Fastening & Assembly Solutions & Technology July 2012

FAST JULY 2012
FASTCASE STUDY
Exotic material clip
protects a fuel pipe
14
A leading supplier to the European automotive industry
approached Jet Press to solve an unusual fastening
requirement, which required a plastic clip to secure a
fuel pipe where that clip was also capable of earthing
the pipe as protection against electrostatic build-up.
The solution developed and provided by Jet Press
involved the use of carbon nanotubes (CNT), which
are tube-shaped carbon cylinders, about one ten-thousandth
of the thickness of human hair. When dispersed
in the main polymer mix, in this case, impact modified
nylon 66, the CNTs allow any part moulded from this
mix to demonstrate electrical conductive properties.
Getting the best from these modern materials
required moulding techniques that had to be specially
modified and controlled to make the part with a constant
conductivity.
“Products manufactured in this way offer major
advantages over other conductive solutions based on
carbon black, carbon fibres or metals.” explained
Martin Belcher, technical manager at Jet Press. “They
provide, a decreased risk of chemical contamination,
homogeneous electrical conductivity at low loading,
processing benefits, elimination of residual voltage hot
spots, decreased weight of the final part, and retention
of key mechanical properties.
“In this particular application, a metal clip would
risk damage to the fuel line and would need a secondary
fixing such as a screw to hold the clip in place.
[The solution] developed by Jet Press was able to provide
the customer with all the properties required of
the product, at the lowest in-place cost.”
www.fastening-solutions.com
Jet Press manufactures and
distributes specialist fastening
solutions to a wide variety of
industry. For over a quarter of
a century the company’s technical
team has been devoted
to providing the best solutions
for its customers, relying on a
huge product resource and
specialist knowledge at its disposal.
Development services
include: plastic injection
moulding includes colour
matching, steel pressing, cold
forming, die-casting, multiaxis
machining, dip moulding,
assembly and kitting; CAD
modelling for release directly
into customer CAD software.
Sampling techniques include
STL/SLA solid modelling, sample
mould tooling and handmade
spring steel samples.
JET PRESS 01623 551 800