Engineers are a curious species and they should be because their profession demands this curiosity. In Bengaluru, this curiosity has paid off for some engineers because they have created the world’s first plastic which is light as a feather and strong as steel. Yes! Engineers from a Bengaluru facility have made a revolutionary invention that can help the automobile industry all around the world.
Automobile car makers are always on the lookout for materials that can be used in car components to keep the vehicle light while still strong to withhold accidents and crashes. The lighter the material and the robustness it provides significantly defines the performance of a car. Thus, carmakers and engineers are always on the lookout for such inventions.
Recently, Engineers from the Bengaluru Research and Development facility of Saudi Arabia-based Sabic petrochemical company have successfully created a resin-metal hybrid solution which serves to be stronger than steel while still being extremely lightweight as compared to the conventional plastic. Engineers are calling this material Noryl GTX, as mentioned in a report by India Times.
Janardhanan Ramanujalu, Regional Head for New Zealand, Australia and South-East Asia at the company states that no one ever associates plastic with high temperatures but Engineers at the Bengaluru Research and Development facility have successfully created a polymer which is capable of the same and its application is used in several aspects such as a car is being painted. He further added that their polymer is replacing traditional metals.
Furthermore, Noryl GTX- the lightweight steel plastic material blends modified polyphenylene ether polymer (PPE) with polyamide (PA) technology. “Combining these solutions offers us with heat resistance of PPE polymer, dimensional stability, low water absorption with the flow of PA polymer material and chemical resistance.”
Rajeshwer Dongara, Head of Bengaluru R&D facility says that the application design team at their Bengaluru centre is collaborating with global companies in designing and optimising the resin structures of their Noryl GTX that are later moulded as steel structures for cars and other vehicles. These strong and light-weight structures help carmakers to design their cars to absorb energy impact i.e. accidents while still maintaining top performance with the lightweight materials used.
As mentioned in a report by India Times, it is stated that this is not the first invention coming out of the Bengaluru facility. The company files for over 70 patents every year and is constantly innovating and bringing new applications for innovative technologies.
