Innovative Damping
Laminated Visco-Lam is a material with built-in noise-damping qualities that could gain significant use in the manufacture of everything from automobiles to computers and white goods.
Customers are demanding more comfort in cars and quieter passenger compartments can translate into a competitive advantage. The practice of mounting noise-damping components under body panels has negative environmental ramifications, while it also adds weight to the end product.
Trelleborg Rubore produces laminates with intrinsic noise-damping qualities that can be used in the production of car parts. Visco-Lam belongs to this product category.
Visco-Lam is used today primarily in the manufacture of oil pans and other engine components. Testing is underway with regard to body-component applications. Customers include a number of the major car manufacturers.
The product consists of two layers of sheet metal that are laminated with an interlayer of visco-elastic acrylic-based polymer. Most metals can be used for the metallic layers and total thickness ranges between 0.6 and 2.5 millimeters.
“The propagation of vibrations to the metallic layers generates micro-movements between them,” explains Bengt Nilsson, product development manager for Visco-Lam. “The interlayer damps these micromovements. A significant advantage is that the polymer can be configured for different applications involving different temperature ranges.”
Visco-Lam’s exceptional weldability is another significant advantage of the product. Both GM and Chrysler have approved Visco-Lam for welding applications. The material is also highly moldable and can be processed using standard metal-processing equipment. Bengt Nilsson emphasizes that the automotive industry is not the only industry in which Visco-Lam can have in impact.
“We supply hard-disk locking mechanisms in stainless steel and aluminium, but demand for quieter computers is on the rise and, globally, the potential is enormous. Many potential applications also exist for the white goods and electronics industries. In addition, we are supplying a specially developed ceiling material to the construction industry on a trial basis. This type of material is also used within the rail industry and I expect that utilization will increase.”
The future is looking bright. Three major automobile manufacturers are testing the material. “The trend in the automotive industry is towards diesel engines, reduced weight and higher injection pressures, which exacerbate vibrations in engines and engine blocks. We also foresee a rise in body panel applications,” he concludes.