With Technyl Star™ AFX, Rhodia breaks new ground by creating the first polyamide reinforcement beam for radiator grilles

IAA, Frankfurt – September 15, 2009 – With its new-generation polyamide Technyl Star™ AFX, Rhodia breaks new ground by creating the first polyamide reinforcement beam for truck radiator grilles.

This project, which has gone into production for a leading OEM, demonstrates the ability of advanced polyamide materials to reduce costs and overall vehicle weight, while maintaining the required rigidity of key structural elements. Rhodia’s new-generation polyamide, Technyl Star™ AFX proved to be the only material able to meet these specifications thanks to its unequalled mechanical strength, combined with its exceptional fluidity.

The use of Technyl Star™ AFX resulted in a cost saving of 30% compared with an equivalent metal beam, as well as a reduction of over 10% in the part’s weight, contributing to a lighter vehicle and consequently to a reduction in CO₂ emissions. "With this success, Rhodia has once again demonstrated its capacity for innovation in its efforts to help manufacturers produce lighter, more cost-effective vehicles," affirmed Jean-Claude Steinmetz, Rhodia’s VP in charge of Automotive market. "Technyl Star™ AFX is an innovative material offering some truly promising new opportunities in this field, particularly regarding the replacement of metal in structural parts."

Despite a high glass fiber content of up to 60%, Technyl Star™ AFX shows outstanding mechanical properties coupled with exceptional aesthetic qualities, demonstrating that it outperforms standard polyamide. Its high fluidity facilitates the injection process, while achieving a previously impossible degree of rigidity for polyamide. In addition, Rhodia used the latest generation of simulation tools to accurately predict the behavior of the part by taking glass fiber orientation into consideration in structural calculations.

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