Electric
circuits are molded into plastic housings in a new technology introduced at K
2010 by A. Schulman, a plastics compounder based in Akron, OH.
Schulman
showed an electrically conductive plastic compound developed for Hella KGaA Hueck &
Co., a Finnish lighting manufacturer.
Copper and
tin are loaded at a very high level (60 and 25 percent respectively) in
polyamide 6. The tin acts like a solder connecting the copper fibers.
"The
conductivity of the compound is 1,000 times better than the next most
conductive plastic compound available (plastic loaded with steel fibers)," says
Thilo Stier, innovation manager for A. Schulman.
The first
production part is a light that can be used for automotive or other end-market
applications.
The
production process is novel.
First, the
ABS plate and the PMMA (acrylic) reflector are injection molded in a
three-component process. The electrical resistor, diodes, LED and contact pins
for the plug are inserted and connected with the new conductive compound, which
is called Schulatec
TinCo 50. The ABS-coated reflector is then mounted to ensure watertight
encapsulation.
Stier says
the material can be used for housings and lighting applications. The new
technology permits new design opportunities while also reducing costs through
integration of structural and electrical functions into one part.
The specific
electrical conductivity of the compound is in the range of 5 x 105
S/m. The conductivity of copper alone is 5.69 x 107 S/m.
Development of
the technology began with Siemens in 1998 and was later supported by IKV Aachen, a German research
organization.
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In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
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