SABIC Innovative Plastics' Exatec* offers world-class capabilities
for leading-edge scratch-resistant automotive polycarbonate glazing

SABIC Innovative Plastics' new scratch and abrasion evaluation capabilities - includes new methods and processes - to differentiate, measure, test and prevent surface damage to polycarbonate (PC) glazing for high-performance automotive glazing applications. Exatec underscores SABIC Innovative Plastics' R&D excellence and illustrates how the company's Exatec* glazing technology and analytical tools are helping automotive manufacturers succeed by better understanding and addressing the long-term implications of day-to-day vehicle use. The addition of these new industry-leading testing and assessment capabilities are a testament to SABIC Innovative Plastics' commitment to the global automotive industry to deliver lightweight glazing solutions with superb performance, durability and aesthetics for a clear competitive advantage.

"SABIC Innovative Plastics is completely dedicated to developing the performance of PC glazing to reduce environmental impact, enhance styling and aerodynamics, and reduce weight for greatly enhanced fuel efficiency," said Stephen Shuler, Exatec's chief technology officer. "But to take the power of PC to even greater heights, glazing must be able to deliver long-term abrasion and scratch resistance. Our new R&D capabilities, combined with our extensive Exatec glaze testing and evaluation services and our continued investments in innovation, will help ensure we lead the glazing curve and help our customers move forward with the best technologies on the market today."

New R&D Capabilities Measures Surface Quality
Using state-of-the-art instruments for testing and analysis, SABIC Innovative Plastics' dedicated team of engineers and polymer scientists at Exatec evaluate the effects of surface wear on PC glazing using either wet coat or both wet coat and plasma coating technologies. Other testing capabilities include taber abrasion equipment, nano-indentation, optical imaging, surface profilometry, full-scale wiper test stands, and a lab-scale wiper test stand specially instrumented to control speed and pressure as well as test different blade types and debris conditions.

Exatec also conducts long-term road evaluations on its own test vehicles to obtain critical data on the effects of weathering, weekly car washes and rear wiper performance on glazing. By quantifying some of the mechanisms that cause scratches and abrasion, and correlating them to fleet vehicle data and customer experiences, the Exatec team continues to address the needs of its automotive customers.

"We were one of the first to develop PC glazing solutions for automotive manufacturers more than a decade ago, and our innovations, such as our advanced plasma coating technology, continue to lead the industry," Shuler added. "Our new scratch and abrasion evaluation capabilities are yet another example of our commitment to this critically important industry through more advanced analysis and optimisation of PC glazing solutions that meet the specific requirements of global automotive manufacturers."

For further information, view website: www.sabic-ip.com   Refer to page 144

Keighley Laboratories invests in cutting edge technology

Keighley Laboratories, a UK technology leader in the analysis, testing and heat treatment of metals, has invested around £100k in upgrading its laboratory test house, in line with ever more exacting customer requirements. This is part of a wholesale site modernisation process, which will also see the development of new buildings and facilities over the coming months, with a view to positioning the company at the cutting edge of sub-contract heat treatment and metallurgical solutions.

The core of this initial investment phase has seen the installation of new high tech equipment that enables manual to semi-automated metallographic sample preparation, for handling the latest generation of superalloys, and powerful metallurgical microscopes for examining the microstructure of specimens, as well as digital image capture and analysis. This laboratory resource will enable the specialised evaluation of the effect of the latest drilling and machining techniques on high grade components, such as advanced turbine blades used in power plants and jet engines. Other capital investments include a new CNC lathe for manufacturing sample pieces, an X-ray fluorescence analyser, a non-destructive digital ferrite meter, and complete refurbishment of the test house.

Originally established in 1920 and this year celebrating its 90^th anniversary, West Yorkshire-based Keighley Laboratories specialises in the sub-contract heat treatment of metals, including induction hardening, carburising, nitrocarburising, tempering and stress relieving, and metallurgical testing services, covering such disciplines as non-destructive testing, chemical analysis, metallography and problem & failure investigation. It has built successful client partnerships across a broad cross-section of manufacturing industry, such as aerospace, energy, transmission engineering, hydraulics, marine, mining and transportation, and has technical accreditations and approvals to meet the requirements of insurance and inspectorate bodies, industrial primes, including aerospace, and major companies at home and overseas.

"Working for today's technically-demanding industry sectors, we have to deliver excellence and innovation across all of our metallurgical services," says Keighley Labs MD, Debbie Mellor. "That's why we have invested in state-of-the-art test house equipment and, in due course, will be redeveloping our South Street site, paving the way for more advanced surface engineering technologies. This will strengthen our overall capabilities and help cement our relationships with customers across all sectors."

