VDI-K congress engineering plastics in the automotive sector

    

AKRO-PLASTIC presents its portfolio at the international trade exhibition in Mannheim

The company AKRO-PLASTIC-GmbH, specialist for innovative and application-oriented plastic compounds, repeatedly presents innovative products for applications in the automotive sector at the international trade exhibition within the VDI-congress "Engineering plastics in the automotive sector" in Mannheim on 17th and 18th of March 2010.

  

Even in this year, representatives of European automotive,- and plastics raw-material industry, suppliers as well as representatives of professorships within the area polymer technology come together in the congress center Rosenheim in Mannheim in order to continuously strengthen and extent the network in this highly innovative technology sector, being based on partnership. The company AKRO-PLASTIC GmbH, situated in Niederzissen, Rhineland- Palatinate, presents both, its innovative product program as well as its high competence regarding services at the trade exhibition, associated to the congress. Thus, the company as one of a few medium-sized enterprises, offering both engineering plastic production and compounding at the same time, also provides the possibility of a proven material testing in the in-house test laboratory, being certified by the German Accreditation Council according to DIN EN ISO 17025. 

   

From small orders to full-service: State-of-the-art machines for strand- as well as under-water pelletizing as well as twin screw extruders including variable process lengths demonstrate high competence in production as well as quality within the scope of toll compounding. Development of formulations according to customers' requirements completes the comprehensive service portfolio. The transformation of formulations into saleable standard products as well as special products, produced according to customers' requirements are being offered as an innovative R&D service.

  

„Especially the highly-innovative field of technology of automotive industry profits by our flexible and service-oriented material development“, according to Harald Sauer, Key Account Manager at AKRO-PLASTIC. „The substitution of metals has significantly increased in the automotive sector during the last years. Besides reduction in weight, being considerably important in these days due to high oil prices, a high design freedom as well as an outstanding stiffness are telling arguments for economical as well as technical alternatives in contrast to metals, which have been used up to now“.

  

Applications, striving for a substitution of die-cast metals, are associated with usually unrealizable requirements of engineering plastics, demonstrating that the application of standard polyamides after conditioning could only be realized in exceptional cases, even with high reinforced grades with up to 60 %, due to these reduced mechanical features. AKRO-PLASTIC has developed a product with the special blend AKROLOY® PA, based on PA 6.6, significantly reducing the disadvantageous features of a polyamide for the application area metal substitution. One of those features is the moisture absorption, leading to reduction of stiffness, resistance and tensile-creep modulus and consequently to a lower dimensional stability of material with regard to standard polyamides. 

  

The recently developed product line AKROMID® T (PPA) is particularly suitable for high temperature applications in the engine compartment due to its high temperature- and chemical consistency as well as mechanical resistance. Another new development of AKRO-PLASTIC is the modified product series AKROMID® RM (Reduced Moisture), on a PA 6 basis. The moisture absorption of polyamide could be significantly reduced according to the producer, without influencing all further positive features of the material. Fields of application are for example warpage sensitive housings and plug connectors within the area electronic- and automotive industry. 


Up to now, this product series is available with 30 and 50 % glass fibre reinforcement; further types are being developed according to indications of the company.

 

The interest in materials on basis of renewable raw materials has now been steadily increased over the last years, even in the area polymer processing. Due to this fact, AKRO-PLASTIC being focussed on development of polyamide specialities has started to develop a polyamide 6.10 on basis of renewable raw materials. The new AKROMID® S consists of about 60 % renewable raw materials. Castor oil of the seeds of the castor oil plant builds the basis for sebacic acid, acting as a basis for the renewable raw material part of the polymer.

 

„With our AKROMID® S, we fulfil the common definition of a biological compound. However, our product is not biodegradable as several ones of the materials being used in the packaging industry. This feature is absolutely not desired with the use of technical compounds in contrast there, we need high consistency of materials lasting the total life time, which can not be fulfilled by a degradable compound”, explains Leander Bergmann, Head of Marketing at AKRO-PLASTIC. “By use of plant raw materials, already having extracted CO2 from the environment during their period of growth, the CO2 balance of the material is more favourable in total in contrast to the one of polymers on basis of fossil raw materials”, Leander Bergmann adds.

 

Technically, PA 6.10 closes the gap between PA 6 or respectively PA 6.6 and PA 12. It is characterized by significantly reduced moisture absorption in contrast to PA 6 and PA 6.6. Typical values at 70 °C and 62 % relative humidity are at those product types 3 or respectively 2,2 % depending on the reinforcement level. With only 1,2%, AKROMID® S3 GF 30 1 here only shows about half of the moisture absorption and can therefore be used as engineering material in cases, where high dimensional stability is required. Besides higher low-temperature impact strength, the product shows a very good chemical- as well as hydrolysis resistance due to its polymer structure. However, the process ability of this product corresponds further on to this of a PA 6.

 

Due to these characteristic features as well as technical features of AKROMID® S, the product is perfect for the following application areas:

 

  • Highly precise parts in technical apparatus construction as well as in precision engineering
  • Technical parts in vehicle construction, as for example media pipes as well as media containers
  • Connectors in vehicle electronics
  • Connecting elements and plugs in photovoltaic as well as in solar thermal energy.

The product portfolio currently disposes of an unreinforced variant and several glass-fibre reinforced grades of 15 to 50 %.