Today's automotive hoses are constantly challenged to demonstrate performance improvements. Technology trends result in demands for ever increasing resistance to both heat and chemical exposure. External regulations can also contribute to these trends. Western Europe in particular continues to exhibit significant growth in turbodiesel passenger cars at the expense of their gasoline equivalents. In the U.S., a similar growth has been experienced in the small truck market. Service temperatures are still increasing as are the requirements for oil resistance and interlayer adhesion throughout have extended functional testing. These hoses are typically a multilayer structure consisting of fabric reinforcement encapsulated with silicone rubber (VMQ) and lined internally with a layer of fluoroelastomer (FVMQ or FKM). Selection of this liner material is a critical choice that impacts many aspects of both the hose fabrication process and the performance of the finished part. We continue to innovate in this area and demonstrate ongoing and significant fluorosilicone (FVMQ) improvements in terms of the key requirements for this demanding application, i.e. their heat stability, resistance to aggressive engine oils and FVMQ-VMQ bond strength plus its long term adhesion stability. This presentation will include key data from our recent developments that reinforce the importance of selecting an optimised FVMQ as a high-performance hose liner capable of meeting today's requirements. We also believe these findings have much wider relevance in a variety of related applications.
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