6 March 2015, 00:00
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Great scope for use in tablets and notebooks
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Low weight, extremely stiff and ease of processing
The Bond Laminates GmbH, a subsidiary of specialty chemicals company LANXESS, has expanded its Tepex range of continuous-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic high-performance composites to include halogen-free flame-retardant versions with a polycarbonate matrix. “Our new Tepex FR grades demonstrate exceptionally high flame retardance in tests to fire safety standard UL 94 of the U.S. testing organization Underwriter Laboratories. They achieved the top V0 classification on UL’s Yellow Card at specimen thicknesses between 0.4 and 2 millimeters,” says Jochen Bauder, Managing Director of Bond-Laminates. Above all, he sees major potential for applications in the consumer electronics industry. The new composites will form a major highlight of the LANXESS presentation at the JEC Europe composites trade fair in France and the NPE plastics trade fair in the United States.
Very high stiffness and strength
Tepex FR is supplied primarily in thicknesses of between 0.5 and 1.2 millimeters. Variations are available with glass, carbon or glass/carbon fiber reinforcement. The fiber volume content lies between 45 and 55 percent. The composite sheets exhibit excellent mechanical properties. For example, the flexural modulus of the carbon-reinforced grades lies between 40 and 54 GPa depending on the fiber content, and the modules of the glass-fiber-reinforced grades between 20 and 24 GPa (DIN EN ISO 178).
An alternative to aluminum, magnesium and injection-molding materials
Their mechanical properties, low weight and ease of processing make these new composites especially suitable for the production of large, thin-walled and extremely stiff housing parts such as those used for notebooks, tablets and TV sets. “They are simpler to produce and require less process engineering than aluminum and magnesium. And compared to injection-molded component designs, Tepex can be used to produce thinner walls so that housings need less installation space,” Bauder explains.