Upheaval at Bayer
Interview with Dr. Hagen Noerenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Bayer MaterialScience

Bayer’s announcement that it was to split its business into two companies - promising sectors are being brought together under the name of Bayer whilst products which are already established on the market are being allocated to NewCo - is generating uncertainty among customers and employees. At the opening of the RDA plant (an important preliminary product for the manufacture of PUR) we talked to Dr. Noerenberg about the background to the re-structuring.....read more!

The shape of GMT things to come
New applications reveal potential for these thermoplastic composite materials

Glass Mat Reinforced Thermoplastics (GMT) are now coming back into the reckoning after losing some traditional applications to new materials and processes. A key factor in its renaissance is the relaxing of the requirement that parts are not allowed to fail over the lifetime of the car. Most OEM’s now accept that any underfloor part can be replaced when necessary. ....read more!

Transforming low cost into high value
From single component to MuCell

What induces a medium-sized manufacturer of low cost engineering components to invest, within the space of just a few years, in multi-component technology and - on top of that - in MuCell technology ? To find out, we went to Schröder Kunst-stofftechnik at Kierspe/Germany to take a closer look at this startling transformation. ....read more!

Gasketing Technology: A young Market comes of Age

It was several years ago that Cannon began to investigate what was then a technologically undeveloped market sector which had wide repercussions for the auto industry. The material was polyurethane, and the specific market sector was foamed “in situ” gaskets. The company’s R & D Centre was at the heart of the initial investigation and testing into the effectiveness and efficiency of the foaming process. A test-bed was set up for the in-situ production of the gasket. Raw material suppliers and “guinea pig” customers were also involved as the trials progressed. This cooperation was undoubtedly a key factor in helping to move the test rig into a full production prototype. ....read more!

Intake manifold takes centre stage
100 years of the Sonnenberg Production Plant

Mann+Hummel pride themselves on being innovatory and the 100th anniversary of the Sonnenberg site was a good pretext for investigating the latest production possibilities for intake pipes. Until now, it has been possible to produce intake manifolds only in rigid manufacturing cells, but increasingly new techniques have meant that plastic is replacing metal, different types of plastic are being used, and a variety of plastics processing methods are being tried. ....read more!

Ship in a Bottle
A novel approach to fuel tank blow moulding

The Ford GT has a long history in car racing dating back to the 1960’s when this car became the first race car to exceed 200 miles per hour on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans. Recently TI Automotive from Auburn Hill, MI/USA was assigned the task to produce a fuel tank for the 2004 production of a new Ford GT... it became a race against time. Perhaps another “world record” was achieved when TI Automotive produced the SIB prototype in just over three months. ....read more!

High performance, small space
Porsche packs a punch with Zytel Polyamide

The suction installation for the V8 engines on the Porsche Cayenne is a complex construction with a variety of components made from the polyamide Zytel 73G30 from DuPont. The joints between these individual components are created using encapsulation by injection moulding as well as various welding processes. ....read more!

Protective Polyurethane
Energy-absorbing polyurethanes protect drivers and pedestrians

From a purely physical point of view, when two cars are involved in a crash, a proportion of their kinetic energy is transformed into material damage. Every shape and every material behaves differently in such situations. Awareness on the part of motor vehicle purchasers and their expectations in relation to their vehicles have undergone a distinct change in the past ten years. In addition to comfort and the proverbial “joys of motoring“, passenger safety is a significant criterion and the decisive factor when it comes to buying a vehicle. There are also legal requirements, stipulating the vehicle is fully equipped with safety elements. ....read more!

LEDs call for good light transmission
Car manufacturers increasingly use this illuminant

Taillight clusters have become an unmistakable and characteristic design feature employed by automotive manufacturers. Rear light covers have to last for the entire service life of a car, and withstand strong sunlight, moisture and petrol. Röhm, Darmstadt/Germany, a division of Degussa, point out that one in two taillights in Europe are now made from their Plexiglas moulding compound. ....read more!

Giant Prototypes, Great Knowledge
Full speed ahead with Materialise

The Belgian company Materialise manufactures large prototypes for the automotive industry which are fully functional in themselves. When copies of large parts are needed R.I.M. (or Reaction Injection Moulding) has proved to be the ideal solution. ....read more!

Read more about several products for the automotive industry
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