Ground Transportation
Higher vehicle performance with dedicated insulating systems, component foam solutions and lightweight structural foams
Advancing efficiency with lightweight and versatile materials
Today, reducing weight while enhancing vehicle performance has become a key consideration in the transport sector. As requirements on weight, operating costs and emissions grow, so are demands on functionality, passenger comfort and safety. Covering a wide range of applications for automotive OEMs, specialised technical insulation, component foam and structural foam core solutions offer a unique blend of sustainability and lightweight properties for a wide range of automotive applications. Dedicated foam solutions help operators maintain temperatures, protect sensitive circuits, damp vibration, optimise acoustic comfort, and support the automotive industry’s environmental directives to enhance its sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions. Approved by major automobile manufacturers around the world, our wide range of foam formulations are used as components that meet the strict standards of global car companies. Further applications based on our innovative PET technology allow high-tech foam to be manufactured from recycled PET bottles, ensuring structural integrity, impact resistance and processability of body elements.
Secure thermal and acoustic comfort
Protecting air-conditioning and heating equipment and electronics in vehicles, such as cars, coaches and buses, is a crucial measure to shield equipment from moisture and corrosion and ensure passenger comfort. To achieve this, manufacturers are expected to choose their materials carefully, utilising low-density insulation for efficient thermal management and high-density materials for secure attachment and sealing. Our specialised solutions are built on a unique blend of materials, offering flexibility, durability, and high-performance sound attenuation. Crafted to protect sensitive circuits, such as seals around headlights, taillights, dashboard electronics, EV battery enclosures, and electronic control modules, they effectively dampen vibrations and mitigate unwanted noise from equipment, as well as airborne and structural sources.
Benefit from lightweight PET-cores based on 100 percent post-consumer bottles
The future of sustainable vehicle transportation relies on long-lasting and energy-efficient materials. While specifiers often resort to conventional core materials, such as PUR or honeycomb, PET-based materials are proven to be a more resource-efficient solution. Used in sidewalls and flooring panels, for example, these self-supporting structures eliminate the need for additional bulkheads and cross-members, trimming weight and expanding usable payload space. As a versatile core material, it provides superior long-term thermal insulation for refrigerated trucks, aligning operational savings with environmental responsibility. Automotive manufacturers have the responsibility to use an increased number of recycled components, Ford, for example has pledged 20 percent recycled materials by 2025. PET-based materials offer 100 percent recycled material and recyclability.
Automotive component foams driven by performance
For most major car makers, all parts must be made from materials that are on their approved source list. It’s a competitive business and only the best suppliers with a proven track record of quality, new technology, on-time delivery, and service will make the cut. OEMs look to Armacell’s foam products under the ArmaComp® range, like Monarch or EnsoLite, for use in automotive components such as gaskets for sealing out water, air, dust, or noise. Once a material is included on the approved source list or our fabricator partners have been selected as preferred suppliers, the task is not over. We must continually maintain or improve our specs to stay competitive and meet the high expectations of automakers and their supply chain.
Work with highly convertible structural components
Thermoformability and processibility of structural elements are essential to reducing installation time due to the naturally complex shapes and configurations of vehicle components. Modern PET-based foams offers a unique combination of material and processing properties, enhancing efficiency throughout the manufacturing process of your composite structure: They can be cut, shaped, and adhesively bonded together to fit various contours and spaces within the vehicle structure. Leveraging the attributes of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite, they boost structural strength, while enabling a significantly faster and more efficient manufacturing process.