From light-weighting to acoustic comfort, see what Woodbridge engineered composites can do for you

Published By: Greg White, Engineered Composites Product Director, Woodbridge Foam Corporation, 
Cynthia Emili, Marketing Manager, Woodbridge Foam Corporation

With the passenger experience in mind, acoustics can play a crucial role in improving in-vehicle comfort. With the onset of electric vehicles, the noise coming from conventional engines no longer exists, making for a quieter ride. Yet, at highway speeds, vehicle wind and tire noise has taken its place. Woodbridge has developed several engineered composites, including those that support acoustic comfort and other technologies that deliver thinner, lighter headliners with superior strength and rigidity.

For optimal acoustic comfort, Stratas™ 3D headliner composites are the right choice. This product is a polyurethane foam core laminated with fiberglass reinforcement and high melt-temperature polymeric adhesives. This substrate board achieves 500-800 gsm for light-weighting and 5-8 mm thickness for increased sound absorption. More info

For OEMs, particularly in North America, who are trending towards thinner headliner designs at around 2 to 4 mm, Stratas™ Thin High Strength (THS) is the right choice. Initially, the preferred material choice was glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP/Glass) over traditional polyurethane composites due to weak performance derived from low strength and stiffness. This patent-pending product leverages Woodbridge's chemical expertise to address the strength and stiffness needs for functionality, meeting OEM requirements. Overall, Stratas THS meets all performance targets while reducing 20-25% of the mass. The unique part of this composite technology is that the stiffness remains high at such a low profile, and this added benefit offers ease-of-vehicle assembly. More info

The Woodbridge Stratas composite is a sandwich structure which contains a polyurethane foam core, polymeric adhesives, and reinforcement layers to provide superior strength and stiffness characteristics compared to competing technologies.

Stratas Structure

Test results confirmed that Stratas 3D increased elongation by 50% over previous generation composites to offer greater design freedom with a deeper draw, more complex shapes, and sharper angles without risking substrate tears or blowouts. On our Stratas THS side test results proved a 25% lighter composite than previous materials while retaining tool gap thickness, which does not loft or thin out during thermoforming. This product does not require higher tension to eliminate wrinkles, allowing for deeper draw design capability of headliners. And can also be used with a wide variety of a-surface fabrics to achieve customer design specifications.

Image above: Stratas THS-250 (775 gsm) thickness and appearance advantage when thermoforming. 

Our Stratas THS polyurethane core chemistry, combined with innovative a-surface skin design, delivers a substrate with increased strength and stiffness at a total thickness of 4mm. While meeting light-weighting challenges, our headliner constructions at 600-800 gsm will pass OEM specifications and improve interior packaging space. It also provides enhanced thermal stability at elevated temperatures (80 to 90°C), increased draw characteristics, and excellent acoustic properties.

Stratas 3D Advantage

• Lightweight
• 5-8 mm thickness for high sound absorption
• Custom in-house foam formulations
• Deeper draw, more complex shapes
• Improved surface appearance
• Enhanced thermoformability and molding strength

Stratas THS Advantage

• Lighter Weight
• High modulus foam
• Excellent performance at 4 mm thickness
• Rigid – eliminates the spongy feel of traditional polyurethane headliners
• Thermoformable – runs on standard manufacturing lines

Woodbridge specializes in creating solutions for low VOC, structural integrity, utility, and acoustics. We have renowned R&D labs and extensive knowledge within our field — our understanding of chemistry is unmatched and demonstrated through our industry expertise in foam technology and comfort. We understand foam at the molecular level, giving us total control over every product attribute and performance characteristic. Our commitment to technology drives us to innovate and evolve products supporting our customers with custom foam formulations and design freedom.

The Stratas structural composite can work as a common part solution for interior vehicle applications, including headliners, pillars, and package trays.

Editorial piece originally published on LinkedIn.