ContiTech Press Releases

Hanover/Ludwigshafen, September 28, 2009Making a bee-line from the visual world to under the engine hood

For present and future customers, carmakers are in search of sustainable lightweight solutions that are aesthetically pleasing as well. ContiTech Vibration Control, the internationally successful maker of passenger car engine mount components, and BASF have combined their strengths to create solutions that offer just that. The result is an innovative torque roll restrictor for the new Porsche Panamera. Made of a high-strength polyamide from the family of Ultramid® CR materials and a function-optimized natural rubber compound from the NR+ group, the high-load composite component ensures sturdy suspension for engine torques of up to 650 Nm. At the same time it guarantees excellent acoustic performance and a secure mount for the vehicle engine. Installing this component in place of a metal part, the sports car maker stands to get comparable functionality for a weight savings of 35 percent.

Installed longitudinally on two suspension points, the torque roll restrictor not only secures the vehicle engine but, as a visible part, must also fulfill high demands in terms of an aesthetically pleasing surface appearance. Just to satisfy this latter requirement, the injection mold at ContiTech Vibration Control was optimized to allow for a fine, matte surface grain. Made of Ultramid® A3WG7 CR, the novel plastic component replaces a metal part of comparable functionality. Employing BASF’s ULTRASIM™ simulation package, it was possible to develop a design directly on the computer that could then be transformed into a production component without having to pass through a prototype phase.

Photo: BASF

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(JPG, RGB, 300dpi, app. 30x20cm, 2.2MB)

With engine output of up to 500 HP, the Panamera represents Porsche’s first four-door premium grand tour class model. High-performing vehicles like this place special demands on the engine mount. For this innovative car, Porsche has opted for an equally novel material solution. As the torque roll restrictor can be seen when the hood is up, ContiTech Vibration, in close collaboration with the Porsche design department, endowed the part with an attractively grained surface.

“The torque roll restrictor must be capable of absorbing high loads. As a visible component, though, it must also satisfy aesthetic requirements. ContiTech Vibration Control thus employs a special mold in manufacturing it to obtain an especially high-quality surface appearance," notes Stefan Wöhler, in charge of product development at ContiTech Vibration Control.

Installed longitudinally on two suspension points, the torque roll restrictor not only secures the vehicle engine but, as a visible part, must also fulfill high demands in terms of an aesthetically pleasing surface appearance. Just to satisfy this latter requirement, the injection mold at ContiTech Vibration Control was optimized to allow for a fine, matte surface grain. Made of Ultramid® A3WG7 CR, the novel plastic component replaces a metal part of comparable functionality. Employing BASF’s ULTRASIM™ simulation package, it was possible to develop a design directly on the computer that could then be transformed into a production component without having to pass through a prototype phase.

Photo: BASF

Image Download
(JPG, RGB, 300dpi, app. 32x21cm, 1.7MB)

From the very start the component was developed in BASF’s Ultramid® polyamide and more or less completely computer designed with the help of BASF’s universal simulation package, ULTRASIM™. “As materials specialist and development partner, BASF intensively supports its customers in this way with simulation technology that incorporates a number of novel features and has demonstrated its worth in actual use many times over,” notes Bernhard Aumer, ULTRASIM expert for BASF’s technical plastics.

In this case it was a matter of ensuring a specific functionality and loadability in a defined installation space. In just a few calculation runs, BASF put together a component concept on the direct basis of which ContiTech, the systems supplier in charge of the complete integrated elastomer bearing or composite component, was able to generate a manufacturable design. No backup prototype testing was needed and optimization work could be kept to a minimum, amounting, in vehicle development, to enormous savings in terms of time and money.

Compliance with the requisite specifications was confirmed in test rig trials at ContiTech Vibration Control and vehicle trials carried out at Porsche.