October 2008

At the International Trade Fair for Transport Technology, InnoTrans 2008, in Berlin, Germany, Bayer MaterialScience presented a number of applications for polyurethane systems and thermoplastics in rail traffic.

For the field of transport technology in general, the company has even more to offer – tailor-made thermoplastics for traffic guidance systems, for example. "For this area of application, we have a broadly based product range with our Apec® and Makrolon® polycarbonates and our Bayblend® polycarbonate blends,” says Wojciech Cieplik, an expert for traffic control systems in the Polycarbonates Business Unit, adding: “In many cases, these materials are a powerful alternative to materials like glass and metal or plastics like PMMA.” Among other things, the business unit offers special easy-flow products for geometrically complex parts, light-amplifying materials and electroplatable grades for applications such as reflectors. The range also includes a number of grades that are resistant to yellowing at high service temperatures. Typical applications for these materials in traffic guidance technology include housings and lens systems for traffic lights and railroad signals, warning signals for roadworks, traffic lane markings and parking meter housings.

Compared with the similarly transparent PMMA, Makrolon® and Apec® are noted in particular for their excellent dimensional stability and their superior impact strength, which is also retained in icy cold conditions. The resultant components are resistant to breaking and splintering and can withstand a considerable amount of rough treatment by vandals. Makrolon® and Apec® also have much higher heat resistance than PMMA.

Flame retardance complies with EU directives and environmental labels
A major role in the company's product portfolio for traffic guidance systems is played by the flame-retardant FR grades. Makrolon® FR and Apec® FR are – with just a few justified exceptions – free of chlorine, bromine and antimony, and comply with the EU’s WEEE and RoHS directives. All the Bayblend® FR grades conform to these directives. Apart from that, the FR grades also satisfy the requirements laid down by the most important eco-labels such as the "Blue Angel", making them an ecological and effective alternative to flame-retardant ABS or HIPS grades, which generally contain chlorine or bromine. “This is all the more relevant,” says Cieplik, “because the flame-retardant, decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), which is frequently used in ABS and HIPS, was recently banned throughout the EU.”

Customized coloring
Bayer MaterialScience offers Makrolon®, Bayblend® and Apec® in colors specified by the customers and can supply the products worldwide in exactly the color and quality they want. "Our Color Competence Centers (CCC) around the world match colors for customers and can produce samples in small quantities," says Cieplik. At www.competenceincolor.com, designers and converters can search online for colors, request color samples and make color matching inquiries. An indication of Bayer MaterialScience's color competence is the extensive FantasiaTM program, which brings together five basic technologies for the coloring and design of surfaces. They include well over 100 visual and tactile special effects such as metallic, opalescent, phosphorescent and changeant effects.

Aura® – permanent UV protection for polycarbonate
One part of FantasiaTM is the new Aura® infusion technology, an immersion process for coloring plastic parts following molding or extrusion. It is a cost-effective and simple alternative to the complicated process of UV coating. The part only has to be dipped once in a solution containing an UV absorber. The UV protective layer is particularly durable because the transparent UV absorbers migrate into the plastic and do not simply become deposited on the surface of the component. Effective UV protection is important for plastic parts used in a number of new light sources, which, like HID lamps (High Intensity Discharge), contain a high proportion of UV light.

Guiding light – precision lenses made of polycarbonate
Bayer MaterialScience has wide-ranging processing expertise and material know-how in the production of polycarbonate prisms and lenses – for example in the economical injection molding of microprisms with extremely fine structures. Together with its partners, the company is also working on so-called "collimator lenses", which, as a single component, focus the light from LEDs almost without loss. "We have developed special grades of Makrolon® and tailor-made injection molding technologies, with which these lens systems can be produced to a very high level of precision," says Cieplik.

About Bayer MaterialScience:
With 2007 sales of EUR 10.4 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2007, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 15,400 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.

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