Off-road with plastic: Audi Q7 fitted with airbag housing made of BASF’s polyamide

* Plastic replaces magnesium construction

Key Safety Systems, an international automotive supplier headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A., ZF Boge Elastmetall of Damme, in the German state of Lower Saxony, and BASF have joined forces in developing the housing for the passenger airbag used in the new Audi Q7. This is Audi’s first passenger airbag housing made of plastic for its high-end models. In its capacity as the module supplier, Key Safety Systems bears responsibility for the overall system while ZF Boge Elastmetall is contributing its know-how in the development, construction and processing of the housing. With its polyamide Ultramid® B3ZG8, BASF is providing the appropriate material for this, and is also instrumental in the simulation of the mechanical strength by supplying the characteristic values of the material under highly dynamic load. As a sport utility vehicle, the Q7 has been designed specifically for the American market and it was launched there in May of 2006.

Polyamid versus magnesium
So far, Audi had employed the light metal magnesium for the passenger airbag in this vehicle class. However, when it came to the Q7, a new plastic concept has gained the upper hand: the material used here is a polyamide 6 grade specially developed by BASF for airbags. Ultramid® B3ZG8 contains 40 percent glass fibers and it has also been impact-modified. As a result, it is sufficiently elastic under cold conditions but also rigid enough at high temperatures. This plastic is easier to process than magnesium and exhibits good flame-retardant behavior.

BASF’s new computation method for parts, the “integrative simulation”, was successfully integrated into the computation method employed by ZF Boge Elastmetall. The high-speed measured data is contributing considerably to a better assessment of the strength of the materials under dynamic stress, thus allowing a greatly improved understanding of the material.

Key Safety Systems
Key Safety Systems, Inc. belongs to Key Automotive Group and is headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A. It manufactures airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and other safety systems for vehicles. This company has 36 facilities located in 12 countries.
www.keysafetyinc.com

ZF Boge Elastmetall
ZF Boge Elastmetall GmbH is headquartered in Damme, Germany, it is a subsidiary of ZF Friedrichshafen AG and it develops and manufactures components and systems for vibration damping, for mounting the chassis and the power train as well as engineering plastic components and impact absorbers employed in the realm of car safety.
www.zf.com/boge-elastmetall

Additional technical information about BASF’s Ultramid* is available from the e-mail address Ultraplaste.infopoint@basf.com or on the Internet at www.basf.de/ultramid.

A press photograph can be downloaded from www.basf.de/pressphotos under the key word “Plastics”. Soon, photos and text will also be available in the press release archive of BASF plastics at www.basf.de/plastics/pressreleases.

Contact Information

Dr. Sabine Philipp

BASF

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