The use of orange to identify charged plastic sheath components has been widely used in electric vehicles, but developing orange compounds that have long exhibited high color stability is a challenge. Materials company LANXESS has now succeeded in doing this.
Resin suppliers offer a wide range of orange polyamide (PA) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) compounds to suit these types of high pressure applications. The product will be used in the highly vivid RAL 2003 (LANXESS color code 200849). The compound will be available in standard formulations and thermally stable, which will help color stability when the component is exposed to high temperatures.
Julian Haspel, manager of the e-PowerTrain team recently established in the LANXESS Performance Materials business unit, said: "We want to provide all our compounds with a yellow card list from the U.S. testing organization's underwriters lab, which means model makers don't have to Coloring the product yourself, without having to go through the time-consuming UL certification process, can immediately deploy the compound, helping to cut costs. "
The standard versions of these compounds show sufficient color stability after 1000 hours of aging at 130 ° C. Haspel explained: "The setting of the thermally stable material can withstand even 1000 hours at 150 ° C without significant change in orange color."
The first products to adopt new colors include glass fiber reinforced, halogen-free flame retardant PA6 compounds Durethan BKV20FN01, BKV30FN04 and BKV45FN04. A feature here is Durethan BKV45FN04, which is 45% glass fiber reinforced, but still flows easily. It passed the UL 94 flammability test of the top grade V-0 with a test sample thickness of 0.4 mm. Haspel said: "The high hardness and strength of this material makes it suitable not only for structural components such as battery frames and end plates, but also for large high-voltage connectors that require high mechanical stability." The compound also has high tracking resistance at high Characteristics under voltage. This also applies to the other two polyamide variants. For example, the orange Durethan BKV30FN04 has a CTI value (comparative tracking index IEC 60112) of 600.
Durethan BG30XH3.0 is still the perfect choice for ultra-low warp structural plastics. It is reinforced by a mixture of glass fibers and glass beads. H3.0 thermal stabilizers are free of copper and halides and prevent electrical corrosion near live metal parts.
Hydrolytically stabilized glass fiber reinforced PBT composite Pocan BF4232HR is also part of the new product family. In the orange state, it also reached the V-0 level in the UL 94 combustion performance test, and the test specimen thickness was only 0.4mm. The American Society of Automotive Engineers' long-term test SAE / USCAR-2 Rev.5 (designed for plug connectors) demonstrates high resistance to hydrolysis. Haspel: "Our PBT meets Level 5 requirements, which is the strictest variant in this test."
LANXESS will continue to expand its range of orange compounds. "We develop custom material variants for specific applications based on market needs," Haspel said.