• Radici Group Receives Awards for Automotive Components

The Brazilian performance plastics subsidiary of the Radici Group, Radici Plastics Ltda received the prestigious “Destaque de Qualidade” award for the quality and engineering excellence of its innovative engineering plastics and the continuous process monitoring after the sales. The award is sponsored by Tecfil, which is one of the market leaders when it comes to the production of car filters in Latin America. Tecfil manufactures over five million units on a monthly basis.

Commenting on the award, the CEO of Radici Plastics Ltda said the award is very important for the company as it highlights Radici’s unique ability to provide support to the customer through all the steps of the process, right from the design stage to the finished product stage. Collaborating closely with Tecfil’s engineering department, Radici’s team came up with a specific solution for their needs and designed two Radilon brand products that significantly enhanced the performance of fuel filters.

The Radilon range comprises polymers that offer better resistance to high temperatures (up to 230°C for Radilon XTreme), reinforced materials for metal replacement and long-chain polyimides.

This is not the first time that the Radici Group has received such an award. During the K 2016 show in Düsseldorf, Germany, the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) acknowledge the advances jointly made by Joma-Polytec GmbH, Daimler AG and RadiciGroup Performance Plastics in the innovative use of plastics in the powertrain category at the SPE Automotive Award Night 2016.

The valve body assembly plus elbow connecting the oil pump to the crankcase comprises a non-return valve as part of the valve body to prevent oil backflow and drainage from the crankcase at engine stop. Thus, the oil pressure can rise more rapidly and immediately supply the bearing with oil when the engine is started. The valve body assembly was made using standard injection molding with fusible cores, ultrasonic welding plus hot plate welding of rivets, and as an alternative to metal used RadiciGroup Performance Plastics’ glass-fiber-filled polyamide.

The polymer, of which the trade name is Radilon S RV350W BK, is heat-stabilized PA6-GF35 and has the capability to provide high heat resistance even on prolonged exposure to hot air and hot engine oil. As an outcome of the proposed solution innovation, the weight of the valve body and elbow will reduce by 0.256 kg. The components are highly durable and can withstand 1.2 million kilometers of traveling, or the rough equivalent of 15,000 hours of exposure to high temperatures (130°C) in contact with air and engine oil under the influence of pulsating pressure (10 million cycles)