Lanxon subsidiary launches Tepex flame retardant material for high-voltage battery components for electric vehicles

Tepex continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, due to their special semi-finished structure, even without flame retardant additives, also show good fire resistanceBond-Laminates, a subsidiary of THE
COMPANY, conducted a comprehensive survey and testofing of Tepex's typical application spree and installation, in part in collaboration with external testing agencies, to arrive at this result, DrLaminates, head of research and development at Bond-Laminates"The tests have also shown that our composites are well suited for the structure and housing components of high-voltage batteries in electric vehicles," says Stefan SeidelFor safety reasons, these components need to have excellent flame retardant propertiesThis material is a lightweight alternative to aluminum and provides cost-effective component solutionsThis is due to the fact that the hybrid molding method brings together a variety of functions to reduce costs and the processing method is simple and does not require reprocessing"
, in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS 302 test, the main test material in the automotive interior combustion characteristics, such as combustion speedThe non-flame retardant Tepex version performed well during the testThe material was indeed ignited, but within the prescribed test hours, the flame barely spread outwardsat the same time, in accordance with United Nations 1806.2.4, the non-flame retardant Tepex version of the fire pot testPlace the test sample flat on the burning fuel, exposing it directly to the fire for 70 seconds and not directly to the fire for 60 secondsThis test reproduces the fire conditions that Tepex may face in typical applications, such as the underbody panelling componentsas Seidel puts it: "In both tests, there were no holes in the composite material and no fibers burned." "The plastic doesn't have any drips, and the test will go out on its own "The cause of flame retardant properties is the high level of flame retardant continuous fiber and the relatively low proportion of flammable plastics the UL 94 tests conducted did not provide any reliable basis for explaining Tepex's actual fire behavior The reason is that the vertically fixed specimen is exposed to flame from the edge "This approach doesn't match a typical Tepex installation," Seidel said Typically, our composites undergo a secondary molding and back-injection process that prevents flames from entering the end of the fiber "
Bond-Laminates offers halogen-free flame retardant Tepex materials based on polyamides, polycarbonate and polyphenyl thie ether for applications requiring mandatory V-0 classification For example, polycarbonate product types are listed as V-0 on UL yellow cards, with sample thicknesses between 0.4-2.2mm The potential application of Tepex materials in electric vehicle power systems is significant Through its own test ingress, Bond-Laminates conducts a comprehensive study of the combustion behavior of polyamide 6-based secondary injection-molded Tepex materials The "HiAnt carrier" used in the test is a U-shaped profile made of Tepex, which is reinforced internally by a variety of lateral ribs made of polyamide 6, with or without flame retardant packaging The actual test sample was exposed to 6 positions in a flame at 900 degrees C for 30 seconds to 5 minutes, e.g on polyamide ribs or where it was not secondaryly molded in this test, the non-flame retardant Tepex material has once again demonstrated its excellent fire resistance After five minutes of flame treatment, only molded rib material is burned and only burns without special flame retardants In contrast, if the ribs and secondary molding areas made of the tested flame retardant polyamide are used, the flame in the flame treatment area does not spread, but goes out when the burner is removed "For the design of flame retardant components, the combination of non-flame retardant Tepex with flame retardant injection molding materials provides a very large safety factor," says Seidel We see the great potential of this combination of materials for high-voltage battery components, such as housings and partitions, as well as on floors of induction battery charging systems "