hirte said the new machine drive has been designed to enable the company’s customer base to realise many of the benefits of all-electric moulding machines without the capital investment or the need to retrain maintenance staff.

“Our philosophy is to construct machines for people that will own them for a long time. This machine is easy to work on and the parts costs are not high,” he said.

Because the 55E design uses just a single servo motor drive, customers can also benefit from a much reduced connected load. Hirte said the 11kW rating of the 55E is the same as a standard hydraulic machine; the multiple drives on a conventional all-electric would be rated at 70kW or more.

The company said the E machines can be ordered now, with the first 55 tonne machines likely to be delivered to customers in March. The first 90E models will be delivered in April.

Premiums over standard Boy machines are Euro 2,000 for the 55E and Euro 3,500 for the 90E.

Hirte said the E drive technology, which has been developed exclusively for Boy, may be applied to other models in the Boy range in the future.

October 2008

Oct 7 - Oct 8, 2008

Sustainable Plastics Packaging 2008
Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, London
European Plastics News
epnconferences@crain.com

Oct 7 - Oct 10, 2008

AUSPLAS 2008
Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Exhibition Management Pty Limited
http://www.ausplas.com

Oct 14 - Oct 16, 2008

China International Exhibition on Plastics & Rubbe
Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China
Applas Co. Limited

Oct 14 - Oct 15, 2008

3rd Russia/CEE Rubber & Tire Markets
Krakow
Centre for Management Technology
leelin@cmtsp.com.sg
http://www.cmtevents.com/?ev=081042&st=46

Oct 21 - Oct 23, 2008

PLASTICS & RUBBER VIETNAM 2008
HIECC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd (BES) and Messe Dusseldorf Asia Pte Ltd
http://www.plasticsvietnam.com/plastic_rubber/2008/en/index.asp

November 2008

Nov 5 - Nov 6, 2008

Asia Automotive: Innovative Transformation
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Marcus Evans
CatherineF@marcusevanskl.com
http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=14590&SectorID

Nov 12 - Nov 13, 2008

Plastics in Automotive Glazing 2008
Laurel Manor, Livonia, Michigan, USA
Crain Communications Limited
araymond@crain.com
http://www.plasticsinautomotiveglazing.com/

Nov 17 - Nov 18, 2008

In-Mould Decorating 2008
Swiss Hotel, Dusseldorf, Germany
European Plastics News
jnoakes@crain.com
http://www.inmoulddecorating.com/

Nov 19 - Nov 20, 2008

5th Specialty Elastomer / TPEs
Shanghai
Centre for Management Technology
leelin@cmtsp.com.sg
http://www.cmtevents.com/?ev=081181&st=46

Nov 27 - Nov 30, 2008

Plast Eurasia 2008
Tüyap Fair, Convention and Congress Center, Beylikdüzü
Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organisation Inc.
sales@tuyap.com.tr
http://www.plasteurasia.com/

December 2008

LyondellBasell Industries, one of the world’s largest polymers, petrochemicals and fuels companies, announced that it has commercialised a family of newly patented Lupolen high density polyethylene (HDPE) resins. These new HDPE resins offer improved resistance to bio-diesel and may therefore be of interest to manufacturers of automotive plastic fuel tanks. The resins are manufactured to meet the needs of the fuel tank producers facing bio-based product challenges, and are available for use in blow molding (Lupolen 4261 AG BD) and injection molding (Lupolen 4261A IM BD) processes. Thomas Lindner, Technical Manager of LyondellBasell’s Automotive Fluid Systems Business “With this new resin, we have improved chemical resistance that should allow manufacturers to produce fuel tanks that can accommodate fuels containing higher levels of bio-diesel.”

According to the company, Lupolen HDPE test data using blow molded and injection molded parts have shown a significant increase in chemical resistance to bio-diesel fuels compared to current HDPE grades on the market. After 1500 hours of contact with fuel consisting of 100 percent bio-diesel, the grade changed its intrinsic viscosity by 1.7 percent, which corresponds to a nearly thirty-fold improvement in resistance compared to standard HDPE grades previously used by customers in fuel tank applications.

The end users who demand lower prices, higher tolerances and quicker delivery on parts are the ones driving the forces of change. Not everyone is closing down. In fact, the opposite is occurring for some. Certain companies seem to be thriving as they grow, providing products and services while competitors grind to a halt. While some airlines are reporting profits and ordering more than 500 new jets, others are cutting back, laying off, grounding jets at airfields in the desert and reducing flights. But all airlines serve the same customers.

Logic says established businesses that have paid off their buildings and machines and have a workforce where the average employee has 10 to 20 years of service under their belt, are stable, strong and posses all the infrastructure to continue growing. Apparently not! It often seems the companies with everything going for them have become stagnant, complacent and fall the hardest.

We are no longer in a world where the traditional wins, where five-year projection plans survive and we all go home at night feeling secure in our future. Survival has become dependent on sideways thinking, a relentless pursuit of new ideas and creating a culture where people—from the shop floor to the receptionist—know that their input counts and is valued. Where freedom of thoughts, concepts, ideas, modifications, upgrades and processes are all focused on the ever-changing target ahead.

Waterjet: A Piece of the Survival Puzzle
And what on earth does all this have to do with waterjet cutting and moldmaking? Well, everything really. Waterjet may be one of the pieces of the puzzle that could allow your company to leap forward with minimal cost and gain huge returns. Waterjet might double the output of a shop without employing more people or buying any additional machinery, other than the waterjet. Waterjet could be something that allows your business to provide more product at a lower cost. Waterjet could be the one piece of equipment that turns your mold shop around and opens up the doors to increased production, efficiency and better utilization of existing equipment.

Dual head waterjet machine. Photos courtesy of WARDJet, Inc.

Where waterjets cannot hold tolerances to tenths of a thousand of an inch in 10-inch stainless steel or six-inch A2 tool steel, they do cut all the way through, pierce their own holes, and can certainly be used to get within acceptable tolerances for clearance holes and near-net-shape cutting.

Waterjets eliminate hours of hogging out material producing low value chips, and replace it with clean, through cuts with valuable drops that can be used for other projects. Waterjets can achieve tolerances up to +/- 0.005” on many materials thinner than say two inches, but the moldmaking industry typically works with thicker, heavier materials where it would not be wise to count on such tolerances.

Using a waterjet to do all preliminary cuts on a die or mold and get it to a point where only the final machining is required, frees up the high cost, high tolerance mill to be used for the purpose it was purchased and built—specifically the final high tolerance finishing of parts.

The combination of capabilities of a waterjet and mill could allow a dramatic increase in output and hence revenue. The same staff running the mills could be used to run the waterjet, and the same programmer can easily do all programming. It could be that the waterjet could prepare two to three molds ready for machining in the time it takes for the CNC mill to do the final machining of the part. If the mill time is simultaneously reduced substantially, and is used primarily for milling the finished tolerances, each mill could possibly increase its throughput several times.

A waterjet also can be a great tool for modifying molds and dies at a reduced cost. With the increased cost of materials, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs, and one is to reuse or modify an older die or mold.

Evaluating Waterjets
However, not all waterjets are created equal, and just as some manufacturers may be in danger of falling behind the car manufacturers and airlines, others are surging ahead with innovative options that are setting the pace for others to follow. A careful evaluation of the philosophy of the waterjet manufacturer is critical. You don’t want to be left with a machine that you should be happy with because the last 100 customers have not complained. Purchasing a machine that will grow, expand and has been configured to meet all sorts of new options—some of which may not even be in existence yet—is important.

Turns your mill into a waterjet cutting tool.

So let’s look at some of the innovative ideas that are on the horizon for waterjet that you need to be sure you are not about to miss out on.

Plate Alignment, Part and Program Rotation and Indexing
A waterjet—when mounted onto a system that allows options like plate alignment, part and program rotation, along with the ability to index the waterjet stream to within 0.001"—is a powerful tool. Not all waterjet systems have these features and instead force the operator to line the part up in the X or Y axis and then using an indicator to check alignment, limiting the ease of use of the waterjet.

