Smart Molding International 1-2022

49 materials www.smart-molding.com No complex metal forming, fewer production steps Today, housings for high-voltage bat - teries are primarily made of extruded steel or aluminium profiles. Depending on the vehicle class, the housing length and widths can be well over 2,000 or 1,500 millimeters, respectively. The size, the number of components and the numerous manufac - turing and assembly steps make met- al housings ver y cost- i n t e n s i v e . For example, complex struc - tures made from strand press pro - files require many secondary work steps such as welding, punch - ing and riveting. In addition, the metallic components must be protected against corrosion in an additional process step by cathodic dip coating. “Plastics, on the other hand, can fully exploit their design freedom. By inte - grating functions such as fasteners and thermal management components, the number of individual components of a battery housing can be greatly re - duced. This simplifies assembly and logistical effort, which reduces pro - duction costs,” says Hoefs. Plastics are also corrosion-resistant and electrically insulating. The latter ensures, for ex - ample, that there is a reduced risk of the system short-circuiting. The low density of plastics and their potential for lightweight construction lead to sig - nificantly lighter housings, which ben - efits, among other things, the range of electric vehicles. Complex mix of high requirements High-voltage battery housings must meet a variety of highly demanding technical requirements. For example, they must be stiff and strong and yet be able to absorb a significant amount of energy in the event of a crash. This is tested via mechanical shock- and crush tests. The housings must also be flame-retardant in the event of a vehicle fire or thermal run-away of the electrical cells. Finally, the housings must be integrated into the vehicle structure. “We continue to work together on optimizing the production and struc - tural design of the components. The aim is to carry out the majority of the development work virtually, in order to save costs in prototype design and to shorten the time to market of future series components,” Hoefs says. About Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG: As a Tier One automotive supplier with more than 30 plants in 14 coun - tries, Kautex designs, develops and manufactures traditional and hybrid fuel systems, advanced cleaning so - lutions for assisted and autonomous driving, engine camshafts and plastic industrial packaging solutions. A pio - neer in the design and manufacture of automotive plastic fuel systems, Kautex is expanding its portfolio to of - fer smart products and data-driven ser - vices to our customers, including smart fuel systems, thermoplastic composite and composite-metal hybrid battery systems. From a light - weight battery system to a hybrid fuel system to autono - mous drive vehicle cleaning systems, Kautex is committed to pioneering so - lutions for the era of new mobility. About Textron Inc. Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) is a multi- industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innova - tive solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more informa - tion, visit: www.textron.com . About LANXESS LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.1 billion in 2020. The company cur - rently has about 14,900 employees in 33 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manu - facturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability In - dex (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good. LANXESS www.lanxess.com The system is a technically sophisticated, large-format all-plastic housing part with a weight in the mid-double-digit kilogram range