Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) has systematically strengthened its plastics expertise over the last few years. This was very helpful for the transformation to electric mobility. An example: the first series production order for thermal barriers from a major car manufacturer.
At first glance, the two components do not seem very impressive: a sleeve and a circular cap with an opening at its top that serves as a cable feedthrough. The extraordinary aspect of each component is the plastic used in its construction. Freudenberg developed this material, which is called Quantix Ultra. “It is a thermoplastic with thermoset characteristics,” explained Matthias Hauer, a plastics expert at Technology & Innovation (T&I).
In practical terms, this means that the plastic doesn’t melt when heated – instead, it hardens and retains its shape. This makes the material perfect for an nonflammable thermal barrier to prevent the spread of a fire in battery boxes or other electrically conductive components in an electric vehicle. Safety technologies of this type are essential in electric vehicles. With their help, FST is positioning itself as an innovative partner to the auto industry, developing new business fields in the process. In this case, the sleeve and cap encase a cable to protect it from fire.
“The components are now going through the qualification stage at the customer,” said Hauer. This is where the second chapter of the success story begins. FST is not just offering its customers the right material for these types of thermal barriers, which are unique in the market. It can also develop the parts and make them available to the customer extremely quickly. In this case, it only took a few weeks to go from the idea to a production-ready prototype.
First and foremost, it was the T&I plastics lab in Weinheim – which was set up just a few years ago – that made this possible. Its core is a fully automated injection molding machine that takes a new approach, the “Pilot Mold Concept,” that FST developed. With this equipment, FST can repeatedly turn to the same tool master form. Only the component-specific cavities inside it are used. “We don’t need to produce a completely new mold for every new component at great cost and with a complicated process,” Hauer said. The cavity inserts are prefabricated, semi-finished parts. They are kept in storage and can be quickly re-shaped for a particular product. In this case, the FST tool shop at Northfield in North America was responsible for the work.
The process used in T&I’s injection molding equipment also offers advantages. The melt is injected through a hot runner directly into the cavity – without a sprue, which means no scrap, or, expressed in more technical terms, no “engineered waste.” This is efficient as well as sustainable, especially for a material – such as Quantix Ultra – which cannot be re-granulated. And there is the advantage that prototypes from the injection molding equipment have series production quality. “We can already carry out qualification with the customer at the prototype stage,” Hauer said.
High-Performance Plastic as Key Differentiator
The first parts for the new development emerged in Weinheim. The pilot series of 5,000 units has already been produced at FST’s facility in Pinerolo, Italy. Series production will start there as well. The final series production mold is being “scaled up” – as the experts put it. That means it is getting several cavities for larger volumes and greater productivity.
“Our high performance plastic is our primary differentiator. Another of our competitive advantages is that we can execute this material very quickly in specific products, tailored to the particular customer application. With the interdisciplinary interplay of sales, advanced development, tool-making and our Lead Centers throughout the world, we are creating our entire value chain internally. That makes us fast and agile, even in the case of radically new products such as thermal barriers, which we really did not have in our portfolio previously,” summed up Dr. Tim Leichner, T&I Advanced Product Development. Work is already underway on the next order for these types of safety-related products made of high performance plastic.