Laser Pointers, Laser Projection and CCD Video Camera Sensing
Being able to use a laser or CCD video camera mounted onto the cutting head to sense or locate points on the part to be cut could be real time savers. Using lasers to indicate a start point is relatively old technology, but using a CCD video camera to trace the shape of a part, in effect acting as a large digitizer the size of the waterjet cutting table, is not commonly found on waterjets. To take things one step further, it is now possible to have the actual shape and toolpath projected onto the parts to be cut by mounting a laser above the waterjet.

It is believed that waterjet cutting is only beginning its debut, with unlimited possibilities on the horizon, and it looks like the prices of waterjets will be coming down in the future, making it possible for smaller shops to be able to access the technology. This is evident in some of the new waterjet systems out there. For example, one system makes it possible to place a small self-contained waterjet cutting tank on the bed of any CNC mill and within minutes use it as a waterjet cutting system. Then, when the waterjet cutting is complete, the mill can be used again for its original purpose.

Milling with Waterjet
The term waterjet machining is being used more nowadays as opposed to waterjet cutting. Along with this is the soon-to-be-used term waterjet milling. This has been demonstrated over the years and used in specific applications under controlled environments, but has not really been financially viable to date in a job shop environment. It is expected that milling will be released as an option on some machines this year, making machining of tough to work with materials a piece of cake.

Height sensors, programmable Z axis, remote access to controllers enabling diagnostics and upgrades of software, advanced abrasive delivery systems, monitored abrasive flow, pressure, cutting speeds, taper compensation for increased cutting speeds under certain circumstances, multiple head cutting, wireless hand-held pendants, feedback and monitoring of cut times, cut progress and interactive communication with operators, are but a few of the options that could make waterjet cutting something your shop needs to consider.

Carbon dioxide (gas, solid, liquid) as a machining fluid and its beneficial impact on machining operations with regards to both lubricating and cooling qualities has been studied for the past 60 years. One of the earliest documented metal cutting processes using a carbon dioxide spray is described by Thompson Products (later TRW) in the early 1950s.¹ The literature contains several good examples of the benefits that can be realized with a CO₂-based machining fluid.

With regards to tool wear, a reduction in CBN tool wear has been noted when CO₂ gas is admitted to the atmosphere of the cutting zone, removing oxygen and reducing oxidation.2 With regards to tungsten carbide tool wear, it has been observed that liquid CO₂ sprayed at base of carbide tool tip retards crater wear.³ In another investigation, it was observed that CO₂ gas increases tool life by allowing a larger, protective BUE to form on HSS.⁴ Gases such as CO₂ not only lubricate, but also cool. This point has been illustrated with cooled gases in many applications.⁵ For example, tool life increases when CO₂ gas is cooled to -40° C to -60° C, even when cutting forces rise.^6,7,8

Limitations and shortcomings associated with conventional carbon dioxide machining fluid sprays of the past include—among others—a lack of fluid compositional control, limited lubrication ability, lack of temperature and penetration control, and limited machine-tool adaptability. These issues are addressed with a new CO₂ machining spray technology called advanced minimum quantity cooling lubrication.

Good Reasons to Change (or at least augment)
The past century has witnessed significant advancements in cutting machines, cutting tools, machine controls, processing materials and coolant-lubricant chemistries. However, surprisingly very little has changed with regards to the application of cooling lubrication. Current cooling lubricant application practices predominantly employ a flooding spray that is as old as the metalworking and machining industry itself. In the past, flooding may have been necessary to compensate for excessive heat generated due to the inferior performance of cutting methods, tools, machines and fluids. Today, more is better is not universally applicable to cutting fluids. In fact, for many operations flooding is wasteful, costly and may even be a detriment to the performance of advanced machining processes, materials and equipment.

The literature suggests that costs related to the use of flooded cooling lubricants can be between 7 and 17 percent of the total costs of the manufactured workpiece. Intangible costs to a business must also be considered. For example, cutting fluids, especially those containing petroleum oils, have become a huge liability. No matter how safe and environmentally-friendly a cutting fluid may be, governmental regulations demand special handling the moment it is poured into a sump.

