Materials: Victrex Awarded Key Automotive Quality Standard for Manufacture of Gears on Display at K 2019

Victrex (U.S. office in West Conshohocken, Penn.) has achieved a new milestone for its automotive offerings. Its gear design and manufacturing facility in Grantsburg, Wisc., has received the IATF 16949 certification, proving that the necessary systems and capabilities in line with Tier1/OEM needs are in place. At  K 2019 in Düsseldorf, Germany, PEEK-based gear solutions will also be one focus at the Victrex booth. Several ‘Meet-the-Expert’ sessions are scheduled at the booth, including one on Victrex HPG PEEK-based gear solutions for future powertrain applications.

Victrex PEEK has been used in auto gears for decades but since 2015, when the company acquired Kleiss Gears, Victrex has extended its material expertise to the design, development, and manufacture of gears, to offer a fully integrated and highly innovative approach to thermoplastic PEEK gear solutions. Enabling Tier 1/OEM customers to work with one partner from concept to commercialization, the company supports the development and testing of high precision Victrex HPG PEEK-based gears, as well as manufacturing these gears as a component for integration into larger systems (e.g. within the engine, transmission, pump, actuator and chassis).

Victrex´s gear solutions include high precision gear design, prototyping, testing and manufacturing capabilities using Victrex HPG polymers. Compared to traditional metal-based gears, HPG based thermoplastic gear solutions for ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and Electric Vehicle Platforms offer decisive benefits such as improved NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) performance as well as enhanced efficiency reducing CO₂ and system cost reduction.