As designers push the boundaries of vehicle styling, and technology drives improved performance and smaller headlamps, the demands on key materials such as adhesives is increased.
Techsil's Business Development Manager, Steve Morrow, has been working with a number of automotive manufacturers to provide solutions for design and productivity issues with vehicle headlights.
In one case an adhesive was needed to bond the dissimilar substrates of the reflector and a polycarbonate lens. The adhesive colour needed to be black to match the reflector housing and it also needed to operate in extreme high and low ambient temperatures. The versatile nature of RTV silicones allow the bonding of many different substrates; at the same time giving a long term level of elasticity that can cope with thermal expansion differentials over a wide range of operating temperatures.
Another application is an electric car where they needed an adhesive to bond a glass lens to the ABS housing. The silicone selected was clear and also fast-curing which enabled leak testing to be performed straight away. The company has decreased manufacturing time by 22 hours thereby greatly improving productivity.
Constantly increasing demands on the performance of vehicle lighting means they need to be incorporated into more complex and compact packages. Inaddition to bonding solutions, Techsil offer a broad portfolio of products for lighting including LED encapsulants, thermal interface adhesives and lens materials.
Enter √ at www.engineerlive.com/ede
Techsil Limited is based in Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire, England. www.techsil.co.uk