If the past is an indication of the future, all metalworking fluids will become progressively more controlled and regulated in the years to come. In an increasingly competitive world, this means higher costs and a tougher business climate.

Conventional Coolants and Lubrication
Literally thousands of different cooling lubrication formulations are available on the market for the many different types of machining processes, equipment, cutting tools and materials. Besides machinability issues related to cooling lubricants, selection factors include machine/tool compatibility, sump stability, foaming characteristics, filterability, toxicity, biodegradability, odor, misting, surface wetting, staining, surface cleanliness and disposal issues. Cooling lubrication formulations are tested and selected based on their ability to provide the best mix of all of these characteristics—the tradeoffs being between machining and non-machining performance characteristics.

Conventional Coolants and Lubricants

Alternatives to current practices are getting more serious consideration in response to environmental and operational cost pressures. One attractive alternative is minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). The MQL approach uses a small amount of an oil of one type or another which is entrained as microscopic droplets in an airstream and delivered as a coherent dry (air only), near-dry and wet machining spray. Bio-based lubricating oils derived from soybeans or other vegetable products also are being used successfully with MQL. Natural oils have numerous MQL advantages, including a polar chemistry which reacts more favorably with metal surfaces, unsurpassed lubricity and an abundant U.S. agricultural growing capacity. MQL performance studies in machining processes such as milling, grinding and drilling show great promise; however, issues related to cutting zone penetration, tool adaptation and cooling capacity continue to be barriers to widespread adoption of MQL.

Advanced Minimum Quantity Cooling Lubrication
A new cooling lubrication technology has been developed, called advanced minimum quantity cooling lubrication (AMQCL), which employs simple but powerful physics and engineering princi-ples to provide a superior ability to penetrate, cool, clean and lubricate a cutting zone. It resolves many of the limitations found in conventional and more advanced cooling alternatives such as conventional LN2 and CO₂ machining sprays.

Spray Applicator

The foundation for AMQCL is “hybridization”. The beneficial physicochemical machining actions and benefits provided by MQL, cool gas, solid coolants and various lubricant chemistries are combined in a distinct process. As a result, AMQCL can be implemented alongside many older and newer metalworking machinery, tools and fluids, augmenting a successful conversion to cleaner and leaner machining operations.

AMQCL employs a unique and beneficial combination of technologies:

• Minimum amounts of carbonated coolants and lubricants
• Coanda effect for additive injection and spray trajectory control
• Precise machining spray temperature control
• Precise cooling lubrication composition control
• Electrostatic charging of cooling lubrication compositions for improved droplet formation and cutting zone deposition
• Pressure and flow control for enhanced penetration, flushing and lubricant deposition

Spray Composition

The system combines a source of propellant gas (i.e., compressed air), lubrication additives (i.e., soy oil) and solid and/or gaseous CO₂ (i.e., coolant) in various concentrations to form an infinitely adjustable cooling lubricant spray. The system also employs a novel Coanda-coaxial injector and spray applicator.

The applicator employs a passive electrostatic charging mechanism to enhance droplet uniformity, spray force and machined surface deposition. Alterna-tively, an active electrostatic charging system may be employed to provide combination spray charging capability.

The AMQCL system is interfaced both mechanically and electronically with a machining operation. A benefit of a composite CO₂ machining spray, and unlike conventional CO₂ machining sprays, is that dilute mixtures containing solid coolant particles and subcooled lubricants more easily penetrate microscopic cutting interfaces. Concentrated particle streams tend to “pack” the interface during impact, which prevents the efficient flow of lubricants and coolant particles deep into the cut zone.

