Metal material replacement on commercial vehicles
Reduce cost and weight
High dynamic strength
Comprehensive HiAnt Engineering Services
LANXESS's glass fiber 50% polyamide 66 (PA66) material Durethan AKV50H2.0 is used for load-bearing structural parts of Mercedes-Benz truck air filtration systems. This is the first plastic bracket to be used as a load-bearing structure for Mercedes-Benz truck air filtration systems. Testing of two air filter brackets confirmed that reinforced polyamides with a high proportion of glass fibers can also be used to replace metal materials on commercial vehicles.
The two air filters made of Durethan AKV50H2.0 will be installed on Mercedes-Benz's Actros heavy trucks starting early next year. Jürgen Horstmann, Key Account Manager for Commercial Vehicles, LANXESS 'High Performance Materials Business Unit, said, "This structural material we introduced can significantly reduce production costs compared to components originally designed with steel, but still meet the high demand for dynamic strength In addition, the weight of the components can be reduced by 2.9 kg, which is equivalent to reducing the original weight by more than half. "
This type of bracket is manufactured by BBP Kunststoffwerk Marbach Baier GmbH for Daimler trucks. While designing the components, BBP also created economical manufacturing processes for them. The company is located in Marbach, Germany, and its mold engineering department has developed a mold concept for parts with complex geometric structures. "There are many cores in the mold, which requires a complex corrugated design of the cooling system," said Horst Hauke, president of BBP.