August 23, 2020
Celebrating National Composites Week 2020
Composites Are Essential. L&L Products is celebrating the countless ways composites contribute to every day life by participating in National Composites Week sponsored by Composites World. Follow the stories below to learn how L&L Products is contributing to the dynamic and creative composites industry:
Automotive manufacturer in need of a lightweight structural solution for global torsional stiffness
An automotive manufacturer was seeking a reinforcement solution to achieve the targeted global torsional stiffness – both dynamic and static. The L&L Products engineering team identified the optimal locations for highly efficient tailor-made CBSTM parts in the upper D-pillar and tail lamp area to strengthen the overall structure. Not only did the CBS solution accomplish target stiffness; it also achieved a total weight saving of 4 kilograms at a 14% lower cost relative to the less effective baseline steel reinforcement assembly.
Aircraft seat producer seeks adhesive solution to improve processing speed and involving less clean up
The process for manufacturing lightweight economy aircraft seats includes bonding polyamide inserts to carbon scale elements. The initial adhesive used would cure relatively slow and was fluid, therefore, slowing down the manufacturing process, requiring excess adhesive removal and clean up. This made the application of the adhesive less precise. As a result, the customer asked L&L Products to develop an improved adhesive solution. The companies used L&L BondTM L-9107, an aircraft-grade two-component, fire, smoke, and toxicity (FST) compliant, toughened epoxy adhesive, which was the ideal technology for this application. L&L’s solution provides high-performance bonding while curing at room temperature. L&L BondTM L-9107 cured faster speed and proved higher thixotropic properties (like a paste), therefore, requiring less excess adhesive and clean up, and allowed for a more precise application. L&L BondTM L-9107 is supplied in cartridges, simplifies product application, improves the bonding quality, and improves the health and safety conditions for the operators (REACH compliant).
Armored vehicle manufacturer seeking improved sealing package
An armored vehicle customer was looking to replace its existing sealing package with a high-performing, clean, and easy-to-use solution. The L&L Products team came together with the customer to determine L&L SealTM A-J215 was the optimal sealing solution for the customer’s application. L&L SealTM A-J215 is a one component, fast curing, high strength elastomeric adhesive. The product displays high sag resistance, demonstrates excellent adhesion properties, and achieves a high flow rate. Therefore, it is clean and easy to apply.
Luxury automotive OEM seeks A-Pillar hybrid inserts for improved crash performance and reduced weight
A luxury automotive OEM was in search of hybrid inserts that would replace high strength steel tubes to improve crash performance while reducing the overall weight of the vehicle. L&L Products teamed up with LANXESS, a specialty chemicals company based in Germany, to engineer a structural reinforcement for A-Pillars. The pillar consisted of an insert made from high-strength steel, which is supported from the inside by a polyamide-based Tepex layer. The structure is then bonded using L&L ReinforceTM L-5235 structural foam. Testing the hybrid inserts demonstrated that its strength and rigidity had comparable performance to the incumbent design when withstanding rollovers. However, the new solution is approximately 5 kilograms lighter. Due to the location where the weight reduction comes into effect, the vehicle’s overall center of gravity was also lowered thereby improving vehicle dynamics.
For more information on this story, visit the LANXESS website.