Penetration Power

Unique Chemistry and Control
AMQCL spray chemistries combine several chemical and physical cooling and lubrication ingredients and are formed and delivered on-the-fly. The sprays are infinitely adjustable and may include liquids, extreme pressure solid additives and reactive gases that are combined with a propellant gas and injected into a metered flow of charged CO₂ gas-solid aerosol. Each ingredient contributes a specific physical and/or chemical dimension—including cooling capacity, penetration power, boundary layer reactivity, lubricity, viscosity, spray particle size and density. AMQCL sprays have variable geometry including adjustable cooling lubricant characteristic from dry to wet composition, room temperature to near-cryogenic temperature, and spray pressures ranging from 10 psi to 150 psi, or much higher, if desired.

Unlike simple atmospheric gases like nitrogen and oxygen, CO₂ exhibits very strong hydrocarbon solubility. CO₂ gas exhibits >600 percent higher solubility in oils as compared to compressed air. Due to this unique physicochemical properties and cohesion energy, CO₂ gas modifies lubricant and coolant additive properties to produce mixtures having lower surface tension and lower viscosity, which aids in penetration into chip/tool capillary interfaces. Moreover, CO₂ itself behaves as a reactive boundary layer lubricant—forming carboxylic acid functional groups during tribochemical reactions.

AMQCL technology provides infinitely adjustable cooling-lubricant compositions of CO₂ coolant, propellant gases and minimum quantities of any type of lubrication additive(s). Adjustable spray pressure, temperature, coolant particle size and lubricant additive concentration allow a machinist to customize a cooling lubricant composition for any application. One or more individually controllable and flexible Coanda or coaxial spray applicators may be employed to provide optimum cooling, lubricating and cleaning actions.

Managing Heat
Machining heat is generated in three ways:

1. The deformation of the material (metal, plastic, ceramic, composite) in the shear zone ahead of the cutting edge.
2. The point of separation when the material is physically pulled apart.
3. The friction of the chip as it contacts the surface of the tool edge as it is pushed out of the way.

AMQCL helps control machining heat by providing both physical and chemical cooling and lubrication effects. Frictional heat generated at the cutting edge is eliminated through the delivery of reactive lubricants (chemical effect)—including carbon dioxide gas, which produces beneficial tribochemical reactions. The majority of the machining heat produced by the deformation of the material itself is removed using adjustable spray compositions containing microscopic particles of solid carbon dioxide, which impact hot surfaces at high velocity and remove heat through a phase change (physical effect) phenomenon. Using a physicochemical approach, heat generation is controlled and heat is not allowed to accumulate in the tool or workpiece, which would cause temperatures to rise.

Better Quality Finish

Superior Penetration Power
The combination of sublimating solid coolant and subcooled lubricants (mass) with near-sonic air flow (velocity) creates significant penetration power (Force = mass x velocity), which allows the coolant and lubricant particles to penetrate deeply into a cutting zone. Particle velocities of between 50 m/s and 400 m/s are easily obtained with AMQCL. Upon entering the cutting zone, the cooling lubricant spray provides chip cooling and chip evacuation during sublimation or evaporation of the CO₂. During expansion, electrostatically charged CO₂ gas and lubricant uniformly coat the surfaces, penetrating cutting interfaces, and providing hydrodynamic and boundary layer lubrication. Very high penetration power can be produced using the unique AMQCL spray composition as compared to conventional high pressure flooding techniques. For example, microscopic particle-fluid impact stresses of over 8,000 psi are easily achieved with this technology.

Performance Testing

Cutting Performance
In a standardized cutting test performed by an independent laboratory (TechSolve, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH), AMQCL (using a bio-based oil additive) outperformed conventional flood processes, including best-in-class synthetic oils, soluble oil and semi-synthetic with EP—in terms of both uniform tool wear and cutting force.

Moreover, a recent hard turning field demonstration illustrated how the AMQCL process changes the established paradigm in the hard machining. Compared to dry turning, an AMQCL composite spray improved PCD-coated carbide insert life by greater than 10x with 2x deeper cutting, and resulted in a better surface finish. This is a machining process thought to be best performed under “dry” (i.e., no coolant) conditions.