Its metallography service enables examination of the microstructure of metals and alloys, so as to determine characteristics such as grain structure, inclusions, cleanliness and weld quality. With aggressive non-traditional machining techniques now being used on superalloys, such as electrolytic STEM drilling, electrical discharge (EDM), electro-chemical (ECM) and laser machining, Keighley Labs' latest equipment allows observations of re-melt layers, heat-affected zones, intergranular attack, re-hardened layers and other possible irregularities, as part of FAI (first article inspection) and other routine QA checks.

Meticulous surface preparation of samples is essential for revealing details of the microstructure and new, precision cutting, grinding and polishing equipment will ensure exactly that, while automatic mounting presses enable optimum edge retention of specimens. A linear precision machine, with built-in micrometer, will cut virtually any material without sample deformation, allowing the laboratory to isolate a cross-section of a single STEM-drilled hole. A new hot compression, automatic mounting press or vacuum-assisted cold press then embeds samples in phenolic resin, before they are finished down to 0.1µm on a series of electric grinder-polishers, fitted with diamond planing discs or polishing media.

Macro examination to 40x magnification and micro examination to 1000x can then be carried out using advanced Meiji Techno metallurgical microscopes. A new zoom stereo microscope is used for viewing and comparing specimens in three dimensions, as an aid to visual examination; while an inverted metallurgical microscope offers crisp, high resolution images up to 1000x, with a built-in photo port providing for image capture and downloading to a PC. Finally, proprietary software facilitates live measurement functions and online image analysis for reporting purposes.

This state-of-the-art metallographic sample preparation and analysis facility allows Keighley Laboratories to work to the exacting requirements of leading aviation, gas turbine and other companies, its location on the edge of the North West Aerospace Alliance cluster positioning it well to serve the allied industries.

For further information, e-mail: lstott@keighleylabs.co.uk

New elastopipe™ application conquers Russian cold

Trelleborg Offshore has secured a contract to supply ELASTOPIPE™, its successful synthetic rubber-based fire-resistant flexible piping system for nitrogen transport in extreme temperatures, at the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company's Onshore Processing Facility (OPF).  The new application extends the uses of the already-established, ELASTOPIPE™ technology.   

"The requirement was to qualify for -45˚C exterior temperatures for nitrogen gas transport around the OPF but the challenge was to prove that the ELASTOPIPE™ and its couplings were gas tight, even at -45˚C," commented Jon Huse, development engineer - material, Trelleborg Offshore Norway AS. "This novel application followed product offerings of ELASTOPIPE™ for fire-water applications on the SEIC/Molikpaq ice-resistant platform; SEIC then asked us to tender for its use for gas transport around their site at Sakhalin II."

The testing, which demonstrated to the client that the standard ELASTOPIPE™ pipe and standard couplings could meet the requirements of these extreme environments, was performed and accredited by the Teknisk Institutt, Norway. The tests showed that flexibility, light weight, corrosion-free and ease of installation without the risk of welding are valuable, especially under these extreme conditions.

"For extreme Arctic conditions, third party accreditation of technology is critical to verify that any investment in new technology carries the least possible risk," continued Jon Huse. "It means that customers can have complete confidence in the product benefits and we are pleased to see that our ELASTOPIPE™ system successfully passed the tests."

Sakhalin Island in Russia is currently one of the world's most extreme environments for oil and gas production, situated in the Sea of Okhotsk which is typically ice-bound for up to six months a year. Operations are hampered by severe cold, snow, ice, icefloes, storms and even bears. It is also an area of heavy seismic activity with frequent earthquakes. The biggest overseas investor in oil extraction and production is Royal Dutch Shell, which has a 55% stake in SEIC.

The proven advantages of ELASTOPIPE™ over conventional rigid steel pipes have already made it an established solution for seawater-based deluge and sprinkler systems. This is due to its corrosion-free and fire resistant performance with minimal maintenance and lower installation costs. ELASTOPIPE™ achieves 24/7 availability with considerably less need for testing, and reduced maintenance costs. ELASTOPIPE™ also offers significant weight advantages over steel. Its ease and speed of installation make it suitable for fixed and floating platforms, support vessels and onshore oil & gas installations. For further information on ELASTOPIPE™, e-mail: jan-hugo.nilssen@trelleborg.com or view website: www.clearlyflowassured.com   Refer to page 96