The key to manufacturing flame-retardant sealing strips for automobiles lies in what materials are used. Below, I will introduce the materials of flame-retardant sealing strips for automobiles, hoping to help you.
1. Polyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a traditional general-purpose plastic that has greatly improved its aging resistance and rubber feel through modification. However, due to its poor elasticity, it is mainly used as a material for the clamping parts of inner and outer side strips and some flame retardant sealing strips. PVC is also commonly used as a flame-retardant sealing strip for car body door frames on trucks and agricultural vehicles, and is often combined with EPDM as a light colored auxiliary material on sedans.
2. EPDM rubber
Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) is polymerized by adding a small amount of non conjugated diene to ethylene and propylene monomers. The characteristic of its structure is that there are no unsaturated double bonds on the main chain of the polymer molecule, while unsaturated double bonds are introduced on the side chains. Therefore, it has excellent weather resistance, heat resistance, ozone resistance, UV resistance, good processing performance, and low compression deformation, making it a material for producing flame-retardant sealing strips. At present, the vast majority of flame-retardant sealing strip materials for automobiles use EPDM as the main raw material.
According to the different parts and functions of flame retardant sealing strips, in practical applications, vulcanization, protection, reinforcement, operating system materials, and special additives (such as coloring agents and foaming agents) are added to EPDM materials to form dense adhesive (including black adhesive and colored adhesive) and sponge adhesive.
3. Thermoplastic elastomer
Thermoplastic elastomer material (TPE/TPV) is a material developed in recent years. The structural characteristics of the two-phase composition are composed of plastic and rubber. Therefore, to some extent, the characteristics of plastic and rubber do not require vulcanization during the processing, making it easy to control the cross-section. The material can be recycled simultaneously under certain conditions and has low environmental pollution. Therefore, it is a concern for vehicle and sealing system designers. However, due to its elasticity and deformation, it is not yet mature enough to produce sponge bodies, and its price is also high, so its usage is very limited. At present, it is mainly used for the manufacturing of window sidebars and window guides. With the improvement and refinement of TPE production technology, its application scope will further expand.