CATEGORY - ADVANCED DESIGN OF RUBBER PRODUCTS

ERJ readers are invited to identify, and comment on, entries they believe to be of particular significance for the industry. Your emailed feedback will guide our selection of the winners in each category, to be published in ERJ Sept/Oct 2024 issue.

Continental / ContiTech

Tough RuNR air springs

For the Tough RuNR air springs, the Continental industrial rubber products business sector has significantly upgraded its materials compound for commercial vehicle air springs. In developing the product, ContiTech’s material experts substituted synthetic rubber with natural rubber enhanced with the incorporation of EPDM. In doing so, the rubber compound’s carbon ‘backpack’ is said to have been reduced by more than 50% compared to conventional air springs. At the same time, product features have been improved so that the new air springs can handle a wider range of climate conditions due to increased resistance to both extreme heat and extreme cold.

Continental release... / 

Cooper Standard

eCoFlow automotive switch pump

Cooper Standard has developed a novel automotive switch pump aimed at simplifying thermal management systems, particularly in electric vehicles. Created with Italian automotive thermal management systems supplier Saleri, the eCoFlow  offers “both an electric water pump and electrically driven valve in a single integrated coolant control module.” The “gamechanger” product is claimed to provide car makers with “efficiency improvements, part consolidation, electrical wire harness reduction and reduced packaging space.”

Cooper Standard release... / Company backgrounder... /

Eneos Materials Corp.

SBR binder for SiOx anode in lithium ion batties

While the SiOx anode is a promising candidate for next generation LIBs, expansion and shrinkage of the particles during charge and discharge leads to the loss of the electrically conductive path and deterioration of the anode capacity. These effects reduce both cycle performance and battery life, while there are also safety issues due to degassing during storage at high temperature, which causes the swelling that. Eneos, therefore, developed a new binder with precisely controlled property at particle surface and functional groups to solve both problems. SiOx anodes with this binder showed 70% better cycle performance than that of conventional SBR and suppressed electrode expansion due to its high elastic modulus.

More information to follow... 

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies

DIAvent HighFlow

The pressure compensation elements are designed to enhance the safety of electric vehicles employing elements that merge pressure-equalisation and emergency degassing into a single unit. According to FST, the component occupies 50% to 70% less space than similar solutions and is significantly lighter due to its polymer housing.  

FST release... / More information to follow... / 

Hutchinson SA

Elastomer for sealing EV heat pumps

Hutchinson SA has developed an elastomer compound specially designed to meet the sealing requirements of electric-vehicle heat pumps using R744 – refrigerant grade CO2, which requires the adaption of all circuit components. Formulated specially for German car maker VW, the compound is capable of withstanding the operating constraints of R744.   

Hutchinson release... / More information to follow... /