Freudenberg Sealing Technologies Helping Customers Find Material Solutions in the Ever-Changing Mobility Landscape

“Today’s powertrain systems are more complex than ever before, and they are still under development so requirements continue to change,” Walker continued. “Material compatibility challenges are really about risk management – component manufacturers incur risk every time their materials are subjected to new fluids and environments. Our goal is to supply customers with a material that works regardless of design and application challenges.”

Thermal management and friction reduction, for example, have emerged as even greater needs in today’s new vehicles. Powertrain components in electric and electrified vehicle must exhibit high thermal conductivity but low electrical conductivity – large, high-voltage batteries need to be cooled but their electricity must not escape. Friction reduction, which helps increase efficiency and lower emissions, becomes even more important with sealed, lifetime fluid systems where shafts are running on an ever-thinning thickness of lubricant at faster speeds. Autonomous driving scenarios, where ride comfort and operational longevity are essential, will increasingly depend upon friction reduction in shock absorbers and suspensions.

“The enemy is heat,” Walker said. “Today, we are packing so much into power transfer cases that you may end up with only a cup of lubricant. We need to know how materials will respond to new temperature and pressure extremes.”

Freudenberg is at the forefront of helping auto manufacturers navigate an evolving material landscape. The company offers customers more than 1,800 material formulas globally. Among its many high-performance, proprietary materials, five, in particular, offer unique advantages to customers: Quantum^® PTFE, Quantix^® Thermoplastics, High Temperature FKM, FluoroXprene^® and Bio-based EPDM.

Here you find more information on the material solutions that Freudenberg Sealing Technologies offers.

Visitors to NAIAS are invited to view all of Freudenberg’s innovative sealing solutions Jan. 16-18, 2018 at its display at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Detroit Riverfront in the Pontchartrain Room.