Welcome to E-News Update from Plastics & Rubber Asia

peciality chemicals firm Lanxess has two new 35% glassfibre Durethan grades for physical and chemical foaming, allowing blowing agents to dissolve easily for homogeneous single-phase solutions. These are targeted at under-the-hood automotive cylinder head covers and fan shrouds and for plugs/connectors, lamp sockets/holders and housing components for thermostats and DIY tools.

Another new Durethan TP 424-009 (to be known as AKV 30 G HR DUS 023 in the future) is targeted at pipes used in vehicle engine compartments. This hydrolysis-stabilised 30%-filled PA66 incorporates an additive that allows for gas and water injection processing for hollow parts with large pipe cross-sections and complex geometries with branches, flattened cross-sections and large angles.

A 60%-filled DP BKV 60 H2.0 EF grade, meanwhile, offers stiffness for automotive engineering use as an alternative to metals and glass mat-reinforced thermoplastics (GMTs). Its tensile modulus of 19,000 MPa is twice standard-filled PAs. It has recently been used to produce a spare wheel recess with integrated reinforcing channels in the new Audi A8.

In its Pocan PBT range, Lanxess has added on three blends for exterior truck components. The high heat-resistant A3131 is a 30%-filled PBT+ASA blend for structured geometrical thinwall parts like wind deflectors and door extensions. With better flowability (40%) and toughness (30%), a key strength of the PBT+PC C3230 XF is its minimal distortion. It is ideal for lamp housings and large panels/trims. Meanwhile, the 55%-filled T3150 XF is for structural reinforcement that require stiffness and strength. It boasts a high elasticity modulus of 18,500 MPa, panning it as an alternative to plastic/metal composites.