Albis Plastic (Hamburg / Germany; www.albis.com) has introduced a PP compound, “Altech” NXT, which it claims can almost match the mechanical properties of long glass fibre-reinforced PP and glass fibre-reinforced polyamide compounds. The German distributor and compounder said the compound provides an alternative in a range of applications where lower density, robust processing and cost efficiency are important, with potential weight reductions of up to 20% presenting options for lightweight designs in the automotive industry.

The material’s properties differ to the glass fibre-reinforced PP thanks to its improved temperature-dependent E module values and relatively high heat distortion temperature (HDT) value of 154°C. It also offers a high heat-aging resistance. For example, Albis claims that there is no significant change in the mechanical properties even if stored for 1,000h at 150°C.