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Engineering Conferences
News Release from: Smithers Rapra
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 07 September 2007
Conference targets automotive adhesives
Smithers Rapra Technology is recruiting speakers to address how today's automotive manufacturer can satisfy the conflicting demands of the consumer and the regulator.
Smithers Rapra has announced the dates for a conference for the automotive adhesives, sealants and coatings sector In recent years a series of environmental and end-of-life regulations in the automotive sector have triggered significant changes in vehicle design and manufacture on a global scale
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 4 Aug 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The call for improved fuel efficiency and safety, increased passenger comfort, and a reduction in the emission of pollutants has seen the introduction of new materials and manufacturing techniques to develop lighter, more efficient vehicles.
To these requirements has been added the need to re-design vehicles with disassembly, materials re-use and recovery in mind.
These trends have had a big impact on the adhesives, sealants and coatings markets.
Adhesives, sealants and coatings are found in just about every area of a car.
For example structural and semi-structural adhesives (such as epoxies and polyurethanes) and sound deadening materials are now used between layers of body shell in favour of traditional mechanical fasteners, reducing weight and corrosion.
Adhesives also find widespread use in joining plastics and composites, both to themselves and to metals.
Similarly windscreens are now bonded-in structural components to improve vehicle stiffness and crash protection.
However all of these elastomeric/resinous materials are sources of odour and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and are therefore subject to EU Reach legislation.
Today much is being done to replace low-solids solvent-based adhesives, sealants and coatings with a new generation of waterborne or hot melt formulations.
These do not release VOCs on curing but still retain the aesthetic and protective qualities that the industry demands.
Automotive manufacturers must also consider the journey of a vehicle from cradle to grave, allowing for the dismantling and recycling of materials so that European Directives for end of life vehicle (ELV) are met.
With this in mind Smithers Rapra Technology is recruiting speakers to address how today's automotive manufacturer can satisfy the conflicting demands of the consumer and the regulator.
Abstracts should be sent by the deadline of 7th January 2008.
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