23 Apr 2004

NEW CYCOLOY® CY8620 RESIN FROM GE ADVANCED MATERIALS BRINGS A HIGHER LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE TO AUTOMOTIVE INSTRUMENT PANELS

IMPROVED HYDROSTABILITY AND HEAT-AGING PROPERTIES CHARACTERIZE NEW AUTOMOTIVE MATERIAL GRADE

BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands – GE Advanced Materials, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), has launched CYCOLOY® CY8620 resin, adding a new and important grade to its family of CYCOLOY PC/ABS high-impact amorphous resins. Developed specifically for automotive interior applications, CYCOLOY CY8620 resin has a particular fit in instrument panel components, bringing a new level of performance over earlier generation materials.

The instrument panel represents one of the most challenging automotive interior components. It demands a unique balance of properties to meet styling, processing, performance, and, in a highly competitive environment, cost criteria. CYCOLOY resin has proven to be one of the foremost materials in meeting automotive OEMs’ stringent specifications for these applications.

Moreover, as evolving interior environments and the introduction of more complex designs have placed greater demands on the materials used, GE Advanced Materials has progressively fine-tuned its CYCOLOY resins to help ensure that they continue to deliver cost-effective solutions to the industry.

CYCOLOY CY8620 resin is today’s next-step development, delivering significantly improved hydrolytic stability and impact robustness when compared, for example, with CYCOLOY IP1000 resin, which has been an established industry standard in instrument panel applications. CYCOLOY CY8620 resin builds on the foundation of this earlier resin grade to offer world-class heat-aging performance and physical properties.

In laboratory testing, the new level of hydrostability achieved by CYCOLOY CY8620 resin has enabled it to reach far outside the industry’s test window and shows substantially less degradation from long-term hydrolytic aging compared to previous resins.

Robert Nelson, market director for Interiors and Structures at GE Advanced Materials, says, “This performance profile makes CYCOLOY CY8620 an ideal candidate for components subject to high-temperature/high-humidity environments and offers an excellent balance of properties for many interior and instrument panel applications.”

Improved hydrolytic aging and high-heat performance, combined with CYCOLOY resin’s inherent impact strength, rigidity, and ease of processing, give CYCOLOY CY8620 resin a superb balance of properties that are demanded for current instrument panel developments, as well as those foreseen for the future.

The launch of CYCOLOY CY8620 resin reflects GE Advanced Materials’ ongoing product and new technology development program to help ensure its CYCOLOY resins will meet the automotive industry’s demands as they continue to evolve.

Reader enquiries

GE Plastics
Plasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Netherlands

Helen Vandebovenkamp
helen.vandebovenkamp@ge.com

Tel: +31 164 29 20 97
Fax: +31 164 29 10 66
Netherlands

+31 164 29 20 97

helen.vandebovenkamp@ge.com

www.geplastics.com

Notes for editors

GE Advanced Materials

GE Advanced Materials is a world leader in providing materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics, silicon-based products and technology platforms, and fused quartz and ceramics. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., GE Advanced Materials is the combined entity of GE’s former Plastics, Silicones, and Quartz businesses. Its offerings include:

• Silanes, specialty silicones, urethane additives, adhesives, sealants, caulks, resins, and elastomers for a variety of vertical markets such as personal care, automotive, tire and rubber, construction, healthcare, electronics, household and institutional, agriculture, textiles, appliances, bedding and furnishings, and foam control, as well as the consumer “do-it-yourself” market (www.gesilicones.com);

• Engineering thermoplastics resins serving customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, appliances, automotive, building and construction, data storage and optical media, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications, computers and peripheral devices, outdoor vehicles and devices, and packaging (www.geplastics.com);

• High-purity quartz and advanced ceramic materials for the semiconductor, telecommunications, lighting, electronics, personal care, and water purification industries. GE Advanced Materials is a leading supplier of quartz materials to the semiconductor industry (www.gequartz.com).

CYCOLOY is a registered trademark of General Electric Company.

Related images

GE Advanced Materials has launched CYCOLOY® CY8620 PC/ABS high-impact amorphous resin. Developed specifically for automotive interior applications, CYCOLOY CY8620 resin has a particular fit in instrument panel components, bringing a new level of performance through key property improvements over earlier generation materials. CYCOLOY resin has proven itself to be one of the foremost materials in meeting automotive OEMs’ stringent specifications for instrument panel applications, and GE Advanced Materials has progressively fine-tuned the resin line to help ensure that these materials continue to deliver cost-effective solutions to the industry.