Thermal cycling tests involving Electrolube’s ER1455 chemically resistant, two-part epoxy resin have proved the material’s ability to protect and retain an automotive sensor subject to highly aggressive environmental conditions.
Electrolube recently helped one of its customers, a prominent manufacturer of control units and sensor devices, to overcome an issue with one particular sensor destined for a high-performance automotive application.
Fully immersed in a speciality grade of oil, commonly used in high-performance vehicles, the sensor was being subjected to trials to determine its ability to function at elevated oil temperatures (up to a maximum of 170°C), when the original encapsulation resin began showing signs of failure. This resin not only failed to withstand the high oil temperatures over extended periods of time, but was also losing its adhesion to the sensor’s metal alloy housing when thermally cycled.
Electrolube suggested that its new chemically resistant epoxy resin, ER1455 might provide a solution to these problems. ER1455 is a two-part epoxy encapsulation resin offering high resistance to a wide variety of chemicals, including solvents and fuels. The 100 percent reactive system contains neither solvents nor non-reactive diluents, thus offering the highest level of performance when deployed in harsh chemical and high temperature environments.
Moreover, the fully RoHS-2 compliant (2011/65/EU) ER1455 resin provides excellent adhesion to a wide variety of substrates, a property that is not compromised by elevated temperatures or when used in the presence of aggressive chemicals, solvents, fuels and lubricants.
ER1455 has now been fully tested by the customer and has been found to maintain excellent adhesion to the sensor housing in the presence of the specialty oil, even at its maximum duty temperature and throughout a campaign of thermal cycling. The Electrolube resin has subsequently been approved and implemented by the customer in their vehicle applications.
Electrolube’s encapsulation resins are available in epoxy, polyurethane and silicone formulations with specific properties designed to protect and insulate printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electronic components from the threats of harsh and challenging environments, including moisture, vibration, thermal or physical shock and general contamination. More information about Electrolube’s encapsulating resins may be found at www.electrolube.com.
