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10/18/2017

SABIC: Products for passenger-rail car production

SABIC last week showcased its capabilities in additive manufacturing, glazing and carriage interiors. The company works to help rail carriage engineers, interior designers and suppliers reduce weight and maintenance, and capitalize on new production processes, according to a SABIC press release.

SABIC demonstrated its products at the American Public Transportation Association's 2017 EXPO show, which was held Oct. 9-11.

In May, SABIC launched six filaments for fused deposition modeling and a new family of reinforced compounds for large format additive manufacturing. At SABIC's booth at APTA, the company officials displayed the ULTEM™ AM9085F filament, which is designed for use with Stratasys® Fortus® printers.

Typically made from sheet metal, the bracket is used in rail carriage hidden spaces to mount ceiling components. The filament is made from SABIC's ULTEM resin. This polyetherimide material is ideal for applications that require high-heat resistance, company officials said.

"The bracket is one small example of the way SABIC is eager to partner with the rail industry to help customers make the leap from prototyping to full-scale additive manufacturing production," said Lori Louthan, director of mass transportation at SABIC. “We’re enabling this evolution by creating a range of high-performance additive manufacturing materials – even industry-specific grades to meet regulatory requirements – and are supporting customers with our extensive expertise and resources for testing, design and application development.”

Also on display was a passenger-rail car side window component constructed by Total Plastics, Intl. from SABIC’s LEXAN™ FRA 25C sheet. The dual-pane side window consists of two quarter-inch panes, which are CNC routed and assembled with a gasket spacer. LEXAN FRA 25C sheet is a coated, flame-retardant polycarbonate sheet.

The sheet offers up to 70 times the impact resistance of laminated glass. In addition, the company has developed the sheet for rail glazing applications.

Finally, SABIC showcased the new LEXAN™ DH65011 sheet's versatility in a seat back shell manufactured by Khrome Product Transport.