AB Konstruktions-Bakelit

The polymer that KB processes in the largest volume is glass-fibre reinforced polyamide 66 (PA 66+GF). Due to stringent requirements from OEMs, certain applications may produce off-specification items. There are three alternatives to handle these parts  

KB has chosen the latter alternative. The company has accumulated a certain quantity of in-plant recyclate which, rather than selling a relatively expensive plastic too cheaply, it uses it to develop reprocessing, characterisation and secondary applications. A research project was initiated in 1990 with partners at the 

One aim of the project is to develop simple and reliable characterisation methods that enable durability and reliability of recycled material to be predicted. The lack of such methods is one obstacle to the application of recycled material in higher performance applications. Reliable analysis techniques that can be scaled up for industrial application are vital to the acceptance of such materials in industry. 

The techniques developed are based on the determination of fibre length and molecular weight on the one hand, and of the thermo-oxidative stability of the matrix material and composite bending strength on the other. 

The analytical methods developed within the project are used to map process-and service-induced degradation for the material. Knock-down factors (KD) can be determined for property degradation as a function of process and service parameters. 

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The radiator end-cap of an automotive radiator sub-assembly is currently made from glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 66 (PA 66+GF), which is particularly suitable for under-the-bormet applications as it maintains high stiffness and strength at high temperatures. For the radiators mounted in cars made by the Volvo Car Corporation, the raw material is supplied by DuPont de Nemours to the component producer, AB Konstruktions-Bakelit. This company then supplies the finished component to the sub-assembly producer which then ships the finished assembly to Volvo. 

AB Konstruktions-Bakelit (KB) is a medium-sized company with 400-500 employees. It is mainly involved in business-to-business activities with the automotive industry as the main client. This keeps the company away from direct exposure to public environmental pressure. For KB, the main driving forces for improving environmental performance are the environmental pressure transmitted from OEMs to sub-suppliers and the legislative pressure that effects all industry. For this reason there is no specific environmental activity within the company, more than that reflected in the satisfaction of... 

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