On October 16, K Exhibition finally met new and old friends in the rubber and plastics industry at the Dusseldorf International Exhibition Center in Germany! It is reported that this year, more than 3,000 exhibitors from more than 60 countries participated in the exhibition, including more than 360 Chinese exhibitors. The exhibition is divided according to the types of products and services such as mechanical equipment, raw materials and auxiliary materials, semi-finished products, industrial parts and reinforced plastic products, distributed in 18 exhibition halls, with a net exhibition area of 17,8000 square meters. In particular, this year's K show also set up special exhibition areas such as "Science Campus" and "Plastics Shaping the Future". The core topics include plastic industry 4.0, sustainable development, system integration, and training of young professionals. Circular economy, as the main trend of the industry in the future, is also a highlight of K 2019.
The Munich-based Wacker Chemical Group, with its theme of "Thinking Beyond" at booth A10 in Hall 6, participated in the world's largest plastics and rubber expo to welcome industry visitors. The booth covers an area of 300 square meters and displays many innovative products, including thermally conductive silicone for electric vehicle battery cooling, flame-retardant solid silicone rubber for rail vehicles, self-adhesive silicone rubber with low surface friction coefficient, and actuators. There are many types of electroactive laminated silicone for sensors.
"Silicone is extremely variable and has excellent performance and can be used to realize innovative product solutions. Because of its unique overall performance, it has become an indispensable material for many key industries such as automobile manufacturing, medical and electronic technology." Wacker Organic Dr. Robert Gnann, President of the Silicon Business Unit, said, "The reason why silicones are becoming more and more widely used in many industries is mainly because without such high-performance materials, we can hardly promote such important forward-looking features as automobile electrification and digitalization. The development of technology cannot meet the increasing health standards and living standards of the world, nor can it achieve the latest sustainable development goals of the European Union and the United Nations. "
Nowadays, the technical requirements of the industry are getting higher and higher, which is also a major challenge that people must face. "Many conventional materials simply cannot meet these requirements," said Mr. Christian Gimber, head of the engineering silicone business unit of WACKER's silicone business unit. "Therefore, more and more companies are optimistic about the silicone elastomer material. Silicone has Excellent mechanical and chemical properties can now solve many difficult technical problems and are an indispensable choice for developing and implementing innovative technologies. "
WACKER presents products in eight areas
The products displayed by WACKER this year cover eight major areas, one of which is to demonstrate the advantages of liquid silicone rubber products with low volatile content. Starting in 2019, WACKER's ELASTOSIL® LR 3xxx, ELASTOSIL® LR 6xxx and SILPURAN® 6xxx series products in Europe have this advantage. WACKER uses the most advanced process technology to reduce the content of volatile cyclic siloxane by at least 90%. After using these improved liquid silicone rubber product portfolios, silicone processors can better meet relevant regulations and industries And customer requirements. WACKER has set a new industry standard worldwide.
The application possibilities and advantages of new products can also be glimpsed from the products of WACKER ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 series. This high-performance silicone cross-linked elastomer has the same mechanical properties as the post-processed product without heat treatment, which can save the processor a time-consuming and costly constant temperature curing process. The vulcanized rubber produced with ELASTOSIL® LR 5040 is of high purity and can be in direct contact with food, and complies with the relevant use recommendations of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, the product has reached the DIN ISO 10993 standard and the US Pharmacopoeia Class VI corresponding standard, with biocompatibility.
This new type of liquid silicone rubber is also a key product for WACKER's injection molding process this year. During the exhibition, WACKER will use liquid silicone to produce food contact products on site, and will be equipped with Microsoft HoloLens glasses for visitors to understand the technology and working principle of KraussMaffei injection molding machine in a virtual environment (tool: ACH Solution)
Solid silicone rubber that meets the requirements of new fire safety standards
Rail vehicles have long been required to meet national fire safety standards, and the DIN EN 45545-2 regulations in force in the EU in 2018 are much stricter. The solid and liquid silicone rubber solutions certified in WACKER's original product portfolio already meet most application requirements, especially the requirements of R22 and R23 in DIN EN 45545-2.
The Munich-based Wacker Chemical Group has now launched a new type of flame-retardant solid silicone rubber that manufacturers can use to produce large-area bellows or profiles that can meet the requirements of new fire safety regulations. ELASTOSIL® R 771 meets the latest EU fire safety standards, and the vehicle components produced with it can meet the requirements of R1 and R7 systems, so WACKER has become the world's first manufacturer to provide certified silicone rubber products that meet the requirements of the new standards.
Low friction self-adhesive liquid silicone
WACKER has added two new series to the self-adhesive liquid silicone rubber product portfolio: ELASTOSIL® LR 3671 and ELASTOSIL® LR 3675, respectively for food and automotive technology applications. WACKER uses a combination of self-adhesive silicones and silicones with smooth surfaces in these products. These two technologies have been widely used in the silicone processing industry and have been tested by many practices.
These new liquid silicone rubber products can be attached to metals and some special thermoplastics. The cross-linked elastomer is dry and smooth, and can be used in the injection molding process, making large-scale production of soft and hard composite components cost-effective.
Laminated silicone for sensors and actuators
NEXIPAL® is a new type of electrically active laminated silicone. The product consists of multiple layers of ultra-thin silicone precision films coated with conductive materials. It can be used as a motion actuator when voltage is applied.
In addition, NEXIPAL® laminated silicone can also be used as a sensor for measuring mechanical deformation. The product has strong wear resistance, small size and low energy consumption, and is an ideal material for innovative applications. For example, after using NEXIPAL®, the touch screen can simulate the keyboard by vibrating and tactile signals. Without using eyes, it can be identified and operated by tactile sense. This function is particularly attractive for automotive applications.
GENIOPLAST® Pellet 345
The Munich-based Wacker Chemical Group has launched GENIOPLAST® Pellet 345, which further enriches the range of silicone-based additives for thermoplastic mixing processes. It is a product developed by WACKER specifically for the modification of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), but it is also suitable for other thermoplastic elastomers. The additives supplied in pellet form can also significantly improve the performance of thermoplastic polyamides and copolyester elastomers.
GENIOPLAST® Pellet 345 is a silicone binary copolymer that can be processed like a thermoplastic. It contains organic polymer segments and is compatible with thermoplastic polyurethane. Therefore, unlike conventional silicones, when mixed into a polyurethane matrix, it can be extremely finely and uniformly distributed, and at the same time can be attached to the matrix without physical interaction. Break away.
GENIOPLAST® Pellet 345 can make the surface of thermoplastic polyurethane extremely smooth, with better scratch resistance and scrub resistance, as well as stronger stain resistance of food and cosmetics. The product has also been approved for food applications in Europe.
Silicone 3D printing
At this year's K show, WACKER will showcase the new star in silicone 3D printing technology-ACEO® Imagine Series K2. This new printer has multiple print heads and can print up to 4 different types of silicone at the same time, printing 3D parts with different colors or different hardness materials. This new technology is also suitable for parts that need to be printed with support materials. Up to three different silicone materials and colors can be used when printing such parts.
Another highlight of this printer is its automatic control function, which can measure the silicone layer applied in each printing process and compare it with the target value of the computer-aided design (CAD) model. Automatically correct when spraying the next layer. WACKER's next-generation printers are therefore capable of producing extremely accurate 3D prints and can meet extremely demanding industrial application requirements. ACEO®'s automatic control technology therefore sets a new benchmark for additive manufacturing.