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The German firm of MANN+HUMMEL, a major global partner for the automotive and engineering industries, picked DuPont Zytel® HTN polyphthalamide for the air-intake manifold in the 4.2 liter diesel motor that powers the Audi A8. This high-performance polyamide’s good mechanical properties withstand high temperatures as well as aggressive gases and liquids such as fuels, lubricants, combustion products and brine, over long periods. Parts molded from this resin show outstanding dimensional stability.

The motor’s improved environmental cleanness created a challenge for the manifold’s designers, in the form of higher thermal resistance requirements for this part. The optimized exhaust gas recirculation system alone raises the temperature in the manifold to over 200 °C, and it reaches 250 °C for several minutes when soot is burned off to regenerate the particle filter. Such operating conditions require the use of a thermoplastic material whose performance is substantially better than that of conventional nylons.

Says Achim Rehmann, team leader for Air-Intake Manifold Systems at MANN+HUMMEL: “Together with DuPont, we chose Zytel® HTN 52G35HSL for this application. This semi-aromatic heat-stabilized polyphthalamide (PPA) reinforced with 35 % glass fiber stands out through its especially high melt point (310 °C) and a correspondingly high heat distortion temperature. Its resistance to aggressive exhaust-gas components, mainly sulphurous acid, is in line with that of nylon 6.6, the standard material for the industry, and would be good enough for use with bio-diesel fuels.”

Each intake manifold of Zytel® HTN supplies one bank of four cylinders in the V-8 TDI motor. Each cylinder has two inlet valves and the manifold has eight outlets to match. Four of the canals (those with rectangular openings) are unobstructed; these feed the air into the cylinder tangentially, creating an optimal air-fuel swirl in the combustion chamber. At low power requirements, electronically operated valves keep the circular openings closed; as the load on the motor increases, the valves gradually open.

To simplify the complex manifold’s production, Mann+Hummel first injection-molds the (upper) housing and the (lower) connecting flange as separate parts which are easy to demold. The two parts are then joined by friction welding. Thanks to the good weldability of Zytel® HTN, the weld produces strong seals which allow no pressure loss from the system. The molding’s smooth surface quality helps to minimize air-flow losses in both air-flow canals. In a separate operation, the bearings, also made of polyamide, are positioned on the two-part valve shaft; the shafts with the bearings are then placed into a molding tool where the valve-flaps are overmolded. This creates a positive connection, so that the flaps cannot slip or twist out of place on the shaft.

Comprehensive simulation calculations were needed for the manifold’s design. “Together with DuPont we calculated the manifold’s deformation behavior under operating conditions, for example,” Rehmann notes. “Based on this, Mann + Hummel was able to optimize the design to ensure tightness of the joint at the interface to the cylinder head even under a ‘worst case scenario’ of pressure, temperature and motor speed combinations.”

Rehmann sees considerable development potential for Zytel® HTN for intake manifolds. “Weight and cost considerations mean that more and more plastic intake manifolds will replace aluminum manifolds, in spite of ever-higher thermal resistance requirements. A manifold of Zytel® HTN has the necessary safety margin and weighs only half as much as a corresponding metal part. As a multifunctional component it is substantially less costly to produce, and its has proven long-term reliability.”

The DuPont Engineering Polymers business manufactures and sells Crastin® PBT and Rynite® PET thermoplastic polyester resins, Delrin® acetal resins, Hytrel® thermoplastic polyester elastomers, DuPont™ ETPV engineering thermoplastic vulcanizates, Minlon® mineral-reinforced nylon resins, Thermx® PCT polycyclohexylene dimethylterephthalates, Tynex® nylon filaments, Vespel® parts and shapes, Zenite® liquid crystal polymers and Zytel® nylon resins and Zytel® HTN high-performance polyamides. These products serve global markets in the aerospace, appliance, automotive, consumer, electrical, electronic, industrial, sporting goods and many other diversified industries.

DuPont is a science company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

Information about DuPont in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region is available in all major European languages at www.emea.dupont.com.

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The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, Delrin®, Kevlar®, Teflon® and Zytel® are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.

EP-EU-2006-09

This news release is based on information from:

MANN+HUMMEL GmbH
Hindenburgstr. 45
D-71638 Ludwigsburg, Germany
Contact: Andrea Schlepper
Tel: ++49 (0) 7141-98-2906
Fax: ++49 (0) 7141 98-3946
E-Mail: andrea.schlepper@mann-hummel.com

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Caption:
The two air-intake manifolds—one on each of the two cylinder banks of the V-8 turbo-diesel motor in the Audi A8—are made of Zytel® HTN. This DuPont polyphthalamide withstands extremely high operating temperatures—up to 250 °C. These can occur when the mixture of gases, consisting of compressed intake air and recirculated exhaust, is heated further to burn soot off the particle filter.

High-resolution images also available on line at plastics.dupont.com

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