By adding materials containing 20%, 30% and 40% carbon fiber reinforced grades, BASF is expanding its Ultramid® Advanced polyphthalamide (PPA) product portfolio to replace aluminum and magnesium to make ultra-light parts.
By adding materials containing 20%, 30% and 40% carbon fiber reinforced grades, BASF is expanding its Ultramid® Advanced polyphthalamide (PPA) product portfolio. The advantage of these new materials is that they can safely replace aluminum and magnesium to make ultra-light parts without affecting strength and rigidity, and they are also conductive. These new levels of products integrate the characteristics and advantages of Ultramid® Advanced N (PA9T) materials, making them stand out from the existing carbon fiber reinforced PPAs products on the market: low water absorption brings high dimensional stability and excellent resistance Chemical and hydrolysis resistance, as well as high strength and high modulus. These new carbon fiber reinforced grades can be used to manufacture automotive structural parts on body, chassis and powertrain, industrial pumps, fans, gears and compressors, and stable and ultra-light components used in the consumer electronics industry.
The mechanical properties of the new carbon fiber reinforced PPA grade can be adjusted through the selection and content of carbon fiber and through additive technology. Ultramid® Advanced N3HC8 with 40% carbon fiber has better strength and modulus than magnesium and aluminum at a temperature of 80°C.
"Our new PPA carbon fiber reinforced compound is an ideal metal substitute material, which is not only evaluated from the perspective of material performance." Michael Pilarski of BASF's PPA business management department said, "Recently, we have seen magnesium in different countries. Manufacturers are facing safety issues, which make supply unpredictable. Manufacturing parts with magnesium or aluminum requires additional post-processing and tools, which will increase system costs. Because of our new level of PPA, weight can be reduced by 25% to 30%. It means that we provide a safe, economical and high-performance alternative material for traditional metal parts."
Combined with BASF's Ultrasim® simulation software, the correct model can be established to simulate the behavior of the part and optimize the shape of the mold. Therefore, Ultramid® Advanced CF level helps different industries to achieve functional integration and weight reduction: electric vehicles or fuel cell vehicles can extend the cruising range by reducing the weight of structural components or power transmission components; consumer electronics products due to new PPA materials It can provide high strength and high rigidity, excellent dimensional stability, extremely low weight and good processability, and can obtain a light and thin precision structure; heavy, high load and long-term durable industrial equipment such as pumps and compressors, because The new carbon fiber grades provide good dimensional stability and high chemical resistance, heat resistance and wear resistance, making it easier to manufacture.
Compared with glass fiber reinforced polyamide (PA), this carbon fiber reinforced PPA also exhibits a lower weight and a higher tensile modulus. PPA reinforced by 20 wt% carbon fiber is about 20% lighter than PA6 or PA66 filled with 50% glass fiber, and the tensile strength of 20% carbon fiber reinforced Ultramid® Advanced is better than or equal to that of 50% glass fiber reinforced polyamide. At the same time, it also showed better processability. For example, Ultramid® Advanced N3HC8 is very stable after high temperature aging: after heat aging at 120°C for 5000h or at 150°C for 3000h, it still maintains nearly 100% tensile modulus.