MOSCOW (MRC) -- With the polyurethane foam system Elastoflex E from BASF it is possible for the first time to mass-produce an exterior car part featuring a honeycomb sandwich structure with a class-A film, said the company in its press release.
The roof module in the standard model of the new smart fortwo consists of a paper honeycomb and two surrounding glass fiber mats. These are sprayed in an impregnation process with the low-density, thermally activable Elastoflex E 3532 and pressed together with a solid-colored class-A film. A single operation thus produces a roof module which is around 30 percent lighter than the standard roof on the previous model – but retains the same strength and flexural rigidity. The lightweight roof was developed by Fehrer Composite Components, which manufactures it in its factory in Grolangheim, Germany.
The honeycomb technology has previously been used in the car interior, for example for loading floors, roof linings, and rear shelves. For use in exterior components, BASF has adjusted the viscosity and reactivity of Elastoflex E (semi-rigid polyurethane system).
As MRC informed earlier, BASF inaugurated its new resin and electrocoat plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) in Shanghai.
BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC