SymaLITE®

As a panel, SymaLITE can be utilized in place of plywood, thin plies of tropical timber, fiberboard and polymeric rigid foams. Molded into a three-dimensional component, SymaLITE can even be given different wall thicknesses within the component.

Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Composites supplies SymaLITE as pre-consolidated boards with areas per unit weight of 700 to 2,200 g/m² (with variable shares of PP and glass). The usual board thicknesses range from 2.5 to 6 mm with a maximum width of 2.3 m.

• As a durable, noise-insulating material for car undershields, engine and gearbox covers etc.
• As a carrier material for decorative applications (e.g. car headliners)
• As an impact-resistant, non-weathering material for outdoor applications in the automotive and caravan industry as well as in the construction sector
• As a substitute for wood-based materials and rigid foams in sandwich constructions for the caravan and commercial vehicle industry.  

Architectural

Due to being moisture resistant, its low thermal expansion and sound absorbent properties, MultiQ DecoLine is suitable as replacement for wooden composite boards (HDF and MDF) in laminated floors and walls. A variety of decorative or functional surfaces can be applied to the material (high pressure laminates directly coated laminates, protective PVC film, carpet, cork) and it can also be used in wet cells.

Lightweight construction components (LWRT)

SymaLITE, a high-strength composite, has become established as an all-round material for extra-high weight savings combined with outstanding mechanical and physical characteristics. This product group of glass-reinforced thermoplastic mixed-fiber fleeces can be processed inexpensively into three-dimensional moldings by low-pressure pressing. Be it as the sole material for applications such as load compartment floors, headliners, sun roofs and rear window shelves or in combination with GMT/GMTex, SymaLITE facilitates the development of novel lightweight construction strategies.

The SymaLITE applications also extend to undershields. SymaLITE permits the production of an almost continuous corrosion- and wear-resistant undershield which, thanks to the material’s properties, is extremely light, inherently rigid and also acoustically effective. Installed in wheel arch liners or as covers for engines and gearboxes, the superlight composite absorbs noise as it arises.

Designed as a folding load compartment floor with an integrated backrest module, SymaLITE facilitates a high-strength, inherently rigid and at the same time extremely lightweight solution for adjustable storage spaces. A decorative film can be integrated during pressing. This saves a whole production step and avoids the use of adhesives.

Automotive Solutions

Compressed Molded Solutions

Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials also produces a lightweight composite, a low-weight reinforced thermoplastic (LWRT), by the name of SymaLITE. This material consists of mixed-fiber fleeces of glass and polymer fibers supplied in rolls or boards. The molder heats the material and produces the three-dimensionally molded component by low-pressure pressing.

Injection Molded Solutions

The combination of product development, production and assembly from a single source has enabled QCMS to become a supplier to a number of leading, international main suppliers to the automotive industry.

True to its stated business objective of supplying components for critical systems, QCMS focuses on high-precision, injection-molded parts for safety, electrical, under-the-bonnet and interior applications.

Interior Components:

Passenger compartment components

The fittings of the vehicle interior include many different components made of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites. In particular, versatile and inexpensively processed SymaLITE is becoming popular for more and more new applications – not least because it can be combined at the production stage with functional or decorative cover layers to customer specification.

Here are a few examples of the use of GMT/GMTex and SymaLITE components in the passenger compartment: Headliners, sun roofs, rear window shelves, seat and backrest constructions, seat covers, and linings of doors, pillars and luggage compartments.

Metal Plastic Solutions (MPS):

Since 2008, the business unit Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Composites has been involved through a company of its own in the development of special lightweight components made of long-fiber-reinforced plastic composites and hybrid materials, among other things for the automotive industry. At Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Composites GmbH located in Chemnitz, the search is on for new materials and hybrid strategies that enable entirely new component concepts and production methods thanks to the ingenious merger of metals and plastics.

In close cooperation with the customer, capable teams of materials, design and production specialists draw up customized component strategies for innovative lightweight component applications.

The services available comprise consultations on design and the choice of material, CAD and FEM computation, prototype construction, component testing and the planning of the series production of lightweight components.

To permit informative results from component testing and their documentation, comprehensive test equipment is available for the defined simulation of all relevant conditions:

• Compression-tension test equipment up to 100 kN
• Climate chamber for temperatures of -40 to +100°C
• Heat chamber (up to 130°C)
• Press equipment (100, 600 and 1,200 t)
• Fatigue strength analysis with special devices
• 30 m drop tower
• 100 m long slide track
• Shaker

Innovative uses for environment-friendly thermoplastic fiber composites:

Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials is constantly looking for innovative applications for its high-grade lightweight materials. Our environment-friendly thermoplastic composite materials can be used as panels or three-dimensional moldings and are already replacing steel, aluminum, plywood, HDF and MDF board, and fiberboard in many applications. Our plastic composites often facilitate a particularly cost-efficient solution – especially when panel products are employed without further thermal shaping processes. Provided with various functional or decorative cover layers, these composites are suitable for endless fields of application that require a long service life on exposure to extreme stressing.

In close cooperation with the market leaders in many different segments, our team of materials specialists is therefore constantly developing solutions for new fields of application. Our experienced teams in Europe, North America and Asia support the planning, simulation, preliminary tests, prototyping and the practical realization of the latest technologies during product implementation. This comprehensive, unique technical support is one of our strengths and explains our successful expansion into new markets.

Our high-performance materials, whose dimensions and execution are tailored precisely to the customer’s needs, are already successfully demonstrating their positive features in a wide range of applications.