SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Lexan* XHR Sheet Helps Aircraft OEMs Meet New Heat Release Compliance Challenges

HAMBURG, Germany — April 2, 2008 — SABIC Innovative Plastics introduces the new Lexan* XHR6000 (extremely low heat release) sheet to help aircraft manufacturers meet safety, aesthetic, and performance requirements in business- and first-class seating and other interior components, while at the same time improving passenger comfort. This new product fully complies with the Ohio State University (OSU) 65/65 standard and flame/smoke toxicity regulations, avoiding the need for waivers, and providing better weight-out for fuel economy than traditional polyvinyl chloride (PVC/acrylic) sheet products. The new Lexan XHR6000 sheet strengthens SABIC Innovative Plastics’ commitment to provide aviation industry customers with unique and leading-edge solutions that enable their success.

The move to enlarge seating/sleeping areas on some aircraft has caused additional interior components to fall under the OSU heat release standard, which applies to parts larger than two square feet. New planes and retrofitting existing ones feature fresh designs and aesthetics, requiring materials that can provide excellent colorability and creative design freedom. Lexan XHR6000 sheet not only meets these requirements but also enables lower-cost tooling and ease of forming.

“We understand that our aviation customers face multiple, often contradictory, pressures to increase safety, lower costs, and improve their customers’ flying experience, and we made sure that our new Lexan XHR6000 sheet addressed all of them,” said Tammy Rucker global product manager, Opaque Sheet, SABIC Innovative Plastics. “With this material, it will be easier for OEMs and suppliers to produce attractive, lightweight, and compliant interiors for the next generation of aircraft while keeping costs down.”

Potential applications for Lexan XHR6000 sheet include seating, cockpit linings, windows surrounds, door shrouds, and other interior components. The material is available globally.

Full compliance avoids time-consuming material waivers

The OSU standard for heat release is evolving; today’s 65/65 standard is gradually being tightened. Because Lexan XHR6000 sheet is fully compliant with the current standard as well as the upcoming 55/55 requirement, manufacturers can be prepared for the future. The material also meets FST regulations. With full compliance in both areas, Lexan XHR6000 sheet spares manufacturers and suppliers the time-consuming process of obtaining waivers from OEMs and airlines for non-compliant materials.

The sky is the limit for new design options

Lexan XHR6000 sheet offers designers many new options for creating unique and elegant aircraft interiors. The opaque material provides excellent colorability, including popular bright whites, and can be formed into deep draws, crisp angles, and thin walls.

In addition to enabling thin-wall forming for weight reduction, Lexan XHR6000 sheet is inherently lighter than competitive materials: it has a specific gravity of 1.34 vs. 1.47 for OSU compliant PVC/acrylic, for example.

Improved processing and costs

The new sheet has excellent colorability and improved texture retention and can be thermoformed at lower temperatures than polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) resin based sheet products, enabling the use of lower-cost tooling, and giving the potential to eliminate painting. Both of these advantages help lower part cost and boost productivity.

For more information on SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Lexan sheet, please visit the company’s website at www.sabic-ip.com .

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