Today, the classic friction material structures and materials for clutch and brake linings are manufactured by breaking up the mostly powdery raw materials in a mixing process, homogenizing them and pressing them onto a metal carrier in a subsequent molding process using high pressures and temperatures. These blanks have to be hardened in a subsequent hardening process and converted into the specific geometry by means of grinding units. For this purpose, several heating and cooling phases are used, which make the manufacturing process energy-intensive. Due to the necessary shaping processes and pressures, technically complex presses and tools are necessary, which define the manufacturing costs to a considerable extent.
These process conditions have a decisive influence on the development times of new products, the production costs of prototypes, the minimum batch size and thus on the total costs of the clutch linings or other friction-related products.
This is where the concept of the LIQFRIC® products comes in and is to be used over the long term in the automotive, industrial, wearables and prototypes sectors. Particularly for prototype construction, the product, thanks to its freedom of design, shows excellent starting conditions for disruptive manufacturing approaches as well as the possibility of utilizing batch size 1 to realize cost advantages in an unprecedented size.
The already developed organic liquid 2K LIQFRIC® systems have repeatedly been subjected to coefficient of friction tests and other tests and are available for testing and optimization by the customer. The required production capacities have been built up and can easily meet the initial demand.
The freedom of design together with the simplified structure of the casting molds allows a fundamental redesign of the clutch geometry, as well as the production of thin-film materials in the range of 150 - 1000 µm.
A water-based compound product family LIQFRIC® HP is in pre-series evaluation with various friction material-, brake- and vehicle manufacturers. The inorganic binder alone is thermally stable up to 1100 °C and in turn suitable for high temperature loads. The hardening process can be accelerated through the additional use of heat.
All LIQFRIC® material concepts allow a formulation based on customer requirements, which can be further developed in dialogue.
It is possible for us to develop the finished friction material for you or, alternatively, for your company to purchase our basic compounds and optimize them independentlyThis ensures that only you know your development strategy.
Compound: LIQFRIC® 1A
Curing agent: LIQFRIC® 1B
Compound: LIQFRIC® HP 1A
Curing agent: LIQFRIC®HP 1B
Compound: LIQFRIC® 3D 1A
Curing agent: LIQFRIC® 3D 1B
