HP Pelzer Helps Create
Durable Belly Pans for DaimlerChrysler’s PT Cruiser with Ticona’s
Compel®
LFRT
Long Fiber-Reinforced Thermoplastic
The belly pan sits beneath the engine and reduces
drive-by noise to meet European regulations. It has a flat base and two
sidepieces. The 3-mm-thick base is about three-feet square and extends from
under the radiator to the firewall. An 8-inch-square, removable panel in the
base allows for oil changes. The 8-by16-inch sidewalls hold the base in place
by attaching to the car and the base with screws.
“The part needs to be flexible and must withstand
impact from stones and other
objects,” says Pat Wundrach,
program manager at HP Pelzer. “We first compression-
Belly Pans for DaimlerChrysler’s PT Cruiser with Ticona’s Compel® LFRT, page 2 of 4 molded the belly pan out of sheet molding compound
(SMC), but road tests showed it was too brittle. After looking at a second
fiberglass-based material, we turned to an impactmodified
grade of Compel® LFRT reinforced with one-inch long glass fibers in a polypropylene
matrix.”
“Compel LFRT gives us a higher use temperature than
we achieved with SMC and a more consistent thickness throughout the part.
Compel LFRT also provides a greater margin of safety during assembly and end
use because it yields smoother edges."
Caption: Paris Motor Show 2002 - Chrysler PT
Cruiser, 2.2-liter CD, 2003 model, right front view, European version. DaimlerChrysler photo used with permission. The Compel part has a notched Izod
impact strength of 21 to 29 kJ/m2
at temperatures from -30º to 100ºC, as well as excellent resistance to
gasoline, motor oil, antifreeze and other fluids commonly found in
automotive environments. It passes a rigorous series of tests in order to meet
DaimlerChrysler specifications, including MSDD529 Type B and PF-8500.
Belly Pans for DaimlerChrysler’s PT Cruiser with Ticona’s Compel® LFRT, Compel LFRT thermoplastics contain
one-to-two-inch long fibers chemically
coupled to a plastic matrix. The fibers are fully wetted in
a patented pultrusion process that provides for high
strength, stiffness and toughness, especially in thin walls. For example, the standard
grade with 30 percent glass fibers in a PP matrix has 215 percent greater penetration
energy and 350 percent greater fracture energy than 30 percent short glass
fiber reinforced PP.
Compel thermoplastics flow well to provide consistent
glass fiber concentration and create smooth surfaces. In processing, they are
usually plasticized and extruded into a compression mold, rather than having to
heat a mold and compress a cold blanket as with SMC.
Caption:
Belly Pans for DaimlerChrysler’s PT
Cruiser with Ticona’s Compel® LFRT,
Additional Information Available
For information on Compel® long
fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, contact: Doug
Mankoff, Ticona,
For information on HP Pelzer in the
HP Pelzer, Inc. is a world-class
manufacturer of automotive acoustic components and automotive. For more
information on HP Pelzer, visit http://www.hppelzer.com.
Vectra® Liquid Crystal
Polymer Provides Flatness, Rigidity and Dimensional Stability in Meritec Edge-Connectors
The compression mezzanine connector accommodates two
printed circuit boards: one is a horizontal, fixed-interface card and the other
is part of a removable control module that plugs in at 31.5°. This is an
unusual configuration because the boards in most compression connectors lie
parallel to one another. The contacts within the connector have a high
compliance with a minimum working travel of 0.12 inch and can carry 2.5 amps of
continuous current on some lines.
Vectra® Liquid Crystal Polymer in Meritec
Edge-Connectors,
The one-inch-high connector is injection molded in
two sections, a housing and header. The header is 3.6 inches long and has a
0.13-by-0.16-inch cross section. It also has 14 short posts and 30
insert-molded metal contacts. Each contact is positioned between 0.03-inch-thick
partitions in the housing that insulate the contacts from each other when the
sections are heat staked together using the posts.
“Vectra LCP gives us the stability and moldability we need to make a high-quality connector,” says
Alan Roath, a senior engineer at Meritec.
“Both the header and housing emerge from the mold free of flash and with a good
surface finish, so no secondary operations are needed.” “After a brief
inspection, they go directly to heat staking. Vectra LCP has good heat staking properties
and forms a stronger bond than many other resins, such as glass-filled polybutylene terephthalate. In
addition, the LCP is a good insulator and more than meets
our solder reflow and thermal requirements.”
Caption: Meritec printed circuit edge-card connector
(black) molded of Ticona’s Vectra® LCP.
Meritec uses a two-cavity, three-plate tool made of hardened
tool steel to mold the part. Four 0.02-inch diameter pin gates along the top of
the part ensure rapid and uniform filling and eliminate the possibility of warpage. The gating would normally have been below or at
one end of the housing, but slides in the mold did not allow for this. The
gates are Vectra® Liquid Crystal Polymer in Meritec Edge-Connectors smaller
than usual for a part of this size, which adds shear heat to aid resin flow and
helps the part release. Cores are used at the base of the part to reduce wall
thickness there to 0.03 inch. This ensures that the base cools rapidly and uniformly
and is free of sinks and warpage.
Meritec molds the connector in a 110-ton
electric press at 590°F and an injection pressure of 1,600 psi.
Part cycle time is 18 seconds. “Beyond the high performance Vectra LCP gives us
in our electrical interconnect devices and cable assemblies,” says John
Hartman, Engineering Manager, “we also value the strong technical support we
get from Ticona. Ticona’s
people frequently work with our technical and design staffs from concept to
molding.”
“Their contributions are often critical
to the success of a project. In many cases, their help has enabled complex
parts to emerge from the mold on the first run, saving significant time and
money. The edge card connector is a good example. Their advice helped us
resolve tooling issues regarding gate location, coring and draft angle. As a
result, we got viable parts right from the first shot.”
Additional Information Available A product property data sheet on Vectra®
L130 LCP is available online at http://www.ticona-us.com/DataSheet/DataSheet.cfm?ID=693. Phone: 1-800-833-4882 or
1-908-522-7500. Or visit http://www.ticona.com.
2002 SPE
Auto Division Finalist Award:
Ticona Material in Low-Gloss
HVAC Knobs from TRW Celcon® Acetal Grade Meets 2%
Gloss Match, Holds Raised Letter Sharpness
Ticona Material in Low-Gloss HVAC Knobs from TRW, raised letters. The original design called for overmolding this part with 1.5 to 2 mm of 20 percent
glass-bead-filled black nylon. In addition to having excess gloss, the nylon
resin generated significant shear heat during molding that deformed the
lettering. By contrast, Celcon® UV140LG acetal flowed
well during overmolding, so the raised lettering
stayed sharp. The Celcon resin easily filled-in around
the letters “PASS” and “DRIVER”, including filling the small 0.0015-inch holes
in the letters P, A, D and R. Celcon UV140LG acetal
also provides resistance to UV radiation, scratch and mar, and gives the knobs
a comfortable soft touch. The resin’s chemical resistance enabled it to pass
TRW’s eight-chemical test that includes exposure to cleaning solutions,
gasoline and lubricants.
Caption: Chrysler and Dodge-branded 2001
& 2002 minivan HVAC slider knobs insert-molded by TRW Automotive. The undermold parts are Ticona’s
white Celcon® acetal copolymer. The overmold is black, low-gloss Celcon®
UV140LG acetal copolymer. Celcon UV140LG acetal
copolymer meets the low-gloss specifications for interiors at all major
American automakers. It allows auto interior designers to gain the traditional benefits
of acetal without sacrificing the appearance of door handles, push buttons,
coat hooks, knobs and other interior trim
applications. These benefits include high lubricity and hardness, durability,
creep resistance, UV resistance and dimensional stability.
For more information contact: Tom Miller,
Automotive Market Manager, Ticona,
Product property datasheets for Celcon® acetal copolymer, grade UV140LG, are available at http://www.ticona-us.com/DataSheet/DataSheet.cfm?ID=817.
TRW Automotive is a leader in active and
passive safety systems for the global automotive Industry TRW news is available
on the Internet at http://www.trw.com.
Vectra® LCP Selected over Nylon and Polycarbonate for Disk Drive
Load Ramp Made by Micromold, Inc. Vectra® LCP Fills Part Features Down to 0.5 mm
and Walls to 0.11 mm; Separate Feasibility Test Creates Gear Teeth as Small as
0.066 mm Summit, New Jersey; Kelsterbach, Germany, November 18, 2002 – Vectra® A430 liquid crystal polymer (LCP) was
chosen over nylon and polycarbonate (PC) for use in a disk-drive load ramp
molded by Micromold, Inc. The LCP, which is made by Ticona,
the technical polymers business of Celanese AG (NYSE: CZ; FSE: CZZ), flows
exceptionally well to fill ramp features as small as 0.5 mm and walls as thin
0.11 mm. Vectra LCP also provides high strength in the thin sections and
generates almost no debris because of its good lubricity and low wear.
In a separate feasibility test, Micromold evaluated
Vectra LCP’s ability to create extremely small
components by using it in a demonstration part that has gear teeth as small as
0.066 mm, or about two-thirds the diameter of a human hair. The load ramp
guides the magnetic head on and off the removable media in computer data
storage devices. The ramp, which is 9.5 mm long and 5.75 mm high, contains four
0.6 mm sections at either end linked by a beam. The beam is 0.815 mm wide and
has a 0.6 mm hole at its center for a shaft that raises and lowers the head,
which leaves walls as thin as 0.11 mm on either side of the hole. The part’s
smallest features are four 0.5- mm hooks or snap fits that attach the ramp to
an adjacent component without glue or fasteners.
Caption: Vectra® LCP gear from Micromold,
Inc. has 0.066 mm teeth, approximately two-thirds the diameter of a human hair.
Left photo: Actual gears on small coin. Right photo: CAD drawing detail.
Micromold, Inc.,
Pushing the Limit with Vectra® LCP
Micromold’s General Manager Ron Peterson says their customers continue
to ask for ever-smaller molded components. As an example, he cites a recent
request for a 0.005 gram part containing ten ribs, six bosses, and having a
wall thickness of 0.25 mm. “Vectra LCP is the only material we’d consider for such parts given
its flowability and strength in minute elements,” he
says. “Since we haven’t reached this resin’s limit in forming small,
thin-walled, complex parts, we wondered how far we could push it.” “As a test,
we used a tool for a part about 1.5 mm long having a diameter that ranged down
to 0.18 mm. It also had eight gear teeth, the smallest of which had a base
0.066 mm wide. The tool was supplied by Mimotec SA,
Additional Information Available
A product property data sheet on Vectra®
A430 LCP is available online at http://www.ticona-us.com/DataSheet/DataSheet.cfm?ID=708. Phone: 1-800-833-4882 or
1-908-522-7500. Or visit www.ticona.com. For information on Micromold, Inc. and its capabilities
contact: Ron Peterson, Micromold, Inc.,