Advantages for Tool, Die and Moldmakers
AMQCL offers multiple technical advantages and opportunities for tool, die and moldmakers. These include, among several others, the following:

• Supercharge existing cutting fluids in minimum amounts with increased coolant power and cutting zone penetration
• Increase machining efficiency for harder and more abrasive materials
• Improve surface finish
• Test new advanced coolant-lubricant additive combinations in minimum quantities on-the-fly without having to change-out coolant sumps
• Optimize challenging machining processes with customized combinations of coolant, lubricant and advanced cutting tool coatings

Another advantage is that it is a very clean and lean technology. A clean and lean machining and metalworking approach is pollution prevention. Pollution prevention consists of any activity or strategy that eliminates or reduces the use of hazardous or toxic substances, conserves water or energy, and eliminates (or reduces) the generation of nonproductive outputs, hazardous wastes, air emissions, wastewater or other pollutants.

Wrap-Up
AMQCL technology can help businesses improve productivity while reducing operating costs and environmental pollution. It achieves this without compromising the selectivity, control and performance that they now enjoy with current metalworking fluid technology. The technology uniquely addresses the shortcomings of the cutting fluid alternatives while capturing all of their inherent benefits. AMQCL is applicable to metalworking and machining operations such as turning, milling, facing, threading, boring, grooving, grinding, dicing, and polishing, and more particularly, to a metalworking and machining operations at higher speeds.

AMQCL can be implemented alongside many older and newer machining and metalworking alternatives—including machinery, materials, methods, processes, cutting tools and fluids—augmenting a successful conversion to a clean and lean metalworking operation. Finally, for tool, die and moldmakers, AMQCL technology enables the use of advanced manufacturing materials, tools and machining techniques while providing clean and lean manufacturing benefits.

Global demand for polycarbonate (PC) resin continues to grow strongly in the high teens, with consumption now approaching an annualized 3 million tonnes worldwide. This equates to approximately half the annual 6 million tonnes of global demand for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), with which PC is often compounded. Growth drivers for PC include automotive, construction, electronics and medical, and suppliers are targeting these segments with specialized grades to maximize performance.

In the medical segment, "The mere fact that our aging population will generate an increase in the demand for medical care, coupled with constant improvements to healthcare systems in developing countries, will contribute to increase demand for PC. In addition, new fields of application for polycarbonates are now emerging from areas such as genetics and biotechnology and from innovative treatment methods," explains Markus Krieter, a medical technology expert from the polycarbonates business group at Bayer MaterialScience. A recent application of a Bayer PC grade was in pressure-resistant ampoules for the Injex needle-free injection system.

GE Plastics, meanwhile, recently introduced two new autoclavable biocompatible polycarbonate grades-Lexan HPX4 and HPX8R-for medical applications (January 2006 MPW). A third Lexan medical grade, HPS7, is radio-lucent (invisible to x-rays) and was employed by Rigid Orthopedics in its Clear Wrist Fixator. The grade also passed the application requirements for impact resistance, clarity, lightweight, and gamma sterilization capability.

For automotive applications, Bayer MaterialScience recently debuted Bayblend DP T65 TX, a PC/ABS alloy for thin-wall applications, boasting 15% better flow than current Bayer PC/ABS grades without compromising other properties. Bayer MaterialScience sees great potential for using the new material, particularly in vehicle interiors and for coated components for vehicle exteriors. Bayer's Makrolon AG 2677 PC, meanwhile, was employed in the "teardrop" roof of a concept car at the Geneva Motor Show held in March this year. The entire roof dome was molded in a single shot from the automotive glazing grade.

Construction represents a promising area for PC, where it competes with such materials as acrylic and PVC. In a recent major project, the largest round roof of its kind in the world-that of the massive new Shanghai South Railway Station- was constructed of Lexan PC sheet from GE. The roof uses 55,000m2 of GE's Lexan multiwall sheet.

GE sheet was also employed in the boarding platform roof. More than 25 tonnes were employed to construct the six 360m-long, parallel roof sections. Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen, Germany; +49-214-30-1; www.bayermaterialscience.com; GE Plastics, Pittsfield, MA, USA; +1 413-448-7383; www.geadvancedmaterials.com

New grades go head-on versus PC in headlights

Polycarbonate has a long history of use in automotive lighting applications, but a number of suppliers of other thermoplastics are striving to snatch market share in these parts.

