Body and assembly
Arkema’s R&D is committed to continued development of high performance materials to drive current industry-level development efforts to manufacture less energy consuming vehicles with reduced CO2 emissions. Lightweight material development is one of our key fields of expertise and we continue pushing limits of material performance in the highest demanding applications in automotive manufacturing. Our offer of material solutions consist of high performance thermoplastic resins and smart adhesives tailor-made for automotive application requirements in terms of performance, safety and sustainability. Automotive Solutions by Arkema aims at bringing time-proven material expertise to support the global transition to more sustainable and more durable next generation vehicles.
Thermoplastic composites for vehicle body
We aim to address the key challenges for structural parts: lightweight materials that respond to performance requirements in terms of durability and capacity to absorb impact energy. We designed high performance thermoplastic resins to complete current developments for less fuel-intensive vehicles in the automotive industry. Our offer of thermoplastic resins is more than simple lightweighting substitution; Elium® and Rilsan® Matrix resins are fully recyclable and easy to process materials.
Thermoplastic resins for composite structural parts
Elium® resins combine excellent mechanical strength and recyclability, while being 50% lighter than steel and 30% lighter than aluminum. The composite parts made with Elium® feature identical mechanical properties to thermoset parts and is equally as resistance as steel. Another key advantage of Elium® resins is its ease of processing: seamless blend with glass or carbon fibers and compatible with conventional thermosetting resin transformation technologies.
Rilsan® Matrix high-performance polyamides for lightweight composites
Rilsan® Matrix polyamides are the latest development for lightweight materials from our R&D that responds to critical demand for reducing energy consumption and CO2 emission in the automotive industry. New Rilsan® Matrix series of high temperature, high-performance polyamide resins are especially designed for structural body part composites. The resin is reinforced with either carbon fibers or glass fibers and this composite structure is extremely effective in terms of durability, resistance and impact absorption. Rilsan® Matrix polyamides are available in the form of unidirectional tapes that enable the manufacture of composite parts new and innovative processes design for the high output requirements of this industry.
Structural adhesives for body-in-white applications
Automotive Solutions by Arkema presents innovative bonding technologies developed by Bostik that are compatible with lightweight materials and add efficiency to the process while ensuring workers safety. Bostik smart adhesives offer a wide range of solutions adapted to the customers every need and highly demanding requirements such as strong corrosion protection and tolerance to lubricants or pre-lubes. The key applications of structural bonding in body-in-white are structural bonding, anti-flutter, hem flange and weld through sealers. Structural adhesives are applied in assembly to A/B/C pillars, beams, chassis and thresholds. Anti-flutter and hem flange adhesives are applied to doors, hoods and tail and lift gates. Finally weld through sealer applications are chassis, roofs and sides and floor carpets.
Coating materials
Arkema presents a comprehensive offer of high performance materials for coating applications. Our market-leading portfolio of coating materials include radiation curing resins, thermoset and thermoplastic resins, rheology additives, emulsions & polyols and more. Our expert teams are committed to the development of solutions for durable and resistant coating materials for tomorrow's next generation vehicles. Our coating team aims to provide more sustainable coatings, all while minimizing their environmental impact, notably by employing bio-sourced raw materials.
