Rhodia Polyamide Opens Technical Centre In China
Lyon, France — Rhodia has reinforced its commitment to the Asian markets with the recent opening of a technical centre in Shanghai, consolidating Rhodia's global technical centre network. The new facility brings the complete spectrum of engineering support to customers across the broad range of industries served by Rhodia Polyamide's engineering plastics materials in China and the wider Asian region.
"The addition of this latest asset complements our business strategy for the Asia Pacific region," says William Lee, Marketing Director for Asia, "For our customers it will mean an even faster response to their needs for technical assistance, and, importantly, this local expertise will be supported by our global knowledge network. Therefore, through our Shanghai technical centre customers will have access to the highest quality services currently available in any marketplace."
From assistance with concept development through to final part optimisation, Rhodia's centre in Shanghai is equipped to provide a valuable extension to customers own technical teams and resources or undertake project assignments independently. Rhodia's engineers are able to conduct feasibility and performance studies on any applications in which its polyamide materials are used. Typically these include automotive, electrical and electronic, consumer and industrial components.
For example in the automotive sector in China these services can include:
Design optimisation of both structural and appearance parts using a full suite of computer-aided simulation programs to carry out:
- Static and dynamic structural analysis
- Acoustic behaviour and noise emission analysis
- Airflow simulation
Application testing with particular reference to parts subject to tough operating environments, like under-hood components such as air intake manifolds and cylinder head covers. Allowing engineers to validate solutions on prototype or serial production parts, these tests are constantly evolving to keep pace with industry and end-user demands. Moreover, the resources of the technical centre in Shanghai are complemented by its connectivity with Rhodia Polyamide's centres of excellence around the world and can draw on the expertise and the very latest testing techniques available in support of customers' projects.
As a global innovator Rhodia is continuously developing these support tools and an illustration of this is a method for testing an oil-separation device for cylinder head covers devised by Rhodia Polyamide's centre of excellence in Freiburg, Germany.
Processing simulation such as for injection-moulded parts allows the design engineer to preview how plastic will flow in a mould so that the mould design can be fine-tuned for optimum production results. The technical centre is equipped with latest injection moulding simulation softwares and this support makes mould manufacturing more reliable and less costly, and helps get applications to market faster.
Material selection is simplified by expert help. With a comprehensive understanding of material science, the properties and characteristics of polyamide compounds and a wealth of experience in successfully matching materials with applications, Rhodia is well qualified to counsel on material selection.
With the establishment of the new technical centre in Shanghai, Rhodia Polyamide has reinforced its existing services to customers in both China and South Korea adding further weight to its credibility as a regional partner.
SOURCE: Rhodia Polyamide