Nylon replaces Audi magnesium airbag housing
Canadian Plastics
When the Audi car company decided to switch from traditional light metal magnesium to plastic for the passenger airbag housings for its new high-end Audi Q7 -- which was launched as a sport utility ve...
When the Audi car company decided to switch from traditional light metal magnesium to plastic for the passenger airbag housings for its new high-end Audi Q7 — which was launched as a sport utility vehicle for the American market in May 2006 — it chose BASF’s new Ultramid B3ZG8 , a 40 per cent glass-filled nylon 6 grade resin designed specially for this application.
B3ZG8 is designed to simulate the mechanical strength of magnesium at a fraction of the weight, according to BASF. The material also has the advantages of being easier to process than magnesium, saving valuable production time, and of exhibiting good flame-retardant behavior.
Additionally, B3ZG8 is sufficiently elastic under cold conditions and rigid at high temperatures to withstand most of the weather extremes that Mother Nature can come up with, helping to guarantee that, for Audi Q7 drivers from Florida to Alaska, the airbags in their cars will deploy properly.
BASF Canada (Toronto, Ont.);
www.plasticsportal.com; 800-267-2955
