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LyondellBasell unveils Softell Textile for automotives

22 Oct '16
2 min read

LyondellBasell, one of the world's largest plastics, chemical, and refining companies, has unveiled a new Softell range of polypropylene (PP) compound, Softell Textile, a scratch resistant, low gloss PP compound with high impact strength and pleasant touch characteristics, to its comprehensive portfolio of products for interior automotive applications.

Injection moulded components made out of the new PP compound display a textile-like surface finish requested by modern automotive material engineers and designers.

Customers have started to qualify Softell textile for upcoming models and reported that the components could now be produced more cost effective with lower reject rates compared to the use of real textile fabrics or technical polymers.

The innovative Softell Textile PP compounds are increasingly used in car interior applications such as dashboards or door panels. Compared to competitive interior solutions such as painted ABS, Softell PP compounds offer additional advantages, including excellent processability and high quality design potential. High quality surface finishes are achieved without coating or painting which improve recycling potential and offer possible cost savings through processing advantages. Due to their morphological structure, finished parts produced using Softell compounds do not form sharp edges and splinters in crash tests, even at low temperatures, so light weight, cost effective door panels and many other interior components can be produced without compromising part performance.

Erik Licht, LyondellBasell's business development manager for PP compounds in Europe said, “By achieving this surface quality in one production step without using other materials, Softell Textile is providing a new solution in interior automotive applications. The new product has the potential to replace a currently used high cost alternative that applies real fabric on polymer components to achieve the desired surface finish effect.” (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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