HDPE shields lower noise
Posted by
Sumesh Nair
Labels:
Thermoforming
Thermoforming can provide significant cost savings over the traditional fibre composite noise panels in vehicles, according to Hull-based Thompson Technik of the £40m Thompson Plastics Group.
Thompson Technik's approach uses vacuum formed HDPE and was developed together with a customer in the vehicle market to provide a shield that matches the performance of the existing fibre composite panel when tested against the Euro 5 procedures.
The company designed and funded a pre-production tool to create a panel with rib features designed to increase strength and rigidity.
The panel and liners are made at Thompson Technik's thermoforming site at Hull where the company operates 22 thermoforming machines supported by 5 axis CNC trimming and ancillary processes.