Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Middle East Foam & Polyurethane
  • UTECH Asia/PU China
  • UTECH Europe
  • UTECH Las Americas
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Coronavirus
  • News
    • Asia
    • Americas
    • Europe
    • M & A
    • Financial results
    • Automotive
    • PU leather maker Anli to open Vietnam plant; starts supplying to IKEA
      Kool-ex PU reefer fleet to ferry Covid vaccine in India
      Introducing UTECH Southeast Asia 2022
      PU for rechargeable electrostatic face masks
    • Mlily to increase US market share following anti-dumping duties
      US footwear imports up 25% in November 2020
      Introducing UTECH Southeast Asia 2022
      PPG buys polyurea company Versaflex
    • Bosnian producer to invest in new PU panel factory
      Covestro wins ISCC Plus certificate for Krefeld MDI
      Car sales down 25% in Western Europe in 2020
      Plixxent joins PU Europe
    • PPG buys polyurea company Versaflex
      Recticel buys FoamPartner
      Recticel upgrades Q3 outlook despite raw material tightness
      Covestro broadens PU portfolio with DSM purchase
    • Mlily to increase US market share following anti-dumping duties
      Stellar Q4 performance saves Wanhua 2020 earnings
      2020 proved fruitful for Vitafoam Nigeria
      Perstorp granted new credit facility
    • Car sales down 25% in Western Europe in 2020
      Patchy coronavirus effects hit global car sales in November
      November continues fall in Western Europe's car sales
      Antolin's business improved in Q3 2020
  • Data
  • Information
    • Country Overview
    • Market Sector overviews
    • Technical articles
    • Company profiles and strategies
    • China’s PU industry on the path to recovery; plans for technology upgrades
      Chinese cold chains grow bigger
      Flexible foam rises to challenges in the Middle East and Africa
      Life at the cross-roads: what does the GCC offer PU?
    • Europe's flexible foam makers face rising prices as outages hit markets
      Western European car registrations rebound slowed in September
      Western European car registrations regained some ground in August
      Western European Car registrations rebound continued in July
    • Take out the VOC with hybrid release agents
      Batteries give pultrusions power
      Seeing a way through VOC and FOG
      Aromatic polyols for simpler rigid PU formulations
    • Hennecke and Frimo: an automotive partnership
      Pushing ahead: AutoRIM drives KM’s UK growth
      BASF opens it first ‘Creation Center’ in Mumbai with a PU twist
      Persistence pays off for CTM
  • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • Conferences
    • Webinars / Livestreams
    • Become a Speaker
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Issues
  • Subscribe
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Information
July 23, 2015 11:00 PM

UTECH NA Conference report: Keeping PU in autos

Simon Robinson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    Brent Gawne, polyurethane business manager at Frimo, gave delegates at the UTECH North America Automotive and Sustainability conference an insight into some of the work his firm has done to keep polyurethane used in a number of interior components.

    Frimo makes a number of components for many OEMs. “Our business is doors and IPs (instrument panels) in automotive vehicles,” explains Gawne.

    He continues: “For the past 20 years, most IPs were made with vinyl covering foam and a substrate below it. A typical IP cross section in the past would have been about 8-10 mm in thickness, he said.

    “But, because of the big stress in the past five years to reduce weight, slowly OEMs are taking foam out of the vehicle.

    “In the past this was a very easy thing for the OEM to do, because you get a certain feel with foam at 8 or 10 or 12 mm. Now they’ve gone to foam-backed vinyl with a PE foam at maybe 2-3mm thickness and the same feel as 10 mm PU foam,” Gawne said.

    This is forcing foam suppliers and raw material makers to develop foam materials that flow with the same characteristics as it did at 8-10 mm. Now foamers are having to develop highly resilient materials with no resistance to flow through gaps which are 2-3mm thick.

    “They have made great strides in the past two years, we’re working with OEMs bringing tools back into our hose, modifying tools to go to cross-sectional thicknesses of 3-4 mm and letting the OEMs test it out for deployment,” Gawne said.

    “We’re producing a lot of vehicle parts for testing now with 50, 60, 70% reduction in foam. But it’s keeping foamed urethane in business,” Gawne added.

    Recommended for You
    Making the case for TPUs
    Making the case for TPUs
    From cell to slope
    From cell to slope
    China’s PU industry on the path to recovery; plans for technology upgrades
    China’s PU industry on the path to recovery; plans for technology upgrades
    Latest Issue
    Click HERE for Free Download
    View All Archives
    Get our newsletters

    Breaking news and in-depth coverage of essential topics delivered straight to your inbox.

    Subscribe today

    Register to access our archive of leading information on the polyurethanes industry.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube

    Follow us on social media for the latest polyurethanes industry news and event updates.

    Logo
    Contact Us

    Office 127,
    61, Willow Walk,
    London
    SE1 5SF
    E-mail us
    +44 (0) 203 287 5979

    Customer Service:
    +1 313 446 0450

    Resources
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Coronavirus
    • News
      • Asia
      • Americas
      • Europe
      • M & A
      • Financial results
      • Automotive
    • Data
    • Information
      • Country Overview
      • Market Sector overviews
      • Technical articles
      • Company profiles and strategies
    • Events
      • Exhibitions
      • Conferences
      • Webinars / Livestreams
      • Become a Speaker
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Issues
    • Subscribe