LANXESS's Durethan BKV 235 H2.0 XCP material specially developed for oil pans has the following characteristics: It is also extremely tough at low temperatures, and rubber modification has improved the impact resistance of grooves, good stiffness and strength, and meets the original equipment Manufacturer's (OEM) regulatory requirements.
Passenger cars are currently equipped with plastic engine oil pans. The engine oil pan is integrated with the oil sump. Due to its inherent function, the engine oil pan is generally installed at the lowest point of the car's oil circuit, which is close to the ground.
The Durethan BKV 235 H2.0 XCP material specially developed by LANXESS for oil pans provides good resistance to rock impact and chassis bottoming. This protection cannot be provided by metal plates or other covering materials.
Polyamide is a rubber-modified plastic reinforced with 35% glass fiber. The abbreviation XCP stands for extremely high crash performance, which means that the material has extremely high toughness. "Our structural materials show excellent Charpy (i.e. simply supported beam impact test) groove impact resistance at low temperatures. Despite the use of rubber-based toughness modifiers, the stiffness and strength of the material remain high Detlev Joachimi, director of product development at Durethan, said.
High mechanical strength oil pan
The new material meets the requirements of major automobile manufacturers for low temperature resistance of engine oil pan plastics. At -30 ° C, the Charpy (ie simply supported beam impact test) groove has an impact resistance of 18 kJ / m2 (ISO 179-1eA). In contrast, Durethan BKV 35 H2.0, a standard polyamide 6 material containing 35% glass fiber, can reach 10 kJ / m2 at this temperature. Compared with standard polyamide 6, the elastic modulus and tensile stress of the new material are significantly reduced when broken, which are 9,500 MPa and 164 MPa (dry plastic, ISO 527-1, -2), respectively. "We have been able to design oil pans that meet stringent material stiffness and strength requirements while exhibiting excellent impact resistance," Joachimi said.
High heat distortion temperature
Another great advantage of this innovative material is its good fluid properties and high heat resistance. The material has a thermal deformation temperature of 203 ° C at ISO 75-1, -2 (HDT A, 1.8 MPa), which is almost the same as Durethan BKV 35 H2.0. "Thus the oil pan can maintain normal operation at higher continuous operating temperatures," Joachimi said.
Potential applications of winter sports equipment
Due to its high resistance to low temperature environments, polyamides also have good application prospects outside the automotive industry, such as winter sports. "Possible application areas include ski fixtures, sleds and components on tracked snowmobiles," Joachimi said.