Plenty of TPEs can bond to standard nylon 6 and 66 nowadays. "But modified nylons are a different story," notes Malar Shetty, applications group leader for GLS Corp. That's why, two years ago, GLS rolled out new SEBS-based elastomers that not only worked with unmodified nylons but also with those that contained high glass loadings and modifiers to improve impact and temperature resistance. "We came up with one type of TPE that addressed the many different types of nylons," says Shetty. Bond strengths between the elastomer and nylon substrates typically ranged from about 18 to 23 pli, which are far higher values than many applications require. And these Versaflex 6100 materials worked both with overmolding and insert molding processes, with the latter posing an extra degree of difficulty since the rigid insert part cools before the elastomer is shot over it. Earlier this year, GLS has commercialized its next-generation nylon bonding TPEs. These Versaflex 6200 materials offer two key improvements over the first generation: One is that the new grades, available in 60 and 75 Shore A versions, address even more modified nylons, particularly lubricated grades. The other is that the materials flow has been optimized to make molding a bit easier. As Shetty points out, the first generation was very high-flowing, so flash could be a problem in tools that weren't immaculately constructed or maintained. "The new materials have just enough flow to make molding easy but now so much that flash becomes a problem." For more information on properties of the 60 Shore A grade, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4933-536.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Designing and filling a new type of water bottle might take less engineering work, but the description will help kids understand how science, math, and engineering influence their lives even through things that seem mundane.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
7 