For instance, engineering thermoplastics supplier Solvay Advanced Polymers LLC has introduced two materials it says are optimal for use in highly reflective automotive forward lighting applications (headlamp bezels and reflectors, fog-lamp reflectors, and park-and-turn reflectors). Both materials allow for direct metallizing.

One grade, Udel LTG-2000 polysulfone (PSU), is useful to temperatures up to 175°C; the second grade, Radel LTG-3000 polyethersulfone (PES), is suitable for use in temperatures up to 205°C. Both are aimed at toppling the entrenched materials, polyetherimide (PEI) and PC/PEI blends. Both Solvay materials can be directly metallized, as opposed to offline metallization and its associated costs.

According to Solvay, its Radel LTG-3000 PES beats many PEI grades on temperature resistance and 50% higher impact resistance, while offering a 33% increase in melt-flow rates. "This increase in flow allows engineers to reduce wallstock by at least 25% while maintaining toughness," says Matt Howlett, global market manager for lighting materials at Solvay Advanced Polymers. "The first time you put the LTG materials in a tool, you'll appreciate the difference-pressures will drop, material will flow better, and you'll fill out the part with less molded-in stress."

Udel LTG-2000 polysulfone is Solvay's champion versus high-temperature PC and PC/PEI blends. Solvay says its PSU has greater temperature resistance than most high-temperature polycarbonates and PC/PEI blends. The new lighting-grade polysulfone also has significantly higher flow rates than these competitors.

Solvay recently invested $50 million to expand its Marietta, OH facility in order to increase its sulfone-based thermoplastics capacity.

In an interesting application development and PC replacement scenario, headlamp bezels for the new Ford Transit are the first instance this part has been developed and molded in Turkey. Turkish electrical components supplier Mako, owned by Magnetti Marelli (Italy), molds the bezels using Zytel 103 HSL, a heat-stabilized nylon 66 from DuPont. Polycarbonate is the entrenched bezel material.

The parts were first premiered at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England in late April. Mako applies a silver-metallic paint bezels; no primer is needed. Solvay Advanced Polymers LLC, Alpharetta, GA, USA; +1 770-772-8200; www.solvayadvancedpolymers.com; DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA; +1 800-441-0575; www.plastics.dupont.com

PC stands up to sterilization

Applicable in medical packaging applications, a new polycarbonate (PC) film is able to withstand gamma and E-beam radiation used in sterilization without yellowing. Makrofol LP 209 uses an additive system to tolerate the sterilization technologies that are increasingly displacing ethylene oxide gassing, which requires heat and can leave residue.

Potential applications include titration plates, instrument boxes, and implant packaging, with the film available in standard thicknesses between 175-500 micrometers. Makrofol LP 209 satisfies ISO 10993 Part 1 biocompatibility requirements, which regulate materials in contact with body fluids and tissue for up to 30 days. In addition, the material meets US-Phamacopeia Class VI biological compatibility standards.

In another medical PC development for the manufacturer, following its success within the marketplace, a PC grade has been granted commercial status, earning a new moniker: Makrolon Rx1452.

Offering strength, clarity, and processability, the PC meets FDA-modified ISO 10933, Part 1 requirements for biocompatibility in certain tints and colors. Makrolon Rx1452 PC is said to be especially suited for difficult-to-fill molds and parts with shallow draft angles, like cylinders, thanks to an internal mold-release technology. Normally, many PCs can require the use of a spray-in mold release to get components to eject cleanly from the mold, but the use of such chemicals in cleanroom environs of medical applications, is, of course, not an option. The material is also said to help decrease cycle time, and allow for automation of demolding, potentially reducing direct-labor costs. Bayer MaterialScience LLC, Pittsburgh, USA; +1 412-777-2000; www.bayer.com.

PC glazing finds windshield application

Moving beyond side windows or sunroofs and introducing the latest generation of its Exatec 900 glazing paired with Lexan GLX polycarbonate (PC), Toyota Auto Body used the material system for windshields in nine electric vehicles deployed at the 2005 World Exposition (Aichi, Japan).

Exatec 900, which is the latest iteration of the original Exatec 500 system launched in 2003, includes 900vt (vehicle top) and 900el (electroluminescence) technologies. The polymer-based system reportedly reduced weight by 40%-50%, while offering wiper performance and extended life.

Exatec's (Southfield, MI) product includes a PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition) coating for glass-like abrasion, wiper capability, extended weathering, scratch resistance, and a bonding surface. Silicon hard coating is included for UV protection, with inks and pastes used for the purposes of decoration and functionality. The GE Lexan or Bayer Makrolon PC is the final element, including additives and dyes. The system also includes the SHX proprietary weather interlayer, which, using a predictive weathering model program, was projected to withstand more than 10 years of outdoor exposure. Exatec is a 50:50 joint-venture business established by Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany) and General Electric Advanced Materials (GEAM; Pittsfield, MA) in 2003. Bayer points out that PC has already replaced glass in more than 90% of automotive headlamps, and its use in applications like the louvered sliding sunroof of the Mercedes Benz A-class bodes well for the future automotive integration. GE Advanced Materials, Pittsfield, MA, USA; www.ge.com.

Carmakers pass on glass

Polycarbonate (PC) window glazing is fast moving from novelty product to mainstream application. Weight savings and parts' integration, the hallmarks of plastics in their replacement of so many traditional materials, here also are seen as key attributes. Safety also plays a significant part in the transition.

Exatec, the PC glazing technology joint venture formed in 1998 between Bayer MaterialScience and GE Plastics, inMarch introduced a new product, Exatec 900el, which would allow injection molding of an electroluminescent interior light-band in different colors directly integrated into the perimeter of the transparent polycarbonate car roof.

Exatec's research focuses on the manufacturing processes that automotive systems suppliers need to design, mold, print decorate, UV protect, plasma hardcoat, bond, and assemble windows. The company licenses its technology.

The electroluminescent roof was manufactured using the proven Exatec 900 technology and the light-band was applied directly onto a film. The illumination intensity conforms to the legal regulations and does not exceed the allowed level; drivers and passengers can adjust the brightness of the interior lighting.

The electroluminescent light-bands consist of a stack of layers that work, in principle, like a capacitor. Between a front and a rear electrode there is a layer of luminescent pigment, which, together with the encapsulating product, forms the insulating layer (dielectric). When a voltage is applied to one of these electroluminescent cells, the color pigments begin to shine due to the current.

Most current sunroofs are made of either tempered glass or standard laminated glass. Single-layer tempered glass is the traditional, low-cost alternative but is losing favor due to safety concerns and its heavy weight. Greater impact resistance is provided by standard laminated glass with a thin polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film sandwiched between the two sheets of glass.

An alternative solution proposed this spring by supplier DuPont Glass Laminating Solutions (Troy, MI) is its Spallshield thermoplastic composite for use in vehicle sunroofs. Spallshield is a composite of PVB and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with an additional antiscratch coating on the PET. The composite can be applied to a single, standard layer of glass using traditional glass lamination processes.

Spall means to break into small splinters or fragments. DuPont markets the material as an alternative to pure organic plastic glazing or other existing glass-glass type laminates. The technology was specified in sunroof systems on the new S- and R-Class vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, introduced in the latter half of 2005. DuPont's technology is new for mainstream automobiles, but has seen nearly three decades of use in bullet-resistant and hurricane glass.

Applied to a single layer of glass, Spallshield provides up to eight times the impact performance versus standard laminated glass, according to DuPont, while offering weight savings to 30%. According to the supplier, the sunroof market is growing at 10%-15%/yr rates. Weight savings have become a dominant issue in sunroof design as these parts, too, grow ever larger with panoramic roofs the current rage.

The supplier says the technology is being considered for 14 other vehicles, for sunroofs, sidelights, and backlights. Exatec LLC, Wixon, MI, USA; +1-248-926-4200; www.exatec.de; DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA; +1-800-441-0575; www.plastics.dupont.com