Freudenberg-NOK builds its material competency with expertise in high performance plastics

PLYMOUTH, Mich., Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies (Freudenberg-NOK), a leading producer of engineered elastomeric sealing solutions for a variety of industries and markets, has established a new core competency in the area of high performance plastics (HPP).

Over the past 18 months, the company has dedicated a large team of specialists, chemists, engineers and scientists to the formulation, analysis and application of high performance plastics to fluid power challenges. The company is working on the program in collaboration with Freudenberg New Technologies, an organization focused on expanding Freudenberg and Co's key technical capabilities. It will be expanded to other markets and industries in the future, said Dr. Luis Lorenzo, senior vice president, Technology and Innovation.

"The purpose of the HPP project was to develop know-how in the area of high performance plastics such as PAI, PI, PEEK and PPA, among others," Lorenzo said. "We did not have this core competency in thermoplastics in terms of formulation, testing, modeling, testing of products and applications, among other things. We have been developing expertise in this critical area by determining what knowledge we did have and building on this body of data."

Eighteen months into a three-year program timeline, the HPP project will likely become a benchmark for how the company develops new material competencies in the future. Important development topics and milestones have been established and pursued. Those topics and milestones include HPP formulations, processing of HPP, FEA analysis of compounds, tooling development, curing of compounds, testing, processing guidelines, field materials and market analysis. The Technische Universitat Kaiserslautern in Kaiserslautern, Germany is also participating in the cross-organization effort.

Key knowledge of how HPP compositions behave, how they can be formulated into parts and in what applications they can and should be used are fundamental to project success. In the area of modeling fill materials, for example, Freudenberg employees have developed the know-how to predict how the fibers in fiber-filled materials will align and flow in order to properly model material purpose and performance.  In the past, the company did not have this knowledge and it has been developed by modeling many HPP formulas.

The project is also evaluating how to bring the cost of HPP down by means that don't compromise the performance of the material into the applications. And post curing of thermoplastics to improve property performance in a shorter curing time is a further, highly technical but crucial area of exploration. 

"So we're not just talking about the formulation of a composition," Lorenzo said. "We're also looking at the issue of formulation development, blending, grafting of polymers, processing guidelines and so forth. This is a very intensive effort to build a core competency within the Freudenberg organization."

That core competency will eventually serve more than just fluid power customers.  The issue of HPP already cuts across the product lines and markets of four different Freudenberg companies. External customers, too, will benefit from the body of information that the HPP project has established. The project's findings will be applied to other divisions and market segments outside of fluid power and will help the company improve its plastic component technology overall.   The company also plans to loop its thermoplastics sealing organization into the project findings to help this organization optimize its product lines.

"We will be able to use the findings across Freudenberg Sealing Technologies and Freudenberg," Lorenzo concluded. "It's a great project. It's the first time a project of this sort has been undertaken not only because of the scope and length of the project but also because of the many different subjects that are being approached and talented people involved. It will serve as a benchmark for the future."

About Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies
Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is the Americas joint venture between Freudenberg and Co. in Germany and NOK Corp. in Japan. Freudenberg-NOK is a leading producer of advanced sealing technologies for a variety of markets including: aerospace; agriculture; appliance; automotive; construction; diesel engine; energy; food and beverage; heavy industry; and pharmaceutical. Founded in 1989 under the legal name Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, Freudenberg-NOK is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich. and operates more than 20 facilities across the Americas. For additional information, please visit www.fnst.com.

SOURCE Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies

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