Lanxess uses polyamide 6 in Porsche engine - Arhive
Lanxess uses polyamide 6 in Porsche engine
Lanxess’s polyamide 6 has been selected as a material for manufacturing the oil pan of the new six-cylinder boxer engines of the Porsche 911 Carrera.
The move comes as the trend of manufacturing engine oil pans from plastic instead of metals such as aluminum continues to to gain ground. For historical reasons, the plastic of choice to date has almost always been polyamide 66. However, newer designs are favouring polyamide 6, an alternative that offers a similarly high-quality property profile, but is more economical.
The oil pan module has been developed in close collaboration between Polytec Plastics Germany and automotive maker Porsche.
“The component fully satisfies the specific requirements for functional integration, lightweight construction and cost-effective production that the new generation of engines has to meet,” says Jorge Soares, project manager for the component at Polytec Plastics Germany.
Material data
In a study carried out for Porsche, Lanxess proved the feasibility of manufacturing motor oil pans from polyamide 6. Ageing tests were carried out to determine the durability of the thermoplastic under exposure to elements such as new and used engine oil. Specimen storage tests spanning a total of 3,000 hours at 150°C were also performed on highly reinforced, hydrolysis-stabilised, easy-flowing and high-temperature-stabilised Durethan grades, among others.
Christof Boden, expert for engine compartment applications from Lanxess, says: “The test results show the ageing behaviour of heat-stabilised polyamide 6 is only marginally different to that of heat-stabilised polyamide 66 in terms of tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and elongation at break and impact strength. Appropriately optimised polyamide 6 compounds are therefore ideally suited for use in components that convey engine oil.”
The engine oil pan for the Porsche 911 Carrera consists of an upper and a lower part made from 30% glass fibre-reinforced Durethan BKV 30 H2.0 from Lanxess. The upper part is screw-connected to a pipeline carrier also made from polyamide 6. Using plastic instead of aluminum means that numerous functions can be shaped directly during injection moulding, thereby integrating them into the component. This has helped to reduce the number of separate parts that need to be manufactured and mounted for the oil pan from 14 on the metal design, to eight. The number of key work steps needed in the final assembly of the engine has also been cut, from eight to two. The bulkhead panel is integrated into the lower part of the pan and no longer has to be installed separately with a seal. The oil return lines of the turbocharger, the oil separator and the air-oil separator are combined in the pipeline carrier.
Weight reduction
Lanxess says polyamide 6 has helped to reduce the weight of the upper and lower sections of the oil pan to 1.3 and 1.8kg respectively. Overall, the oil pan is more than 2kg lighter than its aluminum predecessor, due to the lower density of the plastic and the optimised wall thicknesses.
A key argument in favour of manufacturing the oil pan using injection moulding was the huge potential that the process offers for integrating functions and thereby cutting costs. Since the parts are produced in a single step in the mould, there is no need for complex finishing work such as deburring die-cast aluminum parts. The lower energy costs are another benefit in favour of manufacturing injection-moulded parts.
Lanxess is making the test results – and other material data – available to development partners as part of joint projects.