Huntsman PU resin systems enable lightweight sandwich construction for automotive

Polyurethane systems (PU) have an important role to play in the growth of composites, acting as a key enabler for more cost effective, high-volume manufacturing of automotive composite parts including electric vehicle (EV) battery covers and underbody protections, door frame reinforcements and interior trims and boards, particularly through sandwich construction.

Focused on delivering continuous improvements in physical properties, productivity, total cost and compatibility between core and resin materials, the Huntsman Polyurethanes (Auburn Hills, Mich., U.S.) composites team has devised a special ‘package’ approach that combines its Vitrox RTM and Rimline FC PU systems. The result is an integrated product offering that can give automotive equipment manufacturers advantages in terms of lightweighting, design freedom and simplified manufacturing.

Huntsman’s Rimline FC system can be used to manufacture molded PU cores in complex shapes with almost no limitations on size, enabling greater design freedom. A good base for strength and lifetime reliability of composite parts, Huntsman says foam cores made from its Rimline FC system can vary in density and thickness and can be equipped with additional properties such as temperature and fire resistance. Compression resistance at elevated temperatures also means the foam can resist resin pressure during composite molding, limiting resin penetration into the core.

The family of Vitrox RTM snap-cure PU resins is the other half of Huntsman’s sandwich construction package for the automotive sector. Injected over a core, the infiltration of fibrous reinforcements by Vitrox RTM resin provides rigidity, high strength and long-term durability of lightweight composite sandwich designs, including complex, 3D parts with tight dimensional tolerances. Designed for HP-RTM processing, Vitrox RTM PU resins are said to act as a key enabler for more cost effective, high-volume manufacturing of automotive composite parts.

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This post is courtesy of the CompositesWorld and AZL Aachen GmbH media partnership.