Keppel Gumbo Launches World's First Lightweight TPE Material
Source：德创化工Time：2020-04-01Hits：1767
Keppel Gumbo has launched three new product lines for extremely light components, which meet the growing demand for vehicle construction, electric tools and various other application fields.
In order to further reduce vehicle emissions, especially to reduce the unsprung load in and on the vehicle, and to improve fuel economy, automobile manufacturers have been looking for extremely lightweight solutions. Lower weight and higher flexibility also play a decisive role in the success of products in other fields, including electric tools, aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, textiles, sports, leisure and outdoor products.
Therefore, foaming materials including TPE are often used, but strict process control procedures are required to obtain uniform surface quality.
Keppel is now able to produce extremely light thin-wall molded products by using 3M glass foam to apply new TPE technology to extremely low density materials with a density between 0.7 and 0.9 g /cm³, thus providing excellent surfaces and being able to withstand mechanical loads.
Tiny glass foam is made of water-insoluble and chemically stable borosilicate glass. They are uniformly dispersed in TPE matrix, which helps to improve dimensional stability.
The new type of light TPE can be processed mature, economically and efficiently using injection molding machines and extruders. In addition to significantly reducing weight and forming a very uniform surface, they also provide excellent permanent compression set values. Production waste can be directly recycled.
Three specific series of TPE launched by Keppel Gumbo are the first of its kind in the world, including: THERMOLAST K LW/UV (light+UV-resistant) for external vehicle components; THERMOLAST K LW/CS/UV (light weight+increased compression set+UV stability), with excellent resilience and adhesion to PP, makes this product series especially suitable for various sealing applications. And THERMOLAST K LW/PA (light weight+adhesion to polyamide) also have HB incombustibility grade conforming to UL94.
Martina Hetterich, manager of Keppel's TPE Advanced Development Project, said: "3M glass foam has undergone various tests and tests as a lightweight filler in various' hard' thermoplastics, but our new lightweight technology has been used in TPE for the first time. Thanks to the excellent cooperation with our partner 3M, we can not only develop a formula that meets the current light weight structure and quality requirements, but also open up a new market for the commercial application of our TPE. "
Three new THERMOLAST K lightweight products from Keppel Gumbo are now on sale worldwide